Chrisman, Arthur Bowie (1889-1953), was an American author of children’s stories. Chrisman won the 1926 Newbery Medal for Shen of the Sea: A Book for Children (1925). The Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the best children’s book written by an American. Chrisman’s winning book is a collection of 16 original stories set in China. Critics praised the book for its humor and its skill at capturing the spirit of Chinese life and thought. The collection was reissued in 1968 as Shen of the Sea: Chinese Stories for Children.
Chrisman was born on July 16, 1889, on a farm near White Post, Virginia. He grew up on a farm and attended a rural one-room school. From 1906 to 1908, he studied electrical engineering at the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (now Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). Chrisman taught school for two years and also worked as a farmer, drafter, lecturer, storyteller, and motion-picture extra.
Although he never traveled to China, Chrisman spent many years in California where he heard stories from Chinese workers. He wrote two other books of Chinese stories for children, The Wind That Wouldn’t Blow: Stories of the Merry Middle Kingdom for Children, and Myself (1927) and Treasures Long Hidden: Old Tales and New Tales of the East (1941). Chrisman died on Feb. 24, 1953.
