Grover, Eulalie Osgood

Title

Grover, Eulalie Osgood

Description

Eulalie Osgood Grover, a local children's author, was probably best known as the creator of a series of reading primers for young readers centered around the characters known as the "Sunbonnet Babies." Miss Grover was born June 22, 1873, in Mantorville, Minnesota and moved to Winter Park in 1926.

The Sunbonnet Babies Primer, published in 1902, was illustrated by Bertha L. Corbett and revolved around the adventures of Molly and May, two little girls whose faces were completely hidden by large sunbonnets. The primer was built around a 150-word vocabulary with later printings containing word lists to assist the teacher in picking out key words and phrases for emphasis.

The Sunbonnet Babies Primer was a huge success and was widely accepted in public schools throughout the United states. In 1905 Miss Grover published a second series , The Overall Boys, which introduced little boy characters.

Miss Grover's European travels provided ideas and material for Sunbonnet Babies in Holland, Sunbonnet Babies in Italy, and Sunbonnet Babies in Switzerland. These titles were primarily textbooks and used in conjunction with geography classes by second and third grade children.

Miss Grover also wrote for junior and senior high school students. In her career she wrote twenty-seven books that sold over four million copies. Miss Grover died in Winter Park, December 18, 1958.

Date

1902-1958

Language

English

Identifier

WPD B Grover Eul

Collection Items

Eulalie Osgood Grover
Eulalie Osgood Grover, a local children's author, was probably best known as the creator of a series of reading primers for young readers centered around the characters known as the "Sunbonnet Babies." Miss Grover was born June 22, 1873, in…

Sunbonnet Babies in Italy dedication page
Eulalie Osgood Grover signed the dedication page in the copy of the Sunbonnet Babies in Italy, which is housed in Winter Park History and Archives.

Sunbonnet Babies Primer Title Page
This is the title page from The Sunbonnet Babies' Primer, which was published in 1902 by Rand McNally and Company.

Sunbonnet Babies ABC Book
The Sunbonnet Babies' books were all created to be instructive and used in the classroom. In the back of each book was a word list to assist the teachers in picking out key words and phrases.

'D' page from the Sunbonnet Babies ABC Book
In this example from Sunbonnet Babies ABC Book, you see an example of the educational text and illustration Miss Grover developed to be used as a teaching aid
Also note that in the photograph above of Miss Grover, she is reading the very page…

The Overall Boys Book Cover
This is the book cover of the The Overall Boys, which was published in 1905. The Overall Boys was written after Miss Grover received many requests from boys and their mothers to include boy characters in her Sunbonnet Babies' primers.

The Overall Boys page 7
In this page from The Overall Boys, Jack, Joe, Tim and Ted are introduced to young readers. Though drawn by the same artist, Bertha L. Corbett, unlike their little girl counterparts, their faces are shown.
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