Coatsworth, Elizabeth Jane, 1893-1986

Born in Buffalo, New York in 1893, she married writer Henry Beston. She graduated from Vassar in 1915 and Columbia with an M.A. in 1916. Belongs to Phi Beta Kappa, won a Newbery Medal in 1931. Children's Spring Book Festival Honor Award, 1971, an L.H.D. from New England College, and has published numerous books and poems. See: "Something about the Author", v.2, p. 65.

From the description of Papers 1930-1968. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 778701398

Daughter of a prosperous grain merchant; lived in Buffalo until she was eighteen. Married naturalist Henry Beston in 1929; author of many children's books.

From the description of Buffalo notes : manuscript and typescript, [19--]. (Buffalo History Museum). WorldCat record id: 33113191

American author of children's and adult prose and poetry; Newbery Award winner for The cat who went to heaven in 1931, and Kerlan Award recipient in 1975.

From the description of Papers, 1893-1986 (bulk 1930-1974). (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491141

Daughter of a prosperous grain merchant; lived in Buffalo until she was 18. Married naturalist Henry Beston in 1929; author of many children's books.

From the description of Audubon's Niagara : typescript, 1959. (Buffalo History Museum). WorldCat record id: 33228566

American author of children's adult prose and poetry.

From the description of The children come running : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491091

American children's author, born in Buffalo, New York in 1893. This Newbery Medal winner first achieved acclaim as a poet and short story writer, then produced over ninety books of fiction and poetry for children.

From the description of Papers, 1927-1973 (bulk: 1970-1973). (University of Southern Mississippi, Regional Campus). WorldCat record id: 26498730

American author of children's and adult prose and poetry.

From the description of You say you saw a camel? : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62439489

From the description of Down Tumbledown Mountain : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62686838

From the description of The little haymakers : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62686843

From the description of The enchanted : an incredible tale : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62686839

From the description of Jon the unlucky : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403407

From the description of All-of-a-sudden Susan : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403360

From the description of The giant golden book of cat stories : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491094

From the description of They walk in the night : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491101

From the description of American adventures, 1620-1945 : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491090

From the description of Dollar for luck : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491092

From the description of The noble doll : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491097

From the description of Jock's island : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491095

From the description of The place : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448943

From the description of The peddler's cart ; production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62439482

From the description of The giant golden book of dog stories : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448939

From the description of Bob Bodden and the seagoing farm : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62439473

From the description of Aunt Flora : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448933

From the description of Bob Bodden and the good ship Rover : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448934

From the description of Indian enconuters : an anthology of stories and poems : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62439476

From the description of The cave : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448935

From the description of The lucky ones : five journeys toward a home : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62439479

From the description of The sparrow bush : rhymes : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62439486

From the description of Runaway home : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62439484

From the description of The sod house : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448945

From the description of The wanderers : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448947

From the description of The last fort : a story of the French voyageurs : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448941

From the description of Ronnie and the chief's son : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491099

From the description of Troll weather : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491102

From the description of Jon the unlucky : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491096

From the description of Old Whirlwind : a story of Davy Crockett : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62439551

From the description of Personal geography : almost an autobiography : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448981

From the description of The snow parlor, and other bedtime stories : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491100

From the description of Indian mound farm : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62439478

From the description of Cherry Ann and the dragon horse : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448936

From the description of The giant golden book of dogs, cats, and horses : 61 stories and poems : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448940

From the description of Down half the world : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448938

From the description of Daisy : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62448937

From the description of The Fair American : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62491093

From the description of Bess and the Sphinx : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62686836

From the description of Lighthouse Island : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62686842

From the description of The fox friend : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62686840

From the description of Desert Dan : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62686837

From the description of Grandmother cat and the hermit : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62686841

From the description of The cat and the captain : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403362

From the description of Daniel Webster's horses : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403363

From the description of George and Red : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403365

From the description of Lonely Maria : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403367

From the description of The white room : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403369

From the description of The hand of Apollo : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403366

From the description of Pure magic : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403368

From the description of The dog from nowhere : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403364

From the description of Boston bells : production material. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62403361

The American author Elizabeth Coatsworth was a prolific poet and writer of fiction and nonfiction for adults. She is best remembered, however, as a writer of children’s books. Between 1927 and 1975 she published over 80 books for children, and her book The Cat Who Went to Heaven won the Newberry medal in 1931. Coatsworth was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1893. As a child and adult she “. . . traveled widely in the Orient, in North Africa, and in Europe.” She graduated from Vassar in 1915, and received an M.A. from Columbia University in 1916. In 1929, Coatsworth married the American writer Henry Beston with whom she had two daughters. Coatsworth and Beston lived in rural New England, which provides the setting for many of her books. She died in Nobleboro, Maine, in 1986.

Henry Beston was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1888. He attended Harvard University (A.B. 1909, M.A. 1911) and served in the First World War as a member of the Harvard Ambulance Service. From 1919 to 1923, Beston was editor of the Living Age . He spent a year living in solitude in a small house on the outer dunes of Cape Cod in 1927 and translated this experience into his best known book The Outermost House . Following his marriage to Elizabeth Coatsworth, Beston continued to write adult nonfiction and a weekly column for The Progressive, as well as children’s books, from their Maine farm. He died in 1968.

Beston, Henry.” 1996 Biography from World Authors 1900 –1950. Retrieved May 3, 2002 from http://vweb.hwwilsonweb.com “Elizabeth (Jane) Coatsworth.” Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2000. Retrieved May 3, 2002 from http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

From the guide to the Elizabeth Coatsworth papers, 1902–1948, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)

Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth was born May 31, 1893 in Buffalo, New York. She graduated from Vassar College in 1915, and received a M.A. from Columbia University in 1916. During her childhood and after college, she traveled all over the world. She was in England at the outbreak of World War I, and in 1916-1918 spent thirteen months traveling throughout the Orient. Her love of travel and first-hand knowledge of many different countries would play a role in the creation of many of her books and poems.

Coatsworth began writing poetry in 1914 and published many poems in magazines, and in 1923 published her first book Fox Footprints. In 1927, she published The Cat and the Captain; it was later revised and re-published in 1974. In 1930, she published The Cat Who Went to Heaven, a story based on a Japanese legend that lyrically relates the mercy and compassion of the Buddha towards all creatures. The book, which won the Newbery Award in 1931, demonstrates her appreciation of Oriental culture and her love of nature and animals; the latter appears in many of her books.

For the next forty-five years, Coatsworth continued to write for juveniles and adults, poetry and fiction, as well as some non-fiction. She wrote both historical and contemporary fiction for children and showed a special understanding of the problems a lonely or "different" child can experience in trying to "cope" with life's challenges. She was noted for her ability to be both "storyteller and lyricist" and for her "detailed description and vivid sensory impressions." Her historical fiction has also been cited by critics for its accuracy and strong sense of time and place. She wrote to "instruct" children, but as critics note she was never "pedantic" or lost her respect for them and the value of "commonsense."

Elizabeth Coatsworth received the 1975 Kerlan Award for her contribution to children's literature. She died in Nobleboro, Maine on August 31, 1986.

From the guide to the Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth Papers, circa 1893-1986, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc])