Simon’s Works

Although Charlie May Simon was best known for her children's literature books, it is important to remember that her writing career launched with an article published in Scribner's Magazine in 1933 depicting her homestead life. During her writing career, she also penned short stories for popular magazines, providing supplemental income beyond the royalties associated with her twenty-nine books. With her books published yearly in the spring, additional writing projects provided income throughout the remainder of the year. Some of the magazines that published her short stories were the American Junior Red Cross and Trails for Juniors. Within the Charlie May Simon Papers, unpublished manuscripts were discovered. Although unedited, they demonstrated Simon's constant theme of overcoming adversity to achieve success. By sifting through the pages of unpublished material, we are able to hear her unfiltered writing voice describing scenes from both foreign lands as well as those closer to home.