Eleanor Estes

Children's Author

Birthday May 9, 1906

Birth Sign Taurus

Birthplace West Haven, CT

DEATH DATE Jul 15, 1988 (82)

#200,385 Most Popular

About

Children's author who wrote nearly two dozen books and won the Newbery Medal for her 1951 work, Ginger Pye. Her other works include The Moffats, The Hundred Dresses, and Pinky Pye.

Before Fame

She worked as a children's librarian in New Haven, Connecticut and later won a scholarship to the Pratt Institute's library school. She published the first book in her popular Moffats series in 1941.

Trivia

She had an early hit with The Moffats, a book that told the story of four children who lived in a small Connecticut town around the turn of the 20th century.

Family Life

She grew up in West Haven, Connecticut as one of four children. She married librarian Rice Estes, and the couple had a daughter named Helena.

Associated With

Kevin Henkes was another Newbery Medal winner (for his children's book, Olive's Ocean).