Joy of Spring
Wrinkled hands hide colorful eggs,
Among pansies and under boxwoods.
Eager eyes discover them with delight.
Filling woven baskets under glowing sunlight.
 
Jonquils, hyacinths, and tulips,
Slumber through cold months until spring’s lips
Kiss them with warming rays.
May the joy of spring bloom in your heart today.

Jean Neff Guthrie
Women's History Month: March 1-31
Rose Wilder Lane
The Other Wilder Author
Laura Ingalls Wilder owes her success as author of the Little House book series to another female writer: her only child, Rose Wilder Lane.

Lane started freelance writing in 1910 and later became the editorial assistant on the San Francisco Bulletin. She wrote biographies of famous people, romantic fiction serials, and short stories for leading magazines.

In 1920, Lane traveled to Europe with the Red Cross, reporting on its relief efforts across the continent. She lived in Albania with her friend Helen Dore Boylston, who wrote the Sue Barton children’s books.

Financially devastated by the stock market crash, Lane moved back to Missouri with her elderly parents. The Wilder women collaborated to transform the first part of Laura's Pioneer Girl manuscript into Little House in the Big Woods, the first of her (or their) nine novels for children.

Nikki Grimes, Inspirational Author
Nikki Grimes, born 1950 in Harlem, New York, once stated: "Books were my survival tools. They were how I got by, and how I coped with things. Books carried me away."

When Grimes was just 13, she gave her first public poetry reading at the Countee Cullen Library.

Now a bestselling author and a prolific artist, Nikki has written many award-winning books for children and young adults including the Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade; the Coretta Scott King Author Honor books Jazmin's Notebook, Talkin' About Bessie, Dark Sons, The Road to Paris, and Words with Wings; and Horn Book Fanfare for Talkin' About Bessie.

In 2005, Grimes was awarded the Golden Dolphin Award by the Southern California Children's Book Association.

Grimes was honored with the NCTE Award for Poetry and the 2016 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award from Kent State University. In 2017, she was presented with the Children's Literature Legacy Award for her "substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." In 2020, Grimes received The ALAN Award for outstanding contributions to the field of adolescent literature.
Nikki Grimes