MORRISON, Lillian 1917-

PERSONAL: Born October 27, 1917, in Jersey City, NJ; daughter of William and Rebecca (Nehamkin) Morrison. Education: Rutgers University, B.S., 1938; Columbia University, B.S., 1942. Hobbies and other interests: Folk rhymes, outdoor sports, jazz, the dance, films, science, women's studies.

ADDRESSES: Office—116 Pinehurst Ave., New York, NY 10033-1155. Agent—Marian Reiner, 20 Cedar St. New Rochelle, NY 10801.

CAREER: New York Public Library, New York, NY, young adult librarian, 1942-47, in charge of work with vocational high schools, 1947-52, assistant coordinator of young adult services, 1952-69, coordinator of young adult services, 1969-82. Summer library school instructor, Rutgers University, 1961; lecturer on library school faculty, Columbia University, 1962, 1963.

MEMBER: PEN American Center, Authors League of America, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grolier Foundation Award, 1987, for outstanding contribution to the stimulation of reading by young people; 100 Best Children's Books, New York Public Library, for I Scream, You Scream: A Feast of Food Rhymes.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

The Ghosts of Jersey City, and Other Poems, Crowell (New York, NY), 1967.

(With Jean Boudin) Miranda's Music, illustrated by Helen Webber, Crowell (New York, NY), 1968.

The Sidewalk Racer, and Other Poems of Sports and Motion, Lothrop (New York, NY), 1977.

Who Would Marry a Mineral?: Riddles, Runes, and Love Tunes, decorations and renderings by Rita Floden Leydon, Lothrop (New York, NY), 1978.

Overheard in a Bubble Chamber and Other Science-poems, paintings by Eyre de Lanux, Lothrop (New York, NY), 1981.

The Break Dance Kids: Poems of Sport, Motion, and Locomotion, Lothrop (New York, NY), 1985.

Rhythm Road: An Anthology of Poems to Move To, Lothrop (New York, NY), 1988.

Whistling the Morning In: New Poems, illustrated by Joel Cook, Wordsong (Honesdale, PA) 1992.

COMPILER

Yours till Niagara Falls, Crowell (New York, NY), 1950, new edition illustrated by Sylvie Wickstrom, 1990.

Black Within and Red Without: A Book of Riddles, illustrated by Jo Spier, Crowell (New York, NY), 1953.

A Diller, a Dollar: Rhymes and Sayings for the Ten o'Clock Scholar, Crowell (New York, NY), 1955.

Touch Blue: Signs and Spells, Love Charms and Chants, Auguries and Old Beliefs, in Rhyme, illustrated by Doris Lee, Crowell (New York, NY), 1958.

Remember Me When This You See: A New Collection of Autograph Verses, illustrated by Marjorie Bauernschmidt, Crowell (New York, NY), 1961.

Sprints and Distances: Sports in Poetry and the Poetry in Sport, illustrated by Clare and John Ross, Crowell (New York, NY), 1965.

Best Wishes, Amen: A New Collection of Autograph Verses, illustrated by Loretta Lustig, Crowell (New York, NY), 1974.

At the Crack of the Bat: Baseball Poems, illustrated by Steve Cieslawski, Hyperion Books for Children, (New York, NY), 1992.

Slam Dunk: Basketball Poems, illustrated by Bill James, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 1995.

I Scream, You Scream: A Feast of Food Rhymes, illustrated by Nancy Dunaway, August House (Little Rock, AR), 1997.

More Spice Than Sugar: Poems about Feisty Females, illustrated by Ann Boyajian, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA) 2001.

Way to Go!: Poems of Sports and Motion, Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 2001.

It Rained All Day That Night, illustrated by Christy Hole, August House (Little Rock, AR), 2003.

Also general editor of "Poems of the World" series and "Poets" series, both published by Crowell. Contributor of poems to periodicals, including The Listening Eye, Prairie Schooner, Sports Illustrated, Confrontation, Atlantic, and Poetry Northwest.

SIDELIGHTS: Inspired by her interest in popular verse as a form of folklore and her exposure to the works of numerous poets during her years as a librarian for the New York Public Library, Lillian Morrison has compiled several anthologies of subject-related poetry and folk verse geared for younger readers. Her books range from collections of short poems suitable for memorizing and inscribing in friends' autograph albums—Remember Me When This You See—to volumes of poems about sports. In addition to her compilations, Morrison has written eight complete books of original verse, each volume focusing on a specific area of interest.

Born in New Jersey in 1917, Morrison enjoyed a childhood full of the rhythms of the city, from the ebb and flow of traffic to the sing-song schoolyard chants sung to a game of jump rope. After graduating from high school and earning degrees from Douglass College and Columbia University, Morrison joined the staff of the New York Public Library in 1942. Once there, she quickly realized that she wanted to make books her life's work. Several decades after beginning her job, Morrison was appointed coordinator of young-adult services. Working with teenagers and children on a daily basis put her in touch with the changing tastes and interests of young readers, and she began to look around for books that would serve as a bridge between poetry and readers who were rarely exposed to verse and whose tastes didn't often include a rhymed couplet. Morrison decided that the best way to introduce young people to poetry was to find poems on topics of interest to them. In 1965, after almost a decade of work, she published Sprints and Distances: Sports in Poetry and the Poetry in Sport. The volume is a collection of verse from both ancient and modern writers that reflects emotions with which young athletes—particularly young men, who tended to be least enamored of poetry to begin with—could identify.

