Eleanor Cameron
Eleanor Frances Butler Cameron (1912 - 1996) was a Canadian children's author who spent most of her life in California. Born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1912, her family then moved to South Charleston, Ohio when she was 3 years old. Her father farmed and her mother ran a hotel. After three years, they moved to Berkeley, California. Her parents divorced a few years later. At 16, she moved with her mother and stepfather to Los Angeles. She credits her English mother's love of story telling for her inspiration to write and make up stories. She attended UCLA and the Art Center School of Los Angeles. In 1930, she started working at the Los Angeles Public Library and later worked as a research librarian for the Los Angeles Board of Education and two different advertising companies. She married Ian Cameron, a printmaker and publisher, in 1934 and the couple had a son, David, in 1944. Her first book came out in 1950, based on her experience as a librarian. It was well received by critics, but didn't sell well. She did not start writing children's books until her son asked him to write one starring him as a character. this resulted in her popular series The Mushroom Planet. With the success of the Mushroom Planet books, Cameron focused on writing for children. Between 1959 and 1988 she produced 12 additional children's novels, including The Court of the Stone Children (1973) and the semi-autobiographical five book Julia Redfern series (1971–1988). She won the National Book Award for Court of the Stone Children in 1973, and was a runner up for To The Green Mountains in 1979. In addition to her fiction work, Cameron wrote two books of criticism and reflection on children's literature. The first, The Green and Burning Tree, was released in 1969 and led an increased profile for Cameron in the world of children's literature. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s Cameron worked as a traveling speaker and contributor to publications such as The Horn Book Magazine, Wilson Library Bulletin, and Children's Literature in Education. She was also a member of the founding editorial board for the children's magazine Cricket, which debuted in 1973. In 1972 she and Roald Dahl exchanged barbs across three issues of The Horn Book, a magazine devoted to critical discussions of children's and young adult fiction. Her second book of essays, The Seed and the Vision: On the Writing and Appreciation of Children's Books, came out in 1993. It is her final published book. From late 1967 until her death Cameron made her home in Pebble Beach, California. She died in hospice in Monterey, California on October 11, 1996 at the age of 84.[
22 Books Written
When an ancient scroll and necklace are stolen from the Mycetian League, Chuck, David, and Mr. Bass are called into action to help recover them. This means a trip in the rocket to Wales (Carn Bassyd in the Rhinogs, specifically), and then a drive to Stonehenge and London to recover the stones from the necklace. These have been spread among different owners, and have caused the new owners - a docto
During her visit to Tarnhelm, a huge old house on the California coast, Cory Winterslow discovers the secret of her past.
No other Earthlings know the Mushroom Planet like David and Chuck. They have seen the green ball shining in the vast black of outer space. And they have walked in its giant mushroom forests.Now they are going back. The flight is top secret. But someone's found out, and stowed away on the space ship! How did he sneak on board? And how can Chuck and David save the Mushroom People from hi
Family loss and other unexpected, even strange occurrences cannot dampen for long the spirits of the irrepressible Julia. Sequel to "Julia's Magic."
A young girl growing up in a small midwestern town where her mother runs a hotel has recurring dreams of a much longed for home.
The Green and Burning Tree: On the Writing and Enjoyment of Children's Books
by Eleanor Cameron
Rating: 4.3 ⭐
A book about writing children's literature by the best-selling author of The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet.
Troubled by a recurring nightmare following his brother's death, Andrew accompanies his father to the family castle in Scotland where he has several encounters with one of his forebears.
Who is Dominique? When Nina first sees her in the French Museum, she senses that there is something unreal about the strange, beautiful girl. In fact, Domi is from Napoleon's time, and she has come to get Nina's help. For Domi's father was executed as a traitor during the French Revolution, and Domi is convinced that Nina can prove his innocence. But to save Domi's father, Nina will ha
The search for the truth about some strange fossil bones takes Chuck, David, and the extraordinary Tyco Bass into the unknown regions of the Mushroom Planet.
In eleven essays, the award-winning children's author explores the transforming power of fiction for children, focusing on the power of place and of private vision in classic and contemporary works.
A series of crises lead 11-year-old Julia to see her family in a different light and help her reaffirm her ambition to be a writer.
Julia's fifteenth year is filled with jealousy, forgiveness, first love, and artistic satisfaction, all against a background of loving support from her adored uncle, adopted grandmother, and other family members.
When Tom and Jennifer see a mysterious shape on San Lorenzo mountain, they decide it is a monster known as the churnadryne.
In print since the 1950s, the Mushroom Planet series is back with a new design by illustrator Kevin Hawkes. Don t miss the adventures of Chuck and David, two boys who travel to the alien planet Basidium in their homemade spaceship. This timeless series is a classic that is sure to be read over and over again.
A young girl who wants to be a writer makes her room an observation post and sits there dreaming about the world while around her move the real people of her family whom she fails to understand.
A broken perfume bottle and the threat of losing their home cause a crisis in the Redfern family that shakes Julia's belief in magic.
From the jacket:"Deep within herself, Jane Fielding knew where her real chance at happiness lay. There was a day when the road divided-when one way could lead to fulfillment, the other to loneliness. But, young and lovely as she was, the future held no terror; either way was open."
Eleanor Cameron's seventh book for children is an original fairy tale told in a modern style. It's the story of Allison, a common girl who falls in love with Prince Basil, and he with her. But Basil's aunt, the Queen, disapproves of the romance, and charges Allison with the seemingly impossible task of capturing seven mystical beasts and the secret of life. Only then will the Queen allow Basil and
The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom World
by Eleanor Cameron