Mem Fox

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Mem Fox, 2014

Mem Fox (born March 5, 1946 as Merrion Partridge in Melbourne , Australia) is an Australian writer and educationalist who is best known for numerous children's books .

biography

Merrion Partridge was born in Melbourne in 1946 to the missionaries Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and Nancy Partridge. Shortly after the birth, her family relocated from Melbourne to Hope Fountain in Zimbabwe . In 1965 Mem went to London, where she studied drama and met the English teacher Malcolm Fox, whom she married in 1969. The couple lived in Rwanda for six months , where Mem Fox worked as a teacher. She then went to Adelaide with her husband to look after her grandfather.

In Adelaide, Fox began studying children's literature at Flinders University in the 1970s. One of her homework, the story Hush the Invisible Mouse , later developed into her first children's book, Possum Magic . Possum Magic was initially rejected by 9 publishers and finally published by Omnibus Books in 1983 after Fox replaced the mouse with a typical Australian animal, a possum , on behalf of the publisher . To date, it is Australia's most successful children's book with over 3 million copies sold. More than 30 other children's books followed. Her book Time for Bed was voted one of the 100 best children's books of all time by The Daily Telegraph . The New York Public Library counts Where is the Green Sheep? to the 100 best children's books of the last 100 years.

In addition to her work as a writer, Mem Fox taught literature and education at Flinders University, focusing primarily on children's reading development. In 1996 she gave up her position as assistant professor and works as a consultant in national and international projects on literacy.

On Australia Day 1993, Fox was named " Member of the Order of Australia " because of her services to Australian children's literature . In 2003 she was awarded the Prime Minister's Centenary of Federation medal for her public service.

Fox's daughter is the Australian journalist and politician Chloë Fox and lives with her husband in Glenelg , Victoria.

In early February 2017, Fox was questioned publicly for two hours on her 117th entry into the US as part of the tightened US immigration policy under President Trump , whereupon Fox declared that "she will probably never be ready to travel to the US again."

Controversy

Fox's 1988 book Guess what? , in which it turns out at the end that the old woman described in it is a witch , was one of the 100 books (66th place) for which a restriction of public availability was most frequently requested from 1990 to 2000 according to the American Library Association , since the book is believed to have occult overtones and a positive evaluation of witchcraft.

In 2008, Mem Fox caused a sensation when she compared daycare for toddlers in day nurseries to kennel keeping of dogs.

Children's books

  • Tell Me About Your Day Today 2012
  • Let's Count Goats 2010
  • Hello baby! 2009
  • Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes 2008
  • Where the Giant Sleeps 2007
  • A Particular Cow 2006
  • Hunwick's Egg 2005
  • Where is the Green Sheep? 2004
  • The Magic Hat 2002
  • Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild! 2000
  • Sleepy Bears 1999
  • Whoever You Are 1998
  • Boo to a Goose 1996
  • Wombat Divine 1995
  • Tough Boris 1994
  • Time for Bed 1993
  • Memories 1992
  • Sophie 1989
  • Shoes from Grandpa 1989
  • Feathers and Fools 1989
  • Night Noises 1989
  • With Love at Christmas 1988
  • Koala Lou 1988
  • Guess what? 1988
  • Goodnight Sleep Tight 1988
  • A Bedtime Story 1987
  • The Straight Line Wonder 1987
  • Sail Away: The Ballad of Skip and Nell 1986
  • Just Like That 1986
  • Hattie and the Fox 1986
  • Arabella, the Smallest Girl in the World 1986
  • Zoo-Looking 1986
  • A Cat Called Kite 1985
  • Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge 1984
  • Possum Magic 1983

more publishments

  • Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever . Harvest Books, 2008
  • Radical Reflections: Passionate Opinions on Teaching, Learning, and Living . Harvest Books, 1993
  • Dear Mem Fox, I Have Read All Your Books Even the Pathetic Ones: And Other Incidents in the Life of a Children's Book Author . Harvest Books, 1992

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mem Fox: The long, short (and green) of it . The Sydney Morning Herald , Jan. 4, 2014
  2. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Meet Mem Fox ), Blacktown City Council@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au
  3. ↑ 100 best children's books ever . The Telegraph , March 4, 2015
  4. ↑ 100 Great Children's Books | 100 years . New York Public Library website
  5. ^ Australian Government
  6. ^ Australian Government
  7. ^ What happened to a "foreign" children's book author in America , buchmarkt.de, March 2, 2017, accessed on March 2, 2017
  8. ↑ 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999 . American Library Association
  9. ↑ Author Mem Fox says day care is "a kennel for kids" . The Daily Telegraph , October 24, 2008
personal data
SURNAME Fox, Mem
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Partridge, Merrion (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian writer and educationalist
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne , Australia