September 28: This Day in Children’s Book History

Select­ed his­tor­i­cal events

Sep­tem­ber 28, 1856 — Born: Amer­i­can writerKate Dou­glas Wig­gin (1856–1923)Born in Philadel­phia, Vir­ginia was a writer and edu­ca­tor who found­ed Cal­i­for­ni­a’s first free kinder­garten and wrote the chil­dren’s nov­el Rebec­ca of Sun­ny­brook Farm (1903), a clas­sic com­ing-of-age sto­ry that influ­enced the moral and adven­ture themes of chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture world­wide. Her work was adapt­ed into a 1917 silent film and a 1938 film, pro­mot­ing real­ism in Amer­i­can chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.

• Sep­tem­ber 28, 1936 — Died: Amer­i­can chil­dren’s authorEliz­a­beth Cleve­land Miller (1889–1936)She died in Penn­syl­va­nia. Her book, Pran of Alba­nia, won the 1930 New­bery Medal. Her work, which focus­es on chil­dren’s adven­tures and cul­tur­al explo­ration, has had a sig­nif­i­cant influ­ence on Amer­i­can chil­dren’s lit­er­a­ture.