Elizabeth Enright: The Storyteller of Summer and Garden Magic

September 17, 1907 

Dearest readers,

On this day, we celebrate the birth of Elizabeth Enright, a luminous American author, illustrator, and beloved creative writing teacher whose tales have beckoned readers of all ages into worlds of wonder and warmth.

Born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1907 and nurtured by the artistic spirit of her mother, a magazine illustrator, and her father, a political cartoonist, Elizabeth’s destiny was sewn with threads of imagination and charm.

Elizabeth began her career as an illustrator, crafting delightful images for children’s books in the 1930s, but it was her deft storytelling that would truly win hearts. Her first authored book, Kintu: A Congo Adventure (1935), showcased her narrative talent and paved the way for a remarkable literary legacy.

In 1938, Elizabeth Enright enchanted the world with Thimble Summer, a tender coming-of-age story set on a Wisconsin farm during the Great Depression.

The book’s gentle magic and heartfelt portrayal of childhood earned her the prestigious 1939 Newbery Medal, making her one of its youngest recipients.

Her work would continue to captivate through her celebrated Melendy family series, beginning with The Saturdays (1941) and including the beloved Then There Were Five (1944).

In the third Melendy novel, Then There Were Five, Elizabeth conjures a vivid autumnal scene:

“The mullein had finished blooming and stood up out of the pastures like dusty candelabra.

The flowers of Queen Anne's lace had curled up into birds' nests, and the bee balm was covered with little crown-shaped pods. In another month -- no, two, maybe -- would come the season of the skeletons, when all that was left of the weeds was their brittle architecture.

But the time was not yet.

The air was warm and bright, the grass was green, and the leaves and the lazy monarch butterflies were everywhere.”

Elizabeth’s prose dances effortlessly between the delight of childhood and the quiet transformations of nature, inviting readers not only to observe but to immerse themselves fully in the slow, sweet artistry of changing seasons. Her writing honors the tender spaces between green leaves and the stories whispered by pastures and pods.

Her literary gifts extended beyond children’s books; she also penned short stories for adults, contributed articles to prestigious magazines, and taught creative writing at Barnard College.

Her words and artistry continue to inspire readers to find magic in everyday moments, to cherish family bonds, and to roam gardens both real and imagined.