For The Munschkins: Canadian Children's Lit
Four of Canada’s Best Writers for Children and Young Adults
Jan 12, 2009
Canadian authors Robert Munsch, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Kit Pearson and Leslie McFarlane have played a major role in shaping our childhood and will keep the love of literature alive in generations to come.
Robert Munsch
In the last thirty years, Canadian Kid-Lit King, Robert Munsch has published more than 40 books and anthologies. He is considered one of the best children’s authors in the Americas and has sold over 30 million books, the highest of any other Canadian author.
Munsch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but moved to Guelph, Ontario after university. He worked in childcare centres where his stories were first heard. Some of Munsch’s most popular books include Mud Puddle (1979), The Paperback Princess (1980), Love You Forever (1986), Pigs (1989), A Promise is a Promise (1992), Andrew’s Loose Tooth (1999) and Smelly Socks (2004).
In August 2008 Munsch suffered a stroke, which has put his writing career on hold. He still makes appearances at festivals and elementary schools and will hopefully make a full recovery.
Lucy Maud Montgomery
L.M. Montgomery is best known for her lovable red headed character Anne, from Anne of Green Gables. Written in 1908, Anne of Green Gables sparked international fame and success for the Canadian born and bred author.
Montgomery lived in several different parts of Canada including Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Ontario. She worked as a teacher and a writer, publishing several short stories before writing Anne of Green Gables. Anne of Avonlea (1909), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne’s House of Dreams (1917), Anne of Windy Poplars (1917)and Anne of Ingleside (1919)followed. She also wrote several other books including Emily of New Moon (1923), Pat of Silver Bush (1932), and Jane of Lantern Hill (1937).
L.M. Montgomery died in 1942; however, 100 years after she wrote Anne of Green Gables, her legend continues.
Kit Pearson
Many young girls across the world grew into adolescence with Kit Pearson’s books. Kathleen Margaret “Kit” Pearson was born in Edmonton, Alberta and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. She remains a Canadian resident, currently living in Victoria, British Columbia.
She has written several books, most directed at young women. Her first book, The Daring Game, was published in 1986. She won the Children’s Book of the Year Award for both A Handful of Time in 1987 and The Sky is Falling in 1989. Other titles include The Singing Basket (1990), Looking at the Moon (1991), The Lights Go On Again (1993), The War Guests Trilogy (1999) and A Perfect Gentle Knight (2007). Her 1996 Awake and Dreaming won her the Governor General’s Award.
Leslie McFarlane
What Kit Pearson was to young girls, Leslie McFarlane was to young boys. Charles Leslie McFarlane, writing under the name Franklin W Dixon, is the writer behind the famous Hardy Boys series.
McFarlane was born and raised in Ontario before moving to Boston as a newspaper reporter. It was there he started his Hardy Boys stint, ghostwriting book after book in order to pay the bills and support his family. According to his daughter, McFarlane would make as little as $85 per book and considered them a nuisance. Every time he finished writing one, he would profess never to write another juvenile book again.
He was accredited with writing 21 Hardy Boys in total, including The Tower Treasure (1927), Hunting for Hidden Gold (1928), The Great Airport Mystery (1930), The Hidden Harbor Mystery (1935), The Flickering Torch Mystery (1943) and The Secret-Panel (1946).
McFarlane also ghost wrote several books for the Dave Fearless series and The Dana Girls series under the pseudonyms Roy Rockwood and Carolyn Keene. He died in 1977.
The fun doesn’t stop here because there are plenty more Canadian children’s authors to explore, including Jean Little, Eric Wilson, Kevin Major, Thomas King, Margaret Atwood, Gary Baldwin, William E Bell, Karleen Bradford and Michael Kusugak.
