DeJong, Meindert, << deh YONG, MYN durt >> (1906-1991), was an author of children’s books. He won the 1955 Newbery Medal for The Wheel on the School (1954), a story about life in a Dutch seashore village. DeJong won the 1969 National Book Award for Journey from Peppermint Street (1968), a story about everyday life in the Netherlands. His other children’s books include Shadrach and Hurry Home Candy (both 1954), The House of Sixty Fathers (1955), and Along Came a Dog (1958).
DeJong was born on March 4, 1906, in Wierum, the Netherlands, and moved to the United States with his family at the age of 8. He began writing children’s books in 1938. In 1962, DeJong was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, an international children’s book award. DeJong won the Regina Medal, which honored his lifetime contribution to children’s literature, in 1972. He died on July 16, 1991.
