Marguerite de Angeli
Marguerite de Angeli was a notable American author and illustrator of children's literature, born Marguerite Lofft on March 14, 1889, in Lapeer, Michigan. Growing up, she developed a passion for music and literature, influenced by her family's artistic interests. After marrying John de Angeli in 1910, she shifted her focus from music to art, particularly after being encouraged by her drawing teacher. De Angeli began her prolific career in the 1930s, illustrating magazine articles and publishing her first book, "Ted and Nina Go to the Grocery Store," in 1935, which was inspired by her children. She gained significant popularity in the 1940s and 1950s, with works that often depicted family life and historical narratives, including her award-winning book, "The Door in the Wall," which received the Newbery Medal in 1950. Additionally, her illustrations earned acclaim, with works like "The Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes" receiving a Caldecott Honor. De Angeli's stories often reflect themes of community, family, and historical experiences, particularly highlighting the Amish and Quaker cultures. She passed away on June 16, 1987, leaving behind a legacy as a beloved figure in children's literature.
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Marguerite de Angeli
Writer
- Born: March 14, 1889
- Birthplace: Lapeer, Michigan
- Died: June 16, 1987
- Place of death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Biography
Marguerite Lofft was born on March 14, 1889, in Lapeer, Michigan, the small town where her father had grown up. Her mother was Ruby Tuttle Lofft, and her father, a representative for a photography firm, was Shadrach George Lofft. She attended public school in Lapeer. In 1902, when she was thirteen, her family moved to Philadelphia, where she finished high school.
Lofft’s first passion was for music, and she earned five dollars a week singing in her church choir, but she was also an avid reader. The family owned large illustrated volumes of the Bible and Dante’s Inferno, and she spent hours studying the Gustave Doré illustrations even before she could read the texts. In 1910 she married John de Angeli, a representative for the Edison Phonograph Company in Toronto, and the couple settled in Canada. When World War I broke out in 1914, they moved to New Jersey to be nearer family. The couple had six children: Catherine, who died in infancy, John, Arthur, Nina, H. Edward and Maurice.
De Angeli began to study drawing in the early 1920’s when her first three children were young, and often used the children as models. When her teacher praised her talent and encouraged her to develop it, she gave up singing so that she could devote herself to art. For the rest of the decade she raised children and worked on her drawing. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, the family, like many others, lost its home and had to move several times. To supplement the family income, she began taking work illustrating articles for monthly magazines, and she tried her hand at writing for the first time.
In 1935, de Angeli published her first book, Ted and Nina Go to the Grocery Store, which she wrote and illustrated. Ted and Nina, based on two of de Angeli’s own children, returned in two later books. Soon de Angeli was a popular, successful, and happy writer and illustrator of children’s books, one of the most popular children’s authors of the 1940’s and 1950’s. In 1948 she traveled abroad for the first time, to do research for a book about medieval England, TheDoor in the Wall.
By 1951, de Angeli was a grandmother, and the warm relationship between two of her grandchildren was depicted in Just Like David. In addition to stories of happy family life, she also wrote historical fiction, and fiction about the Amish and Quaker people she met near Philadelphia. Her husband died in 1968, after they had been married for fifty-eight years. In 1979, Michigan observed her ninetieth birthday with an official Marguerite de Angeli Day. She died on June 16, 1987, in Philadelphia.
De Angeli won the Newbery award in 1950 for a historical novel, The Door in the Wall (1949), about a physically disabled child in medieval England. Black Fox of Lorne (1956) was a Newbery Honor Book. As an illustrator, she is best known for The Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes (1954), which was a Caldecott Honor Book, as was Yonie Wondernose (1944).