Materials received from Aileen Lucia Fisher, between 1966-1985.
Non-circulating; available for research.
This collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. Code). Reproductions can be made only if they are to be used for "private study, scholarship, or research." It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials, other than that noted above.
Aileen Fisher was born in Iron River, Michigan, on September 9, 1906, to Nelson E. and Lucia (Milker) Fisher. Educated between 1923-1925 at the University of Chicago, Fisher transferred to the University of Missouri and received her degree in journalism in 1927. Fisher then returned to Chicago to take a position in a placement bureau for women journalists. In 1928 she became director of the Women's National Journalistic Register based in Chicago. While there, Fisher sold her first poem,"Otherwise," to Child Life magazine in 1927.
Fisher continued to write children's poems and to work in Chicago for the next five years, including two years as a research assistant in the Labor Bureau of the Middle West. Then, in 1932, she decided to leave the city and return to her first love, the country. Deciding on a career as a free-lance writer, Fisher settled in Colorado in 1932, and in the following year published her first book, The Coffee-Pot Face (1933). Some sixty years later Fisher still resides in Boulder, Colorado, and continues to write for children.
The body of the work produced by Fisher is a testimony to nature, one that is instantly accessible to children through verse and illustration. Her list of achievements include children's books, nature verse picture books, poetry collections for children, non-fiction work, plays, and adaptations.
Fisher has also contributed to publications such as Child Life, Jack and Jill, and Story Parade. Her most notable works include Up the Windy Hill (1953), Going Barefoot (1960), Where Does Everyone Go? (1961), I Like Weather (1963), Listen Rabbit (1964), The Valley of the Smallest: The Life of a Shrew (1966), and Rabbits, Rabbits (1983.) Recent works include Always Wandering (1991) and Trapped by the Mountain Storm (1992.)
Fisher was awarded the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 1978. Earlier awards for a single work include the 1967 Golden Spur, Western Writers of America Award for non-fiction for The Valley of the Smallest. The following year the same title received the International Board on Books for Young People Award for Illustration.
Ms. Fisher died December 2, 2002. She was 96 years old.
Sources:
The collection is arranged alphabetically by title and contains materials on three titles, Going Barefoot, I Like Weather, and Rabbits, Rabbits. The three items contained in the collection deal with children and their great curiosity and unique powers of observation when looking at the world of nature.
For Going Barefoot (1960), a tale of a small boy's observation of the world of nature and the animals around him, the collection contains proof sheets. Originally printed on one sheet, the proofs are divided and folded into two separate sheets and include the verse and illustrations appearing in the final edition of Going Barefoot. The second item includes a copy of the first proof sheet for I Like Weather. While containing no illustrations, the single sheets of script do show evidence of editing. I Like Weather is also a nature verse picture book and follows the exploits of a young boy as he observes the changing of the seasons throughout the year.
The final item in the collection is a piece called "Untitled Rabbit Poems." This is a typescript copy of Fisher's 1983 work, Rabbits, Rabbits. The item contains 21 poems, all illustrating beautifully the life and characteristics of rabbits. Approximately 21 pages in length, the typescript shows evidence of editing, while the front sheet of the item lists other works by Aileen Fisher.
Margot Tomes Papers (DG0988) contains the art separations for In the Woods, In the Meadow, In the Sky written by Aileen Fisher in 1967.
Box/Folder
A. Books
GOING BAREFOOT by Aileen Fisher, illustrated by Adrienne Adams
(New York: Crowell, 1960).
1/1 Folded page proofs, verse and illustrations, two sheets, 2 pp.
I LIKE WEATHER by Aileen Fisher, illustrated by Janina Domanska
(New York: Crowell, 1963).
1/2 First proof sheets, no illustrations, 7 pp.
RABBITS, RABBITS by Aileen Fisher, illustrated by Gail Niemann
(New York: Harper and Row, 1983).
1/3 Untitled rabbit poems, copy-edited typescript, 21 pp.
Biographical Sketch | Scope & Content
| Related Collections | Series &
Subseries | Box Inventory
[Return to top]
ABOUT US | COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS | RESEARCH | EXHIBITS & EVENTS
Contact:
The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
The University of Southern Mississippi
118 College Drive, #5148
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
(601) 266-4349
Comments and Questions
This page is maintained by the de Grummond
Collection.
The
University of Southern Mississippi
AA/EOE/ADAI