Feenie Ziner

Florence "Feenie" Ziner (March 22, 1921 — December 13, 2012) was an American author and educator specializing in children's literature. She taught English literature and creative writing at the University of Connecticut for 20 years before retiring in 1994. Her first book for young children, The Book of Time, sold more than half a million copies.

Life and career Ziner was born Florence Katz in Brooklyn, New York, to first-generation Americans Morris and Sophie (Guttman) Katz. Her father was a diamond merchant. She attended public schools in New York City and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Brooklyn College in 1941 and her master's degree from the Columbia University School of Social Work in 1944. She married Zeke Ziner, an artist and sculptor, on September 17, 1941. They had five children: Marc, Joe, Amie, Ted, and Eric. The couple moved to Chicago immediately following World War II, where Ziner worked several years as a psychiatric social worker.

Published books

(With E. S. Thompson) The Book of Time, Children's Press, 1956, published as Time, Grosset, 1959 (published in England as The Junior Book of Time, Muller, 1959). Hiding, Golden Gate, 1957. Little Sailor's Big Pet, Parnassus, 1958. Wonderful Wheels, Melmont, 1959. Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony, American Heritage, 1961. (With Paul Galdone) Counting Carnival, Coward, 1962. Dark Pilgrim, Chilton, 1965. A Guide to Expo, Tundra Books, 1967. A Full House, Simon & Schuster, 1967. Bluenose, Queen of the Grand Banks, Chilton, 1970. The Duck of Billingsgate Market, Four Winds Press, 1974. Cricket Boy: A Chinese Tale Retold, Doubleday, 1978. Within This Wilderness, Norton, 1978. Squanto, Linnet Books (Hamden, CT), 1988. (Editor) The Small Press in Connecticut, Two Ninety One-0-Two (Storrs, CT), 1990.