Barbara Cooney was born on August 6, 1917 in Brooklyn, NY. She was an
illustrator and author of children's books. She contributed to more
than seventy books.
Miss Rumphius was written and illustrated by Cooney and published in 1982. It
tells the story of Miss Alice Rumphius, who wanted to follow her Grandfather's
advice to make the world more beautiful. She decided that the way to do that was
to travel the world and spread lupine seeds. The book shared the 1983 National
Book Award for Children's Books. In 2012, it was ranked 13th in the "Top 100
Picture Books" survey by School Library Journal. A reviewer on Amazon
reports ". . . a lovely story about fulfilling your childhood hopes, journeying the
world, and then coming home to figure out how to make the world more
beautiful - and finding that something as simple as flowers can spread joy.
The story is told in such a lovely, soothing cadence that it is a perfect bedtime
or calm-down story. My four-year old asks for it often."