Emilie Poulsson

Born in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, in 1853, Emilie Poulsson was an American children's author and an energetic supporter of the kindergarten movement. She is especially remembered for writing books that blended play, music, rhyme, and everyday learning for very young children.

Her best-known work is Finger Plays for Nursery and Kindergarten (1893), a book that helped popularize simple action rhymes and games for children. She also wrote other books for homes and classrooms, including In the Child's World, Songs of a Little Child's Day, and Through the Farmyard Gate.

Poulsson's life was marked by perseverance as well as creativity: sources note that she developed a serious eye condition in infancy and later became blind. Even so, she continued to teach, lecture, and write, and her work left a lasting mark on early childhood education in the United States.