A Childhood Neighbor:

Remembering Marguerite de Angeli 

A new chapter of my life began in 1945, at the end of World War II. My father, Harry G. Kuch, had just left the Army Air Corps and moved our family back to his hometown of Philadelphia. We settled in Mt. Airy, a suburb of north Philadelphia nestled between Germantown and Chestnut Hill. Our new home was a gray stone house at 302 Carpenter Lane, directly across the street from the Carpenter Lane train station and next to the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. 

Much to our surprise, our neighbor turned out to be the renowned children’s author and illustrator Marguerite de Angeli. 

As a young child in elementary school, I didn’t fully grasp her fame or literary significance. But I do remember the watercolor painting she gave me, a personalized gift from her book Skippack School. I’ve treasured it ever since. Over the years, I’ve collected many of her books and plan to find more—especially her illustrated collection of nursery rhymes inspired by Mother Goose. 

As I’ve researched her work in more depth, I’ve come to admire not just her artistic talent, but her deep empathy for children of all backgrounds. De Angeli believed that despite differences in race, ethnicity, or circumstance, children shared common dreams, fears, and joys. Her stories often focused on ethnic groups and immigrant communities in America, including Poles, Swedes, French Canadians, and Mennonites—many set against the backdrop of Philadelphia. 

Her literary journey began at the urging of a publisher, who encouraged her to write stories based on her own children. Her early books featured two of her six children, Ted and Nina. Later, she turned her focus to Pennsylvania Dutch culture, writing about Amish children in books like Skippack School and Thee, Hannah!. 

In 1946, she broke new ground with Bright April, the first children’s book to directly address racial prejudice. It told the story of a young Black girl navigating discrimination in her Philadelphia neighborhood. In 1950, she won the prestigious Newbery Medal for The Door in the Wall, a historical novel about a disabled boy in 13th-century England who overcomes great odds to help defend a castle under siege. For that book, de Angeli traveled abroad for research—something she would continue to do for later works set in England, Scandinavia, and the Middle East, exploring themes of war and revenge. 

Marguerite de Angeli continued writing and illustrating well into her later years, passing away in 1987. Over the course of her long and celebrated career, she received numerous honors, including:

• The Newbery Medal (1950, The Door in the Wall)

• The Caldecott Honor (1942, Loved to Laugh)

• The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1961)

• • The Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania Award (1958)

• The Regina Medal for lifetime achievement in children’s literature (1968) 

For me, she was more than just a celebrated author—she was the kind and gracious neighbor who once gave a child a small painting that sparked a lifetime of admiration. 

 ~Lani Hahn 

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 Editor’s overview

Marguerite de Angeli (1889-1987) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books including the 1950 Newbery Award winning book The Door in the Wall. She wrote and illustrated twenty-eight of her own books, and illustrated more than three dozen books and numerous magazine stories and articles for other authors.

~ Lani Hahn

St George’s Women’s Forum March 25,2017
by Lani Hahn © 2017 (Used by Permission)