author
Emilie Poulsson
1853–1939
A lively champion of kindergarten learning, this American writer helped turn songs, rhymes, and finger plays into joyful tools for very young children. Her work mixed storytelling with a deep belief that early education should be active, musical, and full of wonder.
2 Audiobooks
Finger plays for nursery and kindergarten
by Emilie Poulsson
The Runaway Donkey, and Other Rhymes for Children
by Emilie Poulsson
About the author
Born in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, in 1853, Emilie Poulsson became known as an American children's author and a strong supporter of early childhood education. She is especially remembered for helping popularize the kindergarten movement and for writing books that brought rhythm, play, and imagination into everyday learning.
Poulsson studied at the Perkins Institution for the Blind and later taught there. Sources also describe her as having visual impairment that began in infancy and eventually led to blindness, a part of her life that shaped her connection to education and advocacy. Her writing and lectures focused on children, parenting, and the value of starting education early.
Among her best-known works is Finger Plays for Nursery and Kindergarten (1893), a book closely linked with her lasting reputation. She also wrote and translated other books for children, including stories drawn from Scandinavian traditions, and remained associated with the idea that learning for young children should be warm, playful, and deeply humane.