Caroline Scheaffer Arnold

Caroline Arnold (née Scheaffer; born May 16, 1944 ) is an American author of 170 books for children as well as an artist and the illustrator of many of her books. Her books primarily cover nonfiction topics such as animals, dinosaurs, human history and culturally notable places. She writes for ages ranging from preschool to middle school.

Caroline Arnold’s books have been translated into German, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, and Spanish. She has won numerous awards for her writing. This foundational period of her life inspired some of her writing, including Children of the Settlement Houses (Carolrhoda, 1998). During this period, Lester Scheaffer founded Camp Bovey for the youth of northeast Minneapolis. and subsequently received a Master's degree in studio art from the University of Iowa. As of 2023 she has illustrated 21 published works with drawings and cut paper art, and illustrated four with photographs.

As a young adult, Arnold lived in New York City, NY; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Millbrook, New York. She has two grown children.

Education Kindergarten through 4th grade — Holland Elementary School, Minneapolis, MN (1949-1953)

Awards Caroline Arnold has been recognized for her body of work with the 2008 Leo Politi Golden Author Award from California Readers, and the 2005 Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award. In addition, her books are frequently recognized with awards. Three of her books have been Notable Books from the American Library Association. Many of her books have been honored with awards from organizations such as the Children’s Book Council, the National Science Teacher’s Association, the California Reader’s Collection, National Council for the Social Studies/Children’s Book Council, and the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California.