author
Ann Nolan Clark
1896–1995
Best known for the Newbery Medal winner Secret of the Andes, this American author and educator wrote warmly about children’s lives in the Southwest and the Andes. Her stories grew out of years spent teaching, especially in Native communities, and aimed to make young readers feel seen.
1 Audiobook
The Little Navajo Herder
by Ann Nolan Clark
About the author
Born Anna Marie Nolan in Las Vegas, New Mexico, in 1896, she studied education at what is now New Mexico Highlands University and later became known as Ann Nolan Clark. She spent many years teaching for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, including work with children at Tesuque Pueblo, and that experience deeply shaped her writing.
Clark wrote children’s books that drew on the places and communities she knew best. She won the 1953 Newbery Medal for Secret of the Andes, and her work was widely recognized for bringing cultural settings and children’s everyday lives into focus with care and clarity.
She continued writing for decades and left behind a large body of work for young readers. Remembered as both an author and an educator, she died in 1995 at the age of 99.