Mabel Leigh Hunt
{{short description|American writer (1892–1971)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Mabel Leigh Hunt
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1892|11|1}}
| birth_place = Coatesville, Indiana, USA
| death_date = {{death date and age|1971|09|3|1892|11|1}}
| occupation = Children's writer
| nationality = American
| alma_mater = DePauw University
| death_place = Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
}}
Mabel Leigh Hunt (November 1, 1892 – September 3, 1971) was an American writer of children's books.
Biography
Hunt was born in Coatesville, Indiana, on November 1, 1892, to Quakers Dr. Tilghman Hunt and Amanda (Harvey) Hunt.Biography Reference Bank: Current Biography Database. EBSCO, 2024. She was raised in a Quaker home in Greencastle, Indiana.{{Cite web |title=Mabel Leigh Hunt Papers |url=https://specialcollections.usm.edu/repositories/4/resources/237 |access-date=June 28, 2024 |website=The University of Southern Mississippi}} When she was ten, her family moved to Plainfield, Indiana, where they lived until her physician father died.{{Cite book |last=Kunitz |first=Stanley |title=The Junior Book of Authors |last2=Haycraft |first2=Howard |publisher=The H. W. Wilson Company |year=1951 |edition=2nd |location=New York |pages=168-169}} She and her mother then moved to Indianapolis where, except for brief periods, she lived for the remainder of her life.{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Donald E. |title=Indiana Authors and Their Books 1917-1966 |publisher=Wabash College |year=1974 |location=Crawfordsville, Indiana |publication-date=1974 |pages=314}}
After graduating from Shortridge High School, Hunt returned to Greencastle to study at DePauw University 1910 to 1912, as well as attending the Western Reserve University Library School in Cleveland from 1923-1924.{{Cite book |title=Twentieth-Century Children's Writers |publisher=St. James |year=1989 |isbn=9780912289953 |editor-last=Chevalier |editor-first=Tracy |edition=3rd |location=Chicago |pages=482}} For twelve years, from 1926 to 1938, she worked as a children's librarian and branch librarian at the Indianapolis Public Library. In 1934 she published her first book, Lucinda, A Little Girl of 1860{{Cite book |last=Ward |first=Martha Eads |title=Authors of Books for Young People |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=1990 |isbn=9780810822931 |edition=3rd |location=Metuchen, N.J. |publication-date=1990 |pages=335}} while still working as a librarian; it wasn't until the year of her fifth book (1938) that she left her position to write full-time.
Hunt was just over five feet tall, with brown eyes and brown hair, listing her favorite occupations as "reading, cooking, friends, and travel." Many of her stories were set in Indiana, and their Quaker settings were based on stories of her mother's childhood.{{Cite book |last=Gillis |first=Ruth Jeannette |title=Indiana Books by Indiana Authors: A Guide to Children's Literature |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1990 |isbn=0253325838 |location=Bloomington and Indianapolis |pages=2}} Two of her books were Newbery Honor winners: Have You Seen Tom Thumb? in 1943 and Better Known as Johnny Appleseed in 1951.
Mabel Leigh Hunt died in Indianapolis, Indiana, on September 3, 1971.
Works
- Lucinda, A Little Girl of 1860, 1934
- The Boy Who Had No Birthday, 1935
- Little Girl with Seven Names, 1936
- Susan, Beware!, 1937
- Benjie's Hat, 1938
- Little Grey Gown, 1939
- Michel's Island, 1940
- Billy Button's Butter'd Biscuit, 1941
- John of Pudding Lane, 1941
- Corn-Belt Billy, 1942
- Have You Seen Tom Thumb?, 1942
- Peter Piper's Pickled Peppers, 1942
- The Peddler's Clock, 1943
- Young Man of the House, 1944
- Sibby Botherbox, 1945
- The Double Birthday Present, 1947
- Such a Kind World, 1947
- Matilda's Buttons, 1948
- Better Known as Johnny Appleseed, 1950
- The 69th Grandchild, 1951
- Ladycake Farm, 1952
- Singing Among Strangers, 1954
- Miss Jellytot's Visit, 1955
- Stars for Cristy, 1956
- Cristy at Skippinghills, 1958
- Tomorrow Will Be Bright, 1958
- Cupola House, 1961
- Johnny-Up and Johnny-Down, 1962
- Beggar's Daughter, 1963
Awards
References
{{Reflist |refs=
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External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052919/http://landandlit.iweb.bsu.edu/literature/Authors/authors_rd3/huntml.html Mabel Leigh Hunt] at Our Land, Our Literature, Ball State University
- [https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/4/resources/3837 Mabel Leigh Hunt Papers] at Children's Literature Research Collections, University of Minnesota – with biographical sketch
{{Authority control}}{{Portal bar |Children's literature |Indiana }}{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Mabel Leigh}}
Category:American children's writers
Category:Newbery Honor winners
Category:People from Hendricks County, Indiana
Category:DePauw University alumni
Category:Place of death missing
Category:American women children's writers
Category:People from Greencastle, Indiana