# Jean Merrill > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jean_Merrill > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jean_Merrill.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Merrill > Source revision: 1287556122 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American children's writer}} {{for|the Canadian photographer|Jean Gainfort Merrill}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2012}} {{Infobox writer | name = Jean Merrill | image = JeanMerrill.png | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|1|27}} | birth_place = [Rochester, New York](/source/Rochester%2C_New_York), U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|08|02|1923|1|27}} | death_place = [Randolph, Vermont](/source/Randolph%2C_Vermont) | occupation = Writer, editor | period = | genre = [Children's novels](/source/Children's_novels) }} '''Jean Merrill''' (January 27, 1923{{spaced ndash}}August 2, 2012) was an American writer of children's books and editor, known best for ''[The Pushcart War](/source/The_Pushcart_War)'', a novel published in 1964. She died from [cancer](/source/cancer) at her home in [Randolph, Vermont](/source/Randolph%2C_Vermont), in 2012, aged 89.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/books/jean-merrill-childrens-book-writer-dies-at-89.html |title=Jean Merrill, a Writer of Children's Underdog Tales, Dies at 89 |author=Paul Vitello |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 11, 2012 |access-date=2012-08-11}} == Early life and personal life == Merrill was born on January 27, 1923, in [Rochester, New York](/source/Rochester%2C_New_York), to Earl and Elsie Almetta Merrill. She grew up on the shores of [Lake Ontario](/source/Lake_Ontario) in [Webster, New York](/source/Webster%2C_New_York) (now a suburb of Rochester).{{cite web | last = Jalowitz | first = Alan | title = Biography for Jean Merrill | publisher = Pennsylvania Center for the Book, The Pennsylvania State University | year = 2001 | url = https://secureapps.libraries.psu.edu/PACFTB/bios/biography.cfm?AuthorID=1568 | access-date = 2008-07-31 | archive-date = August 26, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160826150915/https://secureapps.libraries.psu.edu/PACFTB/bios/biography.cfm?AuthorID=1568 | url-status = dead }} Merrill received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Theatre in 1944 from [Allegheny College](/source/Allegheny_College) in [Meadville, Pennsylvania](/source/Meadville%2C_Pennsylvania) and was inducted into the [Phi Beta Kappa](/source/Phi_Beta_Kappa) Society. She received her master's degree from [Wellesley College](/source/Wellesley_College) in 1945. [Ronni Solbert](/source/Ronni_Solbert) was her illustrator and companion for almost 50 years.{{cite web |last1=Vitello |first1=Paul |title=Jean Merrill, a Writer of Children's Underdog Tales, Dies at 89 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/books/jean-merrill-childrens-book-writer-dies-at-89.html?_r=0 |work=New York Times |date=August 11, 2012 |access-date=February 26, 2020}} ==Editor== After leaving Wellesley, Merrill was an editor for [Scholastic](/source/Scholastic_Corporation) Magazines from 1945 to 1949. She subsequently edited at Literary Cavalcade from 1950 to 1957. Starting in 1952, Merrill held a [Fulbright Fellowship](/source/Fulbright_Program) at the [University of Madras](/source/University_of_Madras) in India. Her folklore studies in India would lead her to write a number of stories based on Asian folklore: ''Shan's Lucky Knife'' (1960, based on a Burmese folktale), ''The Superlative Horse'' (1961, based on a Chinese folktale), and ''The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars'' (1992, based on [a Japanese tale](/source/The_Lady_who_Loved_Insects)). From 1965 to 1971, Merrill worked as an editor and consultant at the Publications Division of the Bank Street College of Education.{{cite web | author= | title = Jean Merrill Papers | publisher=[de Grummond Children's Literature Collection](/source/de_Grummond_Children's_Literature_Collection). The University of Southern Mississippi | date = June 2001 | url = http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/degrum/public_html/html/research/findaids/merrill,jean.htm | access-date = 2013-06-22 }} With biographical sketch. ==Writer== Merrill started writing books while working at Literary Cavalcade, including ''Henry, The Hand-Painted Mouse'' (1951) and ''The Woover'' (1952). Merrill received the [Lewis Carroll Shelf Award](/source/Lewis_Carroll_Shelf_Award) in 1963 for ''The Superlative Horse''. In 1964, Merrill published her best-known work, ''[The Pushcart War](/source/The_Pushcart_War)'', for which she won her second Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, in 1965. Set in New York, the book was written in the style of a historical report from the future, looking back at earlier events from a class warfare struggle between trucking companies and pushcart owners. Alberta Eiseman of ''The New York Times'' wrote that "it's rare to find a book for young people with both a point of view and a sense of the ridiculous." The book has been reissued a number of times, with the dates adjusted to keep it set in the future. In 2006, a musical adaptation was presented by Edric Haleen in [Holt, Michigan](/source/Holt%2C_Michigan). Merrill published ''The Black Sheep'' in 1969. In ''The New York Times Book Review'', [Natalie Babbitt](/source/Natalie_Babbitt) wrote that "her fable is a satisfying sandwich in which the peanut butter, sticky and nourishing, slides down with ease due to