Who was Charlie May Simon, and why is there a children’s literature award named after her?
Subject(s): Arkansas History, Literature, and Women
Time Period(s): (1890-1930) Emergence of Modern America, (1929-1945) Great Depression and World War II, and (1945-Early 1970s) Postwar United States
Grade level(s): 3-5 and 6-8
Charlie May Simon (1897-1977) is one of Arkansas’s most important authors. She wrote over thirty books for both children and adults, and the Arkansas Library Association named their annual book award for children’s literature in her honor. Simon was born Charlie May Hogue in Drew County. She lived in Memphis, Chicago, and Paris, France. Her second husband, Howard Simon, was an artist and illustrator, and they built a home in Perry County, Arkansas. Her third husband was John Gould Fletcher of Little Rock.
Supporting question(s):
What books did Charlie May Simon write?
How did living in Arkansas influence Charlie May Simon’s books?
Source Set
- Charlie May Simon at a book signing for fourth graders
- “The Library Table” by Sarah Bowerman, Robin on the Mountain
- Brief Reviews of Books
- Charlie May Simon in robes
- Charlie May Simon sitting outside
- Books Written by Charlie May Simon
- John Gould Fletcher and Charlie May Simon at Possum Trot
Description
Charlie May Simon signs a book in a fourth grade classroom.
Description
Review of Robin on the Mountain in the Washington, D.C. newspaper, Evening Star. Column 6, ⅔ of the way down the page
Description
Brief book reviews of children’s literature from 1938 in the Washington, D.C. newspaper The Evening Star.
Description
Charlie May Simon, probably sitting in front of the ruins of her 1930’s home “Possum Trot” in Perry County.
Description
Seven of Charlie May Simon’s twenty-seven works of literature, including her most famous, Robin on the Mountain.
Description
Charlie May Simon and John Gould Fletcher standing outside Possum Trot in Perry County, Arkansas, ca. 1930s
Additional resource(s):
Arkansas Framework(s):
K-12 Library Media
Grade 4: IL.1.4.7 Select and interpret various types of information on a topic in a variety of print/non-print/digital resources
Grade 5: IL.1.5.7 Select and interpret various types of information on a topic in a variety of print/non-print/digital resources; IL.3.5.4 Identify with guidance attributes of a primary source and a secondary source
Grade 6: IL.1.6.7 Select and interpret various types of information on a topic using a variety of print/non-print/digital resources; IL.3.6.4 Identify attributes of a primary source and a secondary source