Evangel Allena Champlin Best (January 4, 1892 – February 1974), better known by her pen name Erick Berry, was an American author, illustrator and editor.[2]

Erick Berry
A smiling woman in a short-sleeved shirt and pants sits on a chair with what appears to be a typewriter on her lap
BornAllena Champlin
(1892-01-04)January 4, 1892[1]
New Bedford, Massachusetts
DiedFebruary 1974 (aged 82)
OccupationWriter, illustrator
NationalityAmerican
GenreChildren's literature
Notable works
SpouseHerbert Best

Early and personal life edit

Berry was born on January 4, 1892, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She was married at least twice, the second time to fellow writer Herbert Best. She derived her pen name from her interest in Eric Pape and the surname of her first husband.[3] Berry died in February 1974 at the age of 82.

Career edit

Berry published many children's books from the 1930s to the 60s, and worked as an author, illustrator, and editor. Perhaps the most popular book she wrote was 1933's Winged Girl of Knossos, which she also illustrated. It won a Newbery Honor in 1934. In that year, Anne Dempster Kyle's The Apprentice of Florence, illustrated by Berry, won the same award. She also illustrated several of her husband Best's works, one of which, Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes, also won a Newbery Honor. She also edited at least one publication, Walter and Marion Havighurst's 1949 children's historical novel Song of the Pines.

Bibliography edit

As author edit

As sole author edit

  • Girls in Africa: 1928 (also illustrated)[4]
  • Penny-whistle: 1930 (also illustrated)[5]
  • Humbo the Hippo and Little-Boy-Bumbo: 1932 (also illustrated)[6]
  • Winged Girl of Knossos: 1933 (also illustrated)
  • Cynthia Steps Out: 1937[7]
  • Homespun: 1937 (illustrated by Harold von Schmidt)
  • Honey of the Nile: 1938 (also illustrated)
  • Hudson Frontier: 1942 (also illustrated)
  • Sybil Ludington's Ride: 1952 (also illustrated)
  • Hay-Foot, Straw-Foot: 1954 (also illustrated)
  • Green Door to the Sea: 1955 (also illustrated)
  • Horses for the General: 1956 (also illustrated)
  • The Land and People of Finland: 1959
  • The Land and People of Iceland: 1959
  • The Four Londons of William Hogarth: 1964
  • You Have Got to Go Out: The Story of the United States Coast Guard: 1964
  • Mr. Arctic: An Account of Vilhjalmur Stefansson: 1966
  • The Springing of the Rice: A Story of Thailand: 1966 (illustrated by John Kaufmann)
  • When Wagon Trains Rolled to Santa Fe: 1966 (illustrated by Charles Waterhouse)
  • The Magic Banana and Other Polynesian Tales: 1968 (illustrated by Nicholas Amorosi)
  • A World Explorer: Fridtjof Nansen: 1969 (illustrated by William Hutchinson)

With Herbert Best edit

  • Concertina Farm: 1943
  • Men Who Changed the Map: 1968
  • The Polynesian Triangle: 1968

As illustrator edit

Books by Herbert Best edit

  • Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes: 1930
  • Tal of the Four Tribes: 1938
  • Gunsmith's Boy: 1942
  • The Long Portage: A Story of Ticonderoga and Lord Howe: 1948
  • Not Without Danger: 1951
  • The Columbus Cannon: 1954
  • Underwater Warriors: Story of the American Frogmen: 1967

Books by other authors edit

As editor edit

References edit

  1. ^ Kaser, James A. (2014). The New Orleans of Fiction: A Research Guide. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-8108-9204-0.
  2. ^ "ERICK BERRY PAPERS". University of Southern Mississippi. June 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  3. ^ "Erick Berry (1892–1974)". Pony Mad Book Lovers. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  4. ^ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(text) Girls in Africa, (1928)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  5. ^ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(text) Penny-whistle, (1930)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  6. ^ "Humbo the Hippo and Little-Boy-Bumbo".
  7. ^ "Cynthia Steps Out by Evangel Allena Champlin Best at Project Gutenberg". Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  8. ^ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(text) Araminta, (1935)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  9. ^ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(text) Jerome Anthony, (1936)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation. Retrieved June 13, 2018.

External links edit