Else Holmelund Minarik

Else Holmelund Minarik (September 13, 1920 – July 12, 2012) was an American author of more than 40 children’s books. She was most commonly associated with her Little Bear series of children's books, which were adapted for television.^[1] Minarik was also the author of another well-known book, No Fighting, No Biting! ^{[2] [3]}

Born in Fredericia, Denmark, Minarik immigrated to the United States at the age of four with her family. By 1940, Elsa had married Walter Minarik who died in the 1960s. After graduating from Queens College, City University of New York (B.A., 1942) she became a journalist for the Rome Daily Sentinel newspaper during World War II. She subsequently lived on Long Island where she was employed as a first-grade teacher. She later lived in Nottingham, New Hampshire. After the death in 1991 of her second husband, Pulitzer-winning journalist Homer Bigart, Minarik moved to Brunswick County, North Carolina, where she continued writing longhand, as she always had.^{[4] [5]}

Minarik’s last book, Little Bear and the Marco Polo, was published in 2010. Minarik died at home on July 12, 2012, aged 91.^{[6] [7]}

Selected bibliography

• Little Bear series illustrated by Maurice Sendak

1. Little Bear (1957)
2. A Present for Mother Bear (1958)
3. Father Bear Comes Home (1959)
4. Little Bear's Friend (1960)
5. Little Bear's Visit (1961)
6. A Kiss for Little Bear (1968)
7. Little Bear and the Marco Polo (2010)

• No Fighting, No Biting! (1958) (illustrated by Maurice Sendak) (1958)
• Cat and Dog (illustrated by Fritz Siebel)
• Percy and the Five Houses (1989) (illustrated by James Stevenson)

References

External links

• Holmelund Minarik at the Children's Literature Network
• New Hampshire Public Radio Interview