Ursula Nordstrom

Ursula Nordstrom (February 2, 1910 – October 11, 1988) was publisher and editor-in-chief of juvenile books at Harper & Row from 1940 to 1973. She is credited with presiding over a transformation in children's literature in which morality tales written for adult approval gave way to works that instead appealed to children's imaginations and emotions.

She also authored the 1960 children's book The Secret Language. A collection of her correspondence was published in 1998 as Dear Genius: the Letters of Ursula Nordstrom.

Early life and education Ursula Nordstrom was born on February 2, 1910, in New York City to vaudeville comedians Henry E. Dixey and Marie Nordstrom. Although Nordstrom had hopes of becoming a writer and wanted to continue her education at Bryn Mawr College, she was prevented by her stepfather, Elliott R. Brown, and instead took secretarial and business courses at The Scudder School for Girls.

The first book Nordstrom edited and published was E. B. White's Stuart Little in 1945, and she went on to edit several more classics of children's literature, including Charlotte's Web (1952), Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon (1947), Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955), Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur (1958), Karla Kuskin's Roar and More (1956), and Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974).

In 1950, Nordstrom met Maurice Sendak, who was then working as a window decorator at F.A.O. Schwartz. She was drawn to his "naughty" characters and the complex journeys they embarked on, and helped publish Where the Wild Things Are in 1963. after it had been rejected by other publishing houses. This approach often garnered criticism from other publishers and children's librarians, most notably Anne Carroll Moore of the New York Public Library. Other authors she edited included Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charlotte Zolotow, John Steptoe, M.E. Kerr, and Arnold Lobel.

In 1957, Nordstrom edited two books that received major awards: Janice May Udry's A Tree is Nice received the Caldecott Medal, and Meindert DeJong's The Wheel on the School was awarded the Newbery Medal. According to children's literature historian, Leonard S. Marcus, Nordstrom may have written a sequel titled The Secret Choice, but could not decide on the book's ending and ultimately burned the manuscript.

Awards and legacy Nordstrom's novel, The Secret Language, was named a 1960 Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association.