Le Grand Henderson

Le Grand Henderson (1901–1964), most often writing under the nom de plume "Le Grand", was a writer and illustrator of books for all ages.

Le Grand was born in 1901 in Torrington, Connecticut. He attended the Yale School of Fine Arts for four years. After graduation, he headed for New York City. He found work designing heating and ventilating equipment, switchboards for submarines, and window and interior displays for Macy's and Bloomingdale's.

He soon tired of living in the city. He then went to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he began a yearlong journey on a houseboat down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. The Augustus series of books takes place along the Mississippi, based on this trip down the river.

Le Grand is best known for his folklore series (9 books, including Cap'n Dow and the Hole in the Doughnut and Cats for Kansas) for children 4 - 8. The story of "Cap'n Dow and the Hole in the Doughnut" is said to have been written while he personally served as one of the crew of a down-East schooner off the coast of Maine, where men are sailors and doughnuts are doughnuts. He is also known for his Augustus series (12 books) depicting the country-wide adventures of a "Huck Finn"-type lad, for children 8 - 12. Overall, he wrote over 30 books between 1937 and his death in 1964.

Works

Why Is A Yak?, 1937 Augustus and the River, 1939 What About Willie?, 1939 Glory Horn, 1941 Augustus Goes South, 1940 Augustus And The mountains, 1941 Saturday For Samuel, 1941 Augustus Helps the Navy, 1942 Augustus Helps The Marines, 1943 Augustus Helps the Army, 1943 Augustus Flies, 1944 Augustus Drives a Jeep, 1944 Augustus Saves A Ship, 1945 Augustus Hits The Road, 1946 Cap'n Dow and the Hole in the Doughnut, 1946 Augustus Rides The Border, 1947 Augustus And The Desert, 1948 Cats For Kansas, 1948 Here Come The Perkinses, 1949 The Puppy Who Chased The Sun, 1950 The Boy Who Wanted to be a Fish,1951 When the Mississippi Was Wild, 1952 Home Is Up River, 1952 Touch Me Not: A Novel, 1952 Are Dogs Better Than Cats, 1953 Tom Benn and Blackbeard, the pirate, 1954 Why Cowboys Sing in Texas, 1950 Matilda, 1956 How Space Rockets Began (Scott, Foresman; Invitations to personal reading program), 1960 Augustus Rides the Border, 1961 How Basketball Began, (Scott, Foresman; Invitations to personal reading program), 1962