Clare Turlay Newberry

Clare Turlay Newberry (April 10, 1903 – February 12, 1970) was an American writer and illustrator of 17 published children's books, who achieved fame for her drawings of cats, the subject of all but three of her books.

In 1930, she went to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. The next year, in order to earn enough for passage to return to the US, she illustrated a story she had written before leaving for Paris, about a little girl named Sally who got a lion for her birthday. It was published as her first book, Herbert the Lion, to acclaim.

She had hoped to become a portrait painter, but she abandoned this in 1934 for cat illustration. Her next book, Mittens, was the story of a six-year-old boy who posts an ad for his lost kitten. It became a bestseller and was named one of the Fifty Books of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. After using the ocelot, now dubbed Rufus, as a live drawing model, Newberry offered to give the ocelot away to a good home, but unfortunately Rufus died, possibly from a disease acquired from one of his many visitors or prospective owners.

The culmination of her works is expanded by the Clare Turlay Newberry Papers and consists of many works, such as an impressive 242 original drawing works. Along with this there is also other types of types of works that range from book ideas, sketches, and illustrations. They also include some of her earliest works in the form of scrapbooks from her early years of life.