author

Lettie Cook Van Derveer

Known today for lively schoolroom drama and entertainment books, this early 20th-century writer created playful material meant to be performed, recited, and enjoyed by groups. Her surviving works still feel bright and practical, especially for readers curious about vintage children's theater and holiday programs.

1 Audiobook

A day at Happy Hollow School

A day at Happy Hollow School

by Lettie Cook Van Derveer

About the author

Lettie Cook Van Derveer was an American writer whose known published work centers on short dramatic and recreational pieces for schools, clubs, and community gatherings. Online bibliographic records link her to books including A Day at Happy Hollow School (1910), Halloween Happenings (1921), Any-day Entertainments (1922), and Holidays and in-between times (1923).

Her writing appears to have been especially aimed at performance. A Day at Happy Hollow School, now available through Project Gutenberg, presents a cheerful schoolroom play, while her later books gathered monologues, dialogues, sketches, recitations, and holiday-themed material designed for amateur entertainment.

Biographical details about her are limited in the sources I could confirm. A Find a Grave memorial identifies her as born in April 1881 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and dying in 1947 in Atlantic County, New Jersey. Because reliable, fuller biographical sources are scarce, she is best remembered through the practical, performance-friendly books she left behind.