Nancy Larrick has exerted a significant influence on contemporary children's poetry as the editor of numerous poetry anthologies and also as a teacher and critic. Through her work as a university professor of education and her many periodical articles she has shared her innovative approaches to poetry with her colleagues, and as an editor for language arts journals she has inspired teachers for over three decades. She has published twenty-eight books for or about children since 1952, perhaps her most significant contribution to the field of children's literature. With her extensive work in various aspects of language arts, particularly reading and poetry, Larrick has earned her reputation as a foremost critic and anthologist.

Larrick, daughter of Herbert S. and Nancy Nulton Larrick, was born on 28 December 1910 in Winchester, Virginia. She received her A.B. from Goucher College in 1930, an M.A. from Columbia University in 1937, and her Ed.D...