Myrtle Sheldon (19 January 1893 – 24 November 1939) was an American illustrator of children’s books.

A Child's Garden of Verses (1916) cover

Sheldon was born in Menomonee, Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States and died in Cold Spring, New York. She was married to Fridolin Joseph Blumer. Her mother was Estelle Keeler, and her father was J. B. Sheldon.[1] She illustrated many children's books, some without attribution at the time of publication. Those publicly credited include A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, Ellen Tarry's Janie Belle, and the 1932 Newbery Honor-winning children's book Boy of the South Seas by Eunice Tietjens. Tarry’s work was particularly notable, as Janie Belle was one of the first children’s picture books with an African-American author published in the United States.[2]

Actress Kathy Bates listed the Stevenson book as one of her favorites and lauded Sheldon's drawings.[3]

Works

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Works illustrated by Sheldon include:

References

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  1. ^ Sheldon, Myrtle. "LC Catalog - Browse". catalog.loc.gov. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Tarry, Ellen (April 30, 1992). The Third Door: The Autobiography of an American Negro Woman. University of Alabama Press. pp. 150–151. ISBN 9780817305796. Retrieved June 7, 2020 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Kathy Bates's Favorite Books of All-Time". Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  4. ^ Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock; Sheldon, Myrtle (1910). The little lame prince. M.A. Donohue. OCLC 24870253.
  5. ^ Stevenson, Robert Louis. "A Child's Garden of Verses". www.gutenberg.org. The Project Gutenberg eBook. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  6. ^ "Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present". American Library Association. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  7. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [A] Group 1. Books. New Series. United States Copyright Office. December 5, 1941. p. 2078 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [A] Group 1. Books. New Series. United States Copyright Office. 1941. p. 5361. Retrieved June 7, 2020 – via Google Books.