Eulalie Osgood Grover
Children's Author
Eulalie Osgood Grover 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.
The Eulalie Osgood Grover collection contains material about the local children's author Eulalie Osgood Grover. There are personal letters, photographs, sketches, books, manuscripts, copies of speeches, and newspaper articles.
The Winter Park Public Library has the following titles, which are located in Winter Park History: The Sunbonnet Babies' Primer, The Overall Boys, The Sunbonnet Babies In Holland, The Sunbonnet Babies In Italy, The Sunbonnet Babies in Switzerland, My Caravan, Folk-Lore Readers Book 3, Mother Goose and Robert Louis Stevenson, Teller of Tales.
This article was written by former archivist, Barbara White, MLIS.
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