Marshall, James (1942-1992), was an American author and illustrator of children’s books. He won praise for his witty and charming stories and pictures about lovable, silly characters, both human and animal.
Marshall developed several popular series of books for young readers. The “George and Martha” series portrays the friendship between two hippopotamuses named George and Martha. The series began with George and Martha (1972). Marshall illustrated and coauthored with Harry Allard a series called “The Stupids,” about a delightful family of children and adults who can never quite get things right. The first book in the series was The Stupids Step Out (1974).
Marshall illustrated the “Miss Nelson” series, written by Allard, about Miss Nelson, a nice elementary school teacher, and the feared substitute teacher, Viola Swamp. The first book in the series was Miss Nelson Is Missing! (1977). Marshall’s “Fox” series, written under the name of Edward Marshall, centers on a young fox named Fox and his friends. The series began with Three By the Sea (1981). Marshall also retold and illustrated several fairy tales, including Red Riding Hood (1987), Goldilocks and the Three Bears (1988), The Three Little Pigs (1989), and Hansel and Gretel (1990).
James Edward Marshall was born on Oct. 10, 1942, in San Antonio, Texas. He received a B.A. degree in French and history at Southern Connecticut State College in 1967. After teaching French and Spanish in a Boston high school from 1968 to 1970, he became a full-time writer and illustrator. Marshall was self-taught as an illustrator. He wrote or illustrated more than 80 books before he died on Oct. 13, 1992, of a brain tumor, at the age of 50.
In 2007, after his death, Marshall received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (now called the Children’s Literature Legacy Award). The award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, “have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.”
