Lois Lenski was one of my favorite authors as a child-- I read all her regional novels that I could get my hands on. An acclaimed author of historic and realistic children's books, her Strawberry Girl won the 1946 Newberry Medal. I've recently been reading a couple of her board books to my grandson.

At least half of her autobiography is an evocative memoir of her rather idyllic childhood in small-town Ohio at the turn of the 20th century (she was born in 1893). Her father, a Lutheran pastor, and her mother, a former school-teacher, kept the children well supplied with books, chores and outdoor free-range play. They were determined that each of their four children would have a college education. After Lenski graduated with a degree in education, she balked at the idea of teaching school and decided to make her way to NYC to study art, despite the unenthusiastic reaction of her parents.

Her life in NYC in the 1920s was far from the bohemian jazz age. She worked hard to support herself at various illustrating jobs while she studied at the Art Students League. Eventually she married Frank Covey, a widowed artist with two young children. As her family evolved, so did her career, from an artist and children's illustrator to a children's author and illustrator.

She discusses some of her inspirations and illuminates a steady hardworking life that both seized and created opportunities.
While not a brilliant or terribly exciting autobography, this is a very satisfying window into one 20th century woman's life and successful career. ( )