Armer, Laura Adams (1874-1963), was an American children’s author known for her books about Native Americans living in the southwestern United States. Armer won the 1932 Newbery Medal for her novel Waterless Mountain (1931). The Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the outstanding children’s book by an American. The book was Armer’s first, published when she was 57 years old.
Waterless Mountain tells about Younger Brother, a Navajo boy who lives with his uncle in a hot, dry land called Waterless Mountain. Like Armer’s other books, the novel sensitively and sympathetically explores the folklore, art, and religious life of Native Americans.
Armer’s other books with Native American themes are Dark Circle of Branches (1933), Cactus (1934), Southwest (1937), The Forest Pool (1938), and Farthest West (1939), and her autobiography, In Navajo Land (1962). Armer was also a painter and photographer. She illustrated several of her books with her art and photographs. Her husband, the American artist Sidney Armer, also illustrated some of her books.
Laura May Adams was born in Sacramento, California, on Jan. 12, 1874. She studied art at the California School of Design in the 1890’s. She married Sidney Armer in 1902. That year, she made the first of many visits to the Navajo and Hopi tribes in the Southwest. She died on March 16, 1963.
