Eleanor Cameron, nee Butler, was born March 23, 1912 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She married Ian Stuart Cameron in 1934 and had one son. For many years, she worked as a library clerk and later as a librarian. In the 1950s, Mrs. Cameron began to write fiction for adults and children. She published her first book, The Unheard Music, an adult novel in 1950; her first work for children, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, was published in 1954. The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet is a science fiction and adventure tale, a different genre in children's literature in the 1950s, and one that Mrs. Cameron helped popularize. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Mrs. Cameron continued to write fiction for children and young adults, including more science fiction and fantasy, with an emphasis on plot, setting, and science. In her later books, Mrs. Cameron began to focus more on the psychological and emotional struggles of pre-adolescents, particularly girls. In her semi-autobiographical Julia novels, Mrs. Cameron focuses on the difficulties of growing up. Some of her other novels continued this trend and also added elements of mystery, fantasy, and the ghost story. Eleanor Cameron has also served as a member of the editorial boards of several magazines for children and about children's literature, including Cricket and Children's Literature in Education . She published The Green and Burning Tree, a critical study of children's literature in 1969 that was and continues to be widely praised and read as one of the studies of the field. Mrs. Cameron continued to write throughout the 1980s, and in 1985 received the Kerlan Award, sponsored by the Children's Literature Research Collection at the University of Minnesota.
From the guide to the Eleanor Cameron Papers, 1950-1984, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections)
