Munro Leaf
Munro Leaf was an influential American author and educator, best known for his contributions to children's literature, particularly his classic book, "The Story of Ferdinand." Born on December 4, 1905, in Hamilton, Maryland, Leaf had a fulfilling childhood in Washington, D.C., and pursued higher education at the University of Maryland and Harvard University. He began his career in publishing after working as a teacher and coach, eventually becoming a director and editor at F.A. Stokes Company.
Leaf's unique storytelling ability was highlighted in "The Story of Ferdinand," which features a gentle bull who prefers flowers over bullfighting, resonating with themes of pacifism. Despite facing some criticism and even being banned in Nazi Germany, the book became an immediate bestseller, selling over 2.5 million copies and being translated into multiple languages. Throughout his life, Leaf published numerous works and served in the Army during World War II, later promoting literacy worldwide through State Department initiatives. He passed away on December 21, 1976, leaving a lasting legacy in children's literature, with his works continuing to be celebrated today.
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Subject Terms
Munro Leaf
Author
- Born: December 4, 1905
- Birthplace: Hamilton, Maryland
- Died: December 21, 1976
- Place of death: Garrett Park, Maryland
Biography
Wilson Munro Leaf was born on December 4, 1905, in Hamilton, Maryland. His parents were Charles Wilbur Leaf and Emma India Gillespie Leaf. Leaf grew up in Washington, D.C., and had a happy childhood. He attended the University of Maryland, played on the varsity lacrosse team, and graduated in 1927. He had married Margaret Butler Pope in 1926. The couple had two sons, Andrew and James.
Leaf completed a master’s degree in English literature at Harvard University, working as a teaching assistant and coaching football at a Boston high school. He spent one summer in England on a book-buying trip for Harvard’s Widener Library. In 1929, he became a teacher and coach at a school in nearby Belmont, Massachusetts, and he spent the 1931-1932 academic year teaching and coaching in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
Still unsure about what he wanted to do, he moved with Margaret to New York in the fall of 1932, and he joined the Bobbs-Merrill publishing company as a manuscript reader. Several months later he joined the F.A. Stokes Company as director and editor, having found his life’s work in book publishing. In 1934 he began writing. His first book was Grammar Can Be Fun, illustrated by the author. Leaf’s first four trade books were self-illustrated and were moderately successful, but it was his first collaboration with the illustrator Robert Lawson, The Story of Ferdinand, that made him famous.
The Story of Ferdinand is the humorous story of a bull who would rather smell flowers than enter the bullfight ring. The book was an immediate best seller, although it drew some controversy. Some readers objected to its pacifist subtext, and the book was banned in Nazi Germany. Leaf published an average of two books a year for the next six years, and slowed his pace only slightly from 1942 to 1946, when he was serving in the Army during World War II. He served in the American and European theaters, and left the army as a major.
In 1960, after his sons had grown, Leaf was appointed by the State Department to travel around the world and speak to librarians and teachers about literacy. Leaf and his wife visited more than twenty countries in four years. He continued to publish a book every few years during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Leaf died of cancer on December 21, 1976, at the age of seventy- one.
The Story of Ferdinand is considered a classic of children’s literature, and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time. It has been translated into sixteen languages and sold more than two and a half million copies, and it was made into a film by the Walt Disney Company in 1938. It was issued as a Reading Raliroad book in 2000, with watercolor added to Lawson’s black-and-white illustrations. Wee Gillis, also illustrated by Lawson, was a runner-up for the Caldecott Medal in 1939.