Former teacher Marcia Brown became an internationally renowned author and illustrator of children’s books. Photo Credit: University of Albany
Many talented educators earn recognition for achievements outside their classrooms. Marcia Joan Brown is a excellent example of this. She is an internationally renowned author and illustrator of children’s books. Marcia has published over 30 books in her lifetime, and she is a three-time winner of the coveted Caldecott Medal, the highest award for excellence in children’s picture book illustrations bestowed by the American Library Association.
Marcia Brown was born in Rochester, New York, on July 13, 1918, one of three daughters of the Reverend Clarence Edward and Adelaide Elizabeth (Zimber) Brown. As a young child, Marcia lived in several small towns in upstate New York, including Cooperstown and Kingston, as her father moved from one ministerial post to another. She was raised in a family that supported artistic expression, and she decided at an early age to become an artist. In a videotaped interview in 1996, Marcia reminisced about the books and artworks in her local public library in Cooperstown, New York, that nurtured her sense of wonder and joy in beautiful things when she was a child.
After her high school graduation in 1936, Marcia enrolled in New York State College for Teachers (NYSCT), the University at Albany’s predecessor, where she majored in English and Drama. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1940. While in college, Marcia’s literary and artistic talents blossomed, and she made numerous contributions to the college’s literary and humor magazines.
After graduating from NYSCT, Marcia accepted her first position as a high school teacher at Cornwall High School in New York City. In 1943, she began working in the New York Public Library’s Central Children’s Room. She spent the next six years gaining valuable experience as a storyteller, while also delving into the library’s extensive international and historical collections. She published her first four books while working in the library’s Central Children’s Room.
During her long career as a writer and illustrator, Marcia produced over 30 children’s books, and many of her titles have been reprinted in other languages, including Afrikaans, German, Japanese, Spanish, and Xhosa-Bantu. Critics have marveled at her use of spare texts, strong images, and a variety of media, including woodcuts, pen and ink, and gouache. Her characters are described as lively, humorous, magical, and enchanting, and they include handsome princes, sly cats, evil sorcerers, flying elephants, and snow queens.
From 1955 to 1983 Brown won a total of three Caldecott Medals. This award is bestowed annually by the American Library Association to the illustrator of the year’s “most distinguished American picture book for children.” She had been a runner-up six times from 1948 to 1954, and those six books have also been designated Caldecott Honor Books. Marcia also garnered a Regina Medal in 1977 from the Catholic Libraries Association for “continued, distinguished contribution to children’s literature without regard to the nature of the contribution,” and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal in 1992 from the American Library Association for her “substantial and lasting contributions to children’s literature.”
In her last years, Marcia Brown lived in Laguna Hills, California, where she passed away on April 28, 2015. She was 96 years old.