The Extraordinary Life of Tasha Tudor, Children's Book Author and Illustrator

Looking at Tasha Tudor, one would never know that she is a part of the modern world, let alone a world-famous, award-winning children's book author and illustrator. Choosing to live in the style of the 1830s, her clothes, her home, and her way of life all hearken back to an era long since past. On August 28, 2007, Tasha will celebrate her 92^nd birthday, and as a fan of her work and her life, I'd like to share a little bit about this interesting personality with AC readers.

Born Starling Burgess, Tasha Tudor started her life in Boston, Massachusetts in 1915. Her father, a yacht and airplane designer, and her mother, a portrait painter, were both free spirits and very individualistic. Though not wealthy, Tasha's family was well established in Bostonian society, having such acquaintances as John Singer Sargent and Mark Twain. At the age of nine, Tasha's parents divorced, and she moved to Greenwich Village with her mother. A gathering place of "Bohemian" artists and writers, Greenwich Village was the ideal place for Rosamond Tudor to pursue her career as an artist; however, it was not the ideal place to raise a child. Tasha was accordingly sent to live with friends of the family on a Connecticut farm, a move that would influence her art and her life because it developed in her a love of the country and a simple lifestyle.

In 1936 Tasha met Thomas Leighton McCready, Jr., and the two were married in 1938. That same year, Tasha published her first book, Pumpkin Moonshine. She continued to publish over the years, and in 1945, her Mother Goose was named a Caldecott Honor book. She used the royalties to purchase a run-down farmhouse in New Hampshire, where she raised four children without the aid of electricity or running water until her youngest child was five years old. She furnished her home with antiques and started to wear period clothing.

Tasha delighted in the everyday chores of country life, and tried to make her family as self-sufficient as possible, even spinning and weaving flax to make cloth. She also engaged in a number of hobbies, including basket weaving and doll making. During this time she continued to write, illustrate, and publish books. In 1957, she garnered another Caldecott Honor for her book, 1 is One. Sometime around 1959, Tasha and her husband divorced.

In 1971, Tasha published Corgiville Fair, which introduced readers to the world of anthropomorphic Corgis, Tasha's favorite dog breed. That same year, Tasha made the decision to leave her large, empty farmhouse in New Hampshire for a plot of land in Vermont, adjoining her son Seth's property. Using hand tools, Seth built an old-fashioned house and barn of his mother's design. Though the home does have electricity, it doesn't have running water and is not accessible by car.

Today, Tasha still lives in her Vermont home, doing things the old-fashioned way. Over the past 36 years, she has cultivated an incredible garden, continued her artistic pursuits, and become the subject of several books that feature the beautiful photography of Richard Brown. Her family now runs a website (www.tashatudorandfamily.com) where fans can purchase Tasha's art prints and books, as well as arts and crafts from the whole Tudor family.

In her career, which has spanned almost seventy years, Tasha Tudor has illustrated nearly one hundred books. To many, her drawings may seem romanticized and nostalgic, but as Tasha says, "I draw almost entirely from my surroundings-the children are either mine or my grandchildren and the animals are all the animals I own or have had the privilege of caring for." Tasha's beautiful illustrations are her reality; they are the products of the most extraordinary life, which she has chosen to live.