Anna Bird Stewart

Anna Bird Stewart was an American author and poet best known for writing for children and young people. Newspaper accounts describe her as the author of twelve books, including The Gentlest Giant, A Small Bird Singing, The Belles of Canterbury, Young Miss Burney, and several books of poetry, prose, and plays.

Stewart said she began writing poetry at age five and sold her first story to a Cincinnati newspaper at seven. She graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati and spent three years as an associate professor of English at St. Mary’s of Notre Dame. She also traveled as a lecturer, speaking to school groups about writing and encouraging students to approach literature with energy and imagination.