Happy birthday, Madeleine L'Engle

It is the birthday of children's writer Madeleine L'Engle (1918), who is best remembered for her science fiction novel A Wrinkle in Time (1962), a Newbery Medal winner. The story dealt with a young teenaged girl and the disappearance of her scientist father. L'Engle wrote four sequels to it as well, including A Wind in the Door (1973), A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978), Many Waters (1986), and An Acceptable Time (1986). The idea for A Wrinkle in Time came to L'Engle on a 10-week cross-country camping trip. The book was rejected by more than 30 publishers before it was accepted.

M. Henry wrote Misty of Chincoteague

M. Henry and Misty

It is the birthday of writer Marguerite Henry (1902), whose book Misty of Chincoteague (1947) captured the imagination of children throughout the world. It was based on a real pony and set on the island of Chincoteague off the coast of Virginia.  A special breed of small feral horses live in the wild on nearby Asseatague Island. Theories on how they got there differ. One idea is that they are descended from Spanish horses that survived shipwrecks off the coast. A less glamorous theory is that mainland farmers in the 17th century put them out there to avoid paying taxes on them. Regardless of their origins, they create a mystique that led to Henry's book and four sequels. Misty and her foal, Stormy, died decades ago but they have been preserved through taxidermy and are on display at a ranch and museum in Chincoteague. Marguerite Henry wrote 59 books, mostly about animals, for children and young adults. Misty of Chincoteague won a Newbery Medal and was adapted as a 1961 movie.

Beverly Cleary, children's author

Beverly Cleary

It is the birthday of children's author Beverly Cleary (1916), whose birthday is known as National Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Day to promote sustained silent reading. Its origin is attributed to Ramona Quimby, one of her most popular fictional characters. Cleary's first book was Henry Huggins (1950), about a boy and and the dog he finds on a trip to the drug store and his friends who live on Klickitat Street in Portland, Oregon, near where Cleary grew up. Henry has been called the modern Tom Sawyer. She has written more than 30 books for children and young adults. Cleary's writing for children grew from a frustration as a child in finding books with characters to whom she could relate — ones that didn't become "better girls and boys." Ramona Quimby is a mischievous little girl who interrupts her older sister's life in many ways, including inviting her whole preschool class over to her house without telling her family. The first Ramona book, Beezus and Ramona, appeared in 1955. Cleary's books have won numerous awards, including the Newbery Medal, the Newbery Honor, The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the National Medal of Arts and the Library of Congress Living Legends award. Her autobiographies are A Girl from Yamhill (1988) and My Own Two Feet (1995).