Ruth Sawyer - Writing Career

Writing Career

Sawyer first book was an adult novel, The Primrose Ring. It appeared in 1915 and was made into a silent film in 1917, starring Mae Murray and an uncredited Loretta Young in her film debut as a fairy.

The next year Sawyer published her first book for children, This Way to Christmas. The story is about young boy based on her son, David, whose parents go on a trip and leave him in the care of an Irish couple, Joanna and Barney. In each chapter David listens to a new Christmas story or folk tale.

Sawyer published one book every year or two for the next twenty years. Her best known book, Roller Skates, appeared in 1936. A fictional autobiography, Roller Skates tells of one year in the life of ten-year-old Lucinda Wyman, who was named for one of Sawyer's grandmothers. Lucinda's parents are traveling to Europe and leave her with the Misses Peters in New York City. Permitted almost unlimited freedom, Lucinda roller skates through the city, meeting people of all ages and nationalities. The amount of freedom Lucinda has and the frank dealing with difficult issues like the death of two of her friends mean Roller Skates was considered ahead of its time. It received the Newbery Medal in 1937.

The Year of Jubilo is a sequal to Roller Skates. Published in 1940, it takes Lucinda and her family to Maine after the death of her father. Again Sawyer fictionalized her own life. The next year saw two books published by Sawyer. The Least One, a children's story illustrated by Leo Politi, and The Long Christmas. The latter is a collection of thirteen Christmas legends, rhymes and carols from around the world.

Sawyer's next books appeared in 1944. The Way of the Storyteller is divided into two parts. The first contains directions for those who want to learn storytelling techniques, with practical suggestions for performance, memorization, and improving skills. The second section has eleven stories especially suitable for telling aloud. The Way of the Storyteller was used as a textbook for teachers, librarians and storytellers for many years, appearing in a revised version in 1962.

The second Sawyer book published in 1944 was The Christmas Anna Angel. Based on the stories she heard from a woman in the West Virginia Federal Reformatory, it tells about a young girl growing up in Hungary during World War II. The deprivation of war means there's very little for the family to celebrate with, but the heroine of the story is convinced an angel will provide a miracle in time for Christmas. Illustrated by Hungarian-born Kate Seredy, the book received a Caldecott Honor award.

By this time Sawyer's fiction writing was exclusively for children. She published several more children's books in the late 1940s and 1950s, including Maggie Rose, Her Birthday Christmas. Set in Maine, this story of a young girl's dream for a real Christmas birthday party is illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

For Journey Cake, Ho! Sawyer collaborated with her son-in-law Robert McCloskey. Sawyer wrote the story, a fresh take on the theme of run-away food, while McCloskey provided the illustrations. Journey Cake, Ho! was named a Caldecott Honor book for 1954.

Sawyer's final children's novel was Daddles, The Story of a Plain Hound-Dog. In Daddles, the narrator remembers three summers she and her brother spent in their cottage in Maine. The first two summers they share their adventures with their dog, Daddles. The third summer they come back to find their companion has died.