Ursula Nordstrom (1910–1988)
Author of Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom
About the Author
Image credit: From biography website
Works by Ursula Nordstrom
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1910-02-02
- Date of death
- 1988-10-11
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Scudder School, New York
- Occupations
- publisher
clerk
author
editor - Organizations
- Harper & Row
- Relationships
- Griffith, Mary (companion)
- Short biography
- Nordstrom is credited with presiding over a transformation in children's literature in which morality tales written for adult approval gave way to works that instead appealed to children's imaginations and emotions.
She edited some of the milestones of children's literature, including E. B. White's Stuart Little (1945) and Charlotte's Web (1952), Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon (1947), Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955), Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur (1958), Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, (1963), Karla Kuskin, "Roar and More", (1956) and Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974).
Other authors she edited included Laura Ingalls Wilder, Ruth Krauss, Charlotte Zolotow, John Steptoe, M.E. Kerr and Arnold Lobel, among others.
Nordstrom began at Harper & Row in 1936 and was promoted to editor in chief of the Department of Books for Boys and Girls in 1940. In 1960 she became Harper's first female vice president. She stepped down as publisher in 1973, but continued on as senior editor with her own imprint, Ursula Nordstrom Books, until 1979. She was succeeded by her protege, author Charlotte Zolotow, who began her career as Nordstrom's stenographer. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Manhattan, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Manhattan, New York, USA
Bridgewater, Connecticut, USA - Place of death
- New Milford, Connecticut, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Connecticut, USA
Members
Reviews
I just reread this because it’s the July book for the A Thrilling Term at Goodreads: The Girls’ School-Story Group. I can’t believe that it’s been nearly 50 years since I first read this book, this very copy I just reread, a hardcover edition priced at $2.95. This was my very first “school story” book, and it’s unusual in that the children are much younger than in most of the other boarding school books that I’ve read.
When I was young, I didn’t like the way the girls were show more scolded; I thought the (first) housemother was too stern. But, I also thought the way they were treated and the whole setting was unappealing except for their friendship.
This book is well written and it held up extraordinarily well reading it as an adult, much better than I’d expected. Given that I read it only a few times between the ages of 7 and 9, I was surprised by how much I remembered, down to many specific lines and passages. I read it with quite a different perspective than I did as a child, of course. Actually, I am probably more impressed with it now than I was then.
I really love the illustrations. They’re precious, in a good way, not in an “ick-en-spick” (one of only three words in the secret “language” in the book) way.
Some things that really struck me now: the wonderful (though not without its problems, which are addressed) sister like friendship between Victoria and Martha, the sending of such young children to a boarding school: Victoria from age 8 and Martha from age 6, and also what a different, more innocent time it was back in 1960 when this book was first published: these two eight year old girls befriending and receiving help, in a semi-secret way, from the school’s handyman, with no hint of or fear of impropriety.
I felt both melancholy and amused when reading this, and it was really fun to revisit it. I’m so glad I decided to reread it and I’m grateful to the A Thrilling Term At Goodreads… group for reconnecting me with what I consider to be my first school story.
This is certainly a ‘leebossa” book, my favorite of the three “secret language” words.
I just found out from Goodreads friend Constance that the author wrote then burned a sequel. I would have loved to read a sequel to this, if it had been done well. show less
When I was young, I didn’t like the way the girls were show more scolded; I thought the (first) housemother was too stern. But, I also thought the way they were treated and the whole setting was unappealing except for their friendship.
This book is well written and it held up extraordinarily well reading it as an adult, much better than I’d expected. Given that I read it only a few times between the ages of 7 and 9, I was surprised by how much I remembered, down to many specific lines and passages. I read it with quite a different perspective than I did as a child, of course. Actually, I am probably more impressed with it now than I was then.
I really love the illustrations. They’re precious, in a good way, not in an “ick-en-spick” (one of only three words in the secret “language” in the book) way.
Some things that really struck me now: the wonderful (though not without its problems, which are addressed) sister like friendship between Victoria and Martha, the sending of such young children to a boarding school: Victoria from age 8 and Martha from age 6, and also what a different, more innocent time it was back in 1960 when this book was first published: these two eight year old girls befriending and receiving help, in a semi-secret way, from the school’s handyman, with no hint of or fear of impropriety.
