Ursula Nordstrom

 ( 1910 Births ) 

The first book Nordstrom edited and published was E. B. White's Stuart Little in 1945, and she would go on to edit several more classics of children's literature, including Charlotte's Web (1952), Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon (1947), Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955), Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur (1958), Karla Kuskin's Roar and More (1956), and Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974).

In 1950, Nordstrom met Maurice Sendak, who was then working as a window decorator at FAO Schwarz. She was drawn to his "naughty" characters and the complex journeys they embarked on, and helped publish Where the Wild Things Are in 1963 after it was rejected by other publishing houses. Nordstrom would serve as a lifelong mentor and friend to Sendak; after her death, he told The New York Times, "With her incomparable editorial genius, Ursula Nordstrom transformed the American children's book into a genuine art form."

Nordstrom disliked the genteel, sentimental tone of American children's literature and sought to bring children crimes and punishments of fellow miscreants with books like Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are and Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy and The Long Secret. Her unorthodox outlook on publishing and lack of educational pedigree is best summed up by her motto “good books for bad children." This approach often garnered criticism from other publishers and children's librarians, most notably Anne Carroll Moore of the New York Public Library. Many of Nordstrom's publications featured taboo themes and subjects, such as menstruation, same-sex relationships, and racism, and continue to be the target of book ban campaigns today. At some point, she was offered a "promotion" to the adult literature department of Harper, but refused due to her belief that publishing children's books was more interesting and important. She was known as a stubborn but welcoming editor; she disliked both "stuffy" and babyish language, and understood the literary impact that seemingly simple texts for children could have.

Nordstrom and her authors and illustrators felt that the best book is a fruit of a good working relationship between author and illustrator, which gave way to partnerships between Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak and Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd. Other authors she edited included Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charlotte Zolotow, John Steptoe, Marijane Meaker, and Arnold Lobel.

In 1957, Nordstrom edited two books that received major awards: Janice May Udry's A Tree is Nice received the Caldecott Medal, and Meindert DeJong's The Wheel on the School was awarded the Newbery Medal. Another double victory occurred in 1964, when Emily Neville's It's Like This, Cat and Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are were awarded the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal, respectively. She is also credited with developing an innovative children's literature genre, sometimes called "concept books" or independent readers, designed for children who have just begun reading on their own. In 1957, she introduced this genre with the I Can Read Books series.

In 1960, Nordstrom published her own children's book, The Secret Language, about a young girl's experiences at a boarding school, possibly based on her own childhood. The book was received positively, despite its inclusion of implicit conversations about lesbian sexuality, and was reprinted in 1988. According to children's literature historian, Leonard S. Marcus, Nordstrom may have written a sequel titled The Secret Choice, but could not decide on the book's ending and ultimately burned the manuscript.

Nordstrom stepped down as publisher in 1973, but continued on as senior editor with her own imprint, Ursula Nordstrom Books, until her retirement in 1979. She was succeeded at Harper's by her protege, author Charlotte Zolotow, who began her career as Nordstrom's Shorthand and to whom The Secret Language was dedicated.