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Elizabeth