judicious use of jelly." This was followed in 1972 by ''[The Toothpaste Millionaire](/source/The_Toothpaste_Millionaire)''. Set in East Cleveland, the story relates how a Caucasian sixth-grader girl who just moved into town becomes friends with her neighbor and classmate, an African-American boy entrepreneur, and becomes rich by selling their home-made toothpaste. In 1974, an ABC afternoon special was based on ''The Toothpaste Millionaire.'' ''The Toothpaste Millionaire'' has been used in the classroom to integrate lessons from a number of different subject areas: entrepreneurship, marketing, manufacturing of toothpaste, and the social issues associated with race in the story's setting. {{cite web | author=Jennifer Sinsel | title = Integrating Science and Literacy Through Novel Studies | publisher=Lesson Planet | date = 2010-04-15 | url = http://www.lessonplanet.com/directory_articles/elementary_science_lesson_plans/14_April_2010/335/integrating_science_and_literacy_through_novel_studies | access-date = 2010-04-15 }} In 1992, Merrill published ''The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars'', based on a [12th-century Japanese tale](/source/The_Lady_who_Loved_Insects). True to the original manuscript, whose ending had been lost, the story ends abruptly. Books had a great impact on Merrill as a child, which motivated her to try to write children's stories that would have a similar effect. Her books often illustrate universal human values serving to resolve conflict. Most of her books were illustrated by her partner of over 50 years, Ronni Solbert. ==Bibliography== {{expand list|date=August 2012}} * ''Henry, The Hand-Painted Mouse.'' New York: Coward-McCann, 1951. * ''The Woover.'' New York: Coward-McCann, 1952. * ''Boxes.'' New York: Coward-McCann, 1953. * ''Shan's Lucky Knife: A Burmese Folk Tale.'' New York: W.R. Scott, 1960. * ''The Superlative Horse: A Tale of Ancient China.'' New York: W.R. Scott, 1961. * ''[The Pushcart War](/source/The_Pushcart_War)'' New York: W.R. Scott, 1964. * ''The Travels of Marco.'' New York: Knopf Books for Younger Readers, 1965 * ''The Elephant Who Liked to Smash Small Cars.'' New York: Pantheon, 1967. * ''The Black Sheep.'' New York: Pantheon, 1969. * ''[The Toothpaste Millionaire](/source/The_Toothpaste_Millionaire)'' Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972. * ''The Bumper Sticker Book'' Chicago: A. Whitman, 1973. * ''Maria's House'' New York: Atheneum, 1974. * ''The Girl who Loved Caterpillars: A Twelfth-Century Tale from Japan.'' New York: HarperCollins, 1992. ==See also== {{Portal bar |Children's literature }} ==Notes== {{Reflist |25em}} ==References== * Babbitt, Natalie. Rev. of The Black Sheep, by Jean Merrill. ''[The New York Times Book Review](/source/The_New_York_Times_Book_Review)'' Oct 26, 1969: 42. * Boegehold, Betty. "Merrill, Jean (Fairbanks)". ''St. James Guide to Children's Writers''. 5th ed. Eds. Sara Pendergast & Tom Pendergast. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999. 742–44. * Eiseman, Alberta. Rev. of The Pushcart War, by Jean Merrill. ''The New York Times'' Jul 12, 1964: BR18. * Rev. of The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars, by Jean Merrill. ''[Kirkus Reviews](/source/Kirkus_Reviews)'' (Sep 15, 1992): 1191. * Rev. of The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars, by Jean Merrill. ''[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)'' (Oct 12, 1992): 78. * Haviland, Virginia. Rev. of The Toothpaste Millionaire, by Jean Merrill. ''[The Horn Book Magazine](/source/The_Horn_Book_Magazine)'' (Oct 1974): 137. * Hearne, Betsy. Rev. of The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars, by Jean Merrill. ''Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books'' (Nov 1992): 82. * Hughes, Mike. "''The Pushcart War'' Debuts at Holt High Auditorium". ''Lansing State Journal'' Jul 26, 2006: 1D+. * "Jean (Fairbanks) Merrill". The Gale Literary Database: Contemporary Authors Online. Feb 13, 2001. Nov 24, 2006. . * McClelland, Kate. Rev. of The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars, by Jean Merrill. ''[School Library Journal](/source/School_Library_Journal)'' (Sep. 1992): 269. * "New Fiction from Our Autumn List". ''[Times Literary Supplement](/source/Times_Literary_Supplement)'' Nov 23, 1973: 1428. * Perrin, Noel. "The Harder They Fall". Rev. of The Pushcart War, by Jean Merrill. ''[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)'' Jan 14, 1990: x11+. * Rev. of The Toothpaste Millionaire, by Jean Merrill. ''[Booklist](/source/Booklist)'' (July 15, 1974): 1254. * Viguers, Ruth Hill. Rev. of The Pushcart War, by Jean Merrill. ''The Horn Book Magazine'' (Aug 1964): 378. ==External links== * [https://lccn.loc.gov/n50036907 Jean Merrill] at [Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress) Authorities — with 29 catalog records {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Jean}} Category:1923 births Category:2012 deaths Category:People from Webster, New York Category:Writers from New York (state) Category:People from Randolph, Vermont Category:Writers from Vermont Category:21st-century American women writers Category:Allegheny College alumni Category:Wellesley College alumni Category:American children's writers Category:American women children's writers Category:American LGBTQ writers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jean Merrill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Merrill) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Merrill?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.