I felt both melancholy and amused when reading this, and it was really fun to revisit it. I’m so glad I decided to reread it and I’m grateful to the A Thrilling Term At Goodreads… group for reconnecting me with what I consider to be my first school story.
This is certainly a ‘leebossa” book, my favorite of the three “secret language” words.
I just found out from Goodreads friend Constance that the author wrote then burned a sequel. I would have loved to read a sequel to this, if it had been done well. show less
One of the most influential children's book editors of the twentieth century, Ursula Nordstrom oversaw the publication of such classics as Charlotte's Web and Where the Wild Things Are, but this middle-grade novel, about a young girl and her experiences away at boarding school, is the only work of her own to be published (apparently there was a sequel, but Nordstrom burnt it).
The story of Victoria North, sent to the Coburn Home School when her mother's (rather vague) work situation show more interferes with her ability to care for her daughter, it follows the unhappy young girl as she reluctantly adjusts to life away from home. Befriended by the rebellious Martha Sherman, who fiercely maintains that this will be her last year at Coburn (a claim she makes each year), Victoria is soon initiated into the "secret language," and involved in adventures large and small with her new boon companion.
Given my love of linguistics and sympathy for the idea of created childhood languages (I had one myself, complete with its own writing system), my interest in the girls' school-story genre, of which this an atypical American example, and my respect for Nordstrom's influential career, I really expected to love The Secret Language, especially as a number of goodreads friends list it as a childhood favorite. Perhaps my reading was sabotaged by such high expectations, but although I found the book moderately engaging, I simply wasn't that impressed. There just wasn't enough here to satisfy, and I found myself wishing that Nordstrom had told us more about the school - Victoria and Martha's classes, their activities - and (especially!) about the secret language. I wanted to learn more than three words! I wonder if Nordstrom herself, as an editor, saw the weaknesses here, and that was why she burned the sequel? show less
The story of Victoria North, sent to the Coburn Home School when her mother's (rather vague) work situation show more interferes with her ability to care for her daughter, it follows the unhappy young girl as she reluctantly adjusts to life away from home. Befriended by the rebellious Martha Sherman, who fiercely maintains that this will be her last year at Coburn (a claim she makes each year), Victoria is soon initiated into the "secret language," and involved in adventures large and small with her new boon companion.
Given my love of linguistics and sympathy for the idea of created childhood languages (I had one myself, complete with its own writing system), my interest in the girls' school-story genre, of which this an atypical American example, and my respect for Nordstrom's influential career, I really expected to love The Secret Language, especially as a number of goodreads friends list it as a childhood favorite. Perhaps my reading was sabotaged by such high expectations, but although I found the book moderately engaging, I simply wasn't that impressed. There just wasn't enough here to satisfy, and I found myself wishing that Nordstrom had told us more about the school - Victoria and Martha's classes, their activities - and (especially!) about the secret language. I wanted to learn more than three words! I wonder if Nordstrom herself, as an editor, saw the weaknesses here, and that was why she burned the sequel? show less
Fascinating collection of this prominent editor's letters, mostly to her authors and colleagues about their writing/illustrating/publishing projects. Funny, supportive, acerbic, delightful, and offering a lot of insight into the publishing world of the time.
What I liked about this collection of letters is the way UN's wry wit was always in evidence. It was fun to read some of the letters to authors I know and love.
What I didn't like was the lack of context, the disconnected nature of only getting one side of the conversation.
What drove me crazy is maybe only something I don't understand, perhaps some scholarly convention- but I found it maddening that the editor assigned "short" names to some of the authors as if he would be referring to them show more by these compressed names but then continued to use the whole name, followed by the shortened version in parentheses throughout.
In summation I see the merit of a book of letters but I'd have been much, much happier with a biography. show less
What I didn't like was the lack of context, the disconnected nature of only getting one side of the conversation.
What drove me crazy is maybe only something I don't understand, perhaps some scholarly convention- but I found it maddening that the editor assigned "short" names to some of the authors as if he would be referring to them show more by these compressed names but then continued to use the whole name, followed by the shortened version in parentheses throughout.
In summation I see the merit of a book of letters but I'd have been much, much happier with a biography. show less
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- Works
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- Members
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- Popularity
- #35,475
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 14
- ISBNs
- 10