Ruth Sawyer

Ruth Sawyer was the professional name of Ruth Sawyer Durand (August 5, 1880 - June 3, 1970), an American writer of children's books. She was born in Boston and raised in New York City. She studied folklore and storytelling at Columbia University, where she got a B.S. in 1904. Her first published work was The Primrose Ring in 1915, of which a movie was made in 1917 (starring Loretta Young). Her best-known book is Roller Skates, which won her the Newbery Medal in 1937. Like Roller Skates, a...See more

Ruth Sawyer was the professional name of Ruth Sawyer Durand (August 5, 1880 - June 3, 1970), an American writer of children's books. She was born in Boston and raised in New York City. She studied folklore and storytelling at Columbia University, where she got a B.S. in 1904. Her first published work was The Primrose Ring in 1915, of which a movie was made in 1917 (starring Loretta Young). Her best-known book is Roller Skates, which won her the Newbery Medal in 1937. Like Roller Skates, a number of Sawyer's books are autobiographical accounts of her childhood and reveal an interesting perspective on American life at the end of the 19th century. These include The Year of Jubilo and Daddles, The Story of a Plain Hound-Dog. As well as "Le berceau de Bo le Bossu"( a religious, Christmas folktale in Saint-Malo) Another tale Journey Cake Ho! written in 1953 and illustrated by Robert McCloskey was a Caledcott Honour Book. Sawyer also wrote non-autobiographical novels for children, such as The Enchanted Schoolhouse and The Year of the Christmas Dragon and a scholarly work, The Way of the Storyteller. She published a number of collections of folktales, such as This Way To Christmas (which featured an illustration by a young Norman Rockwell) and My Spain: A Storyteller's Year of Collecting. In 1965, she was awarded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for her work. See less