Rebecca Caudill | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1899-02-02)February 2, 1899 Poor Fork, nowCumberland, Kentucky |
| Died | October 2, 1985(1985-10-02) (aged 86) |
| Occupation | Writer, editor, teacher |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | M.A. International Relations |
| Alma mater | Wesleyan College |
| Period | 1943–? |
| Genre | Appalachian fiction,Children's literature |
| Notable works | Tree of Freedom A Pocketful of Cricket Barrie and Daughter The Far-off Land Susan Cornish |
| Spouse | James Sterling Ayars (1931) |
Rebecca Caudill Ayars (February 2, 1899 – October 2, 1985) was anAmerican writer ofchildren's literature. More than twenty of her books were published.Tree of Freedom (Viking, 1949) was aNewbery Honor Book in 1950.A Pocketful of Cricket (Holt, 1964), illustrated byEvaline Ness, was aCaldecott Honor Book.
Caudill was one of eleven children in the family of Susan and George Caudill ofHarlan County, Kentucky. She was born in Poor Fork, nowCumberland, Kentucky.[1] She graduated fromWesleyan College inMacon, Georgia, and then taught English and history 1920–21 at Sumner County High School,Portland, Tennessee. In 1922 she received her master's degree in International Relations fromVanderbilt University. She taughtEnglish as a second language (ESL) in Brazil for two years and then returned to Tennessee where she worked briefly as an editor forAbingdon Press, theMethodist Churchpublishing house inNashville. She moved to Chicago for a job in a publishing house, and she married James Sterling Ayars in 1931. They moved toUrbana, Illinois in 1937 with their two children.
Caudill's first book,Barrie and Daughter (Viking, 1943), came from memories of her childhood in the hill country of Kentucky and Tennessee. Most of her children's books brought alive thepioneer era of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, evoking the culture ofAppalachia she loved. She wrote in her memoir: "Doors in the houses of my Appalachia were never locked against friend or stranger. The people found their pleasures in the simple things of life. They possessed a kind of profound wisdom, characteristic of those who live close to Nature, who walk in step with Nature's rhythm, and who depend on Nature for life itself."[2]
She was the co-founder of theChampaign-Urbana Peace Council; created the hospitality program for international students at Wesleyan College; and served on theboards of trustees for thePine Mountain Settlement School in Harlan County and theUrbana Free Library in Illinois. She also taught many writing workshops.
Many of these works are translated into at least five other languages besides English.
See theScholastics.com website for a list of Caudill's books by interest level, genre/theme and grade level equivalency.
In the fall of 1963, the University of Kentucky, Southeast Center honored her with Rebecca Caudill Day. Harlan County's first community library was located inCumberland, Kentucky, and in 1965 it was named theRebecca Caudill Public Library in her honor.[3]
Rebecca Caudill was inducted into The Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame at an induction ceremony on Thursday, January 23, 2014, at the Carnegie Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Caudill was the Kentucky Hall of Fame's first children's author.[4]
TheRebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award (RCYRBA) is named in honor of Caudill and her contributions to children's literature. The schoolchildren in her adopted state of Illinois,Grade 4 toGrade 8, vote each year for their favorite of twenty nominees.
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