Dorothy Lathrop

1891 - 1980

Author & Illustrator


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Dorothy Pulis Lathrop
 Dorothy Pulis Lathrop was born April 16, 1891 in Albany, New York.  She was the first person to receive the American Library Association's Caldecott Medal (for her illustrations in Animals of the Bible).  She began illustrating books in 1918 while she was still teaching art at Albany High School.  Japanese Prints by John Gould was the first book she illustrated but unfortunately the Four Seasons publishing company went bankrupt before it could buy her illustrations.  During her career, she illustrated the works of a number of well-known children's authors: Walter de la Mare, George MacDonald, Sara Teasdale, and Rachel Field.  In 1931, Louise Seaman Bechtel of Macmillan publishing company encouraged Dorothy Lathrop to begin writing her own children's books.  Her career as both an author and an illustrated was then launched in 1931 when Macmillan published The Fairy Circus.

Photograph from Something About the Author (Commire, 1978, p. 116).

Awards
  • Caldecott Award, American Library Association, 1938
  • Eyre Medal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1941
  • Library of Congress prize, 1946
Selected Works
  • Three Mulla-Mulgars, written by Walter de la Mare, Knopf, 1919
  • Light Princess, written by George MacDonald, Macmillan, 1926
  • Stars Tonight, written by Sara Teasdale, Macmillan, 1930
  • Hitty, written by Rachel Field, Macmillan, 1930 - Newbery Award Book
  • The Fairy Circus, Macmillan, 1931
  • Animals of the Bible, written by Helen D. Fish, F. A. Stokes, 1937
  • Puppies for Keeps, Macmillan, 1943
  • The Littlest Mouse, Macmillan, 1955
  • The Dog in the Tapestry Garden, Macmillan, 1962
Bibliography
  • Commire, A. (Ed). (1978). Lathrop, Dorothy P(ulis). In Something about the author (Vol. 14, pp. 116-120). Detroit, MI: Gale Research.
  • Commire, A. (Ed). (1981a). Lathrop, Dorothy P(ulis). In Something about the author (Vol. 24, p.140). Detroit, MI: Gale Research.

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Last Modified: May 6, 2002