In her anthology Slam Dunk: Basketball Poems, Morrison includes works of such authors as Jack Prelutsky, Walter Dean Myers, and May Swenson in a collection that received praise from Booklist contributor Carolyn Phelan as "a choice collection for those who find poetry in basketball, but don't expect to find basketball in poetry." The appearance in a poetry book of sports figures like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Shaquille O'Neal was bound to be a welcome surprise to reluctant readers attempting to tackle poetry for the first time, in the opinion of School Library Journal contributor Melissa Hudak.

From the world of sports, Morrison has broadened her focus to include science-fiction themes—Overheard in a Bubble Chamber and Other Sciencepoems—dance and emotion—Rhythm Road: Poems to Move To—and even food—I Scream, You Scream: A Feast of Food Rhymes. In I Scream, You Scream, Morrison serves up a stew chock-full of rhymes, chants, riddles, limericks, and rhyming jokes that all focus on something to do with edibles. True to its title, Rhythm Road contains over eighty poems guaranteed to have listeners moving to the beat of poets ranging from James Laughlin to Edgar Allan Poe.

More Spice Than Sugar: Poems about Feisty Females is an exciting collage of verses combining poetry and women's history, contemporary children's poets and classic adult authors. Divided into three sections—"When I Am Me," "She's a Winner," and "Against the Odds"—the book contains forty-five poems and ends with a brief biographical reference on the women entrants. Morrison writes in the preface that this is "a whole book of poems about girls and women whose temperaments and achievements I could admire, especially if they went against the usual gender stereotypes." Nina Lindsay, reviewing the book for School Library Journal, praised the diversity of female voices in the book, adding that "these poems are accessible, inspiring, and challenging."

Behind each of Morrison's poetry collections is the desire to share her love of language with younger readers, and prove that poetry can speak to people on any number of levels, from basketball to boogie to blancmange. In her own poetry, Morrison maintains, there is "always a strong kinetic feeling for me. Body movement seems to be involved. I am drawn to athletes, dancers, drummers, jazz musicians, who transcend misery and frustration and symbolize for us something joyous, ordered, and possible in life."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, editor, Books Are by People, Citation Press (New York, NY), 1969.

Janeczko, Paul, editor, The Place My Words Are Looking For, Bradbury Press (New York, NY), 1990.

Janeczko, Paul, editor, Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2002.

PERIODICALS

American Book Review, August, 1993, review of Whistling the Morning In: New Poems, p. 11.

Booklist, September 1, 1985, p. 67; June 1, 1988, review of Rhythm Road: An Anthology of Poems to Move To, p. 1677; August, 1992, p. 2005; January 15, 1993, review of Whistling the Morning In,p. 901; October 1, 1995, review of Slam Dunk: Basketball Poems, p. 311; November 15, 1997, p. 556; March 15, 2001, Hazel Rochman, review of More Spice Than Sugar: Poems about Feisty Females, p. 1392.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 1988, p. 163.

Horn Book Guide, fall, 1992, review of At the Crack of the Bat: Baseball Poems, p. 323; May-June, 1993, pp. 303-306; spring, 1996, review of Slam Dunk, p. 136; spring, 1998, review of I Scream, You Scream: A Feast of Food Rhymes, p. 159.

Hudson Dispatch, September 25, 1979.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 1985, p. 48; March 1, 1988, review of Rhythm Road, p. 366.

New Advocate, fall, 1989, review of Rhythm Road, p. 264.

New York Times, September 9, 1967; April 30, 1978.

New York Times Book Review, September 29, 1968; October 11, 1981; July 12, 1992, p. 23.

Publishers Weekly, Marcy 5, 2001, review of More Spice Than Sugar, p. 81.

Quill & Quire, May, 1992, p. 36; December 1995, review of Slam Dunk, p. 40.

Ruminator Review, summer, 2001, Patricia Kirkpatrick, "Rhyme, Tease, Play: Poetry for Children," review of More Spice Than Sugar, p. 51.

School Library Journal, August, 1985, p. 79; May, 1988, review of Rhythm Road, p. 106; November, 1997, p. 95; May, 1988, p. 106; November, 1997, review of I Scream, You Scream, p. 95; March, 2001, Nina Lindsay, review of More Spice Than Sugar, p. 274.

Spitball, spring, 1993, review of At the Crack of the Bat, p. 82.

Virginia Quarterly Review, autumn, 1967, review of The Ghosts of Jersey City, and Other Poems.

Wilson Library Bulletin, January, 1992, review of Yours till Niagara Falls, p. S10.