Helen Moore Sewell (June 27, 1896 – February 24, 1957) was an American illustrator and writer of children's books. She won a Caldecott Medal Honor as illustrator of The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh and she illustrated several novels that were runners-up for the Newbery Medal.
Some of her papers were donated to the University of Minnesota, and other papers are at Cornell University.
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Early life
Sewell was born in Mare Island, California, the daughter of Minnie Moore, a watercolor artist, and William Elbridge Sewell, a Navy commander who later became Governor of Guam. She had two younger sisters.
Her mother died in 1901, before the family moved to Guam. Because of her father's naval career she had also lived in England, France and Sweden. Her father died before her eighth birthday, and Sewell and her sisters moved to Brooklyn to live with an aunt and uncle. At age twelve she became the youngest person to attend the Pratt Institute. She also studied under Alexander Archipenko, who influenced her drawing style. She graduated from Packer Collegiate Institute.
Art career
Sewell began earning money by illustrating greeting cards. The first book she illustrated was The Cruise of the Little Dipper and Other Fairy Tales, written by Susanne Langer. In 1932 Sewell was the first illustrator of the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. For the Limited Edition Club Sewell illustrated the poems of Emily Dickinson, plus Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.
Most of the characters in Sewell's art work were drawn from her imagination, and she rarely used artist models. When illustrating the Little House series she consulted photographs of the Wilder family.
Starting with the 1947 book Three Tall Tales Sewell began using a comic book style to add fun to amusing stories, for children had told her that her animals were too true to life for humorous books.
Death
She died on February 24, 1957, in New York City, after a long illness.
Works illustrated
1923 The Cruise of the Little Dipper and Other Fairy Tales, Susanne Langer
1928 Menagerie, Poems for Children, Mary Britton Miller
1929 Mr. Hermit Crab, Mimpsy Rhys
1932 Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder
1932 The Dream Keeper, Langston Hughes
1933 Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder
1934 A First Bible, Jean West Maury
1934 Away Goes Sally, Elizabeth Coatsworth
1934 Bluebonnets for Lucinda, Frances Clarke Sayers
1934 Cinderella
1935 Anne Frances, Eliza Orne White
1935 Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder
1935 Mrs. Hermit Crab, Mimpsy Rhys
1935 Peter and Gretchen of Old Nuremberg, Viola M. Jones
1935 A Round of Carols, T. Tertius Noble
1936 Ten Saints, Eleanor Farjeon
1937 Baby Island, Carol Ryrie Brink
1937 Old John, Máirín Cregan
1937 On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder (co-illustrated with Mildred Boyle)
Books she wrote and illustrated
1931 A Head for Happy, Helen Sewell
1932 Words to the Wise, Helen Sewell
1933 Blue Barns, Helen Sewell
1936 Ming and Mehitable, Helen Sewell
1936 Peggy and the Pony, Helen Sewell
1940 Jimmy and Jemima, Helen Sewell
1941 Peggy and the Pup, Helen Sewell
1944 Belinda the Mouse, Helen Sewell
1944 Birthdays for Robin, Helen Sewell