For more than forty years, Dorothy Aldis remained at the forefront of children's literature, beginning in 1927 with her first book of poetry aimed at young children. During her busy writing career she produced twenty-nine books, including children's poetry, biography, and adolescent literature; in fact, for her "outstanding service by an author over a long period of time," she received the Children's Reading Round Table Award, 1966-1967. After her death, Elementary English hailed her as the "Poet Laureate of Young Children." Her popularity continues, substantiated by the posthumous publication of a volume of her favorite poems and by the assured place of her collected poems All Together (1952) in the elementary classroom and on the family's reading shelf. Her sprightly, optimistic verse about the everyday lives of children pleases three audiences: teachers, parents, and especially children.

Born on 13 March 1896, in Chicago, Illinois, to James and Gertrude Small Keeley, Aldis--the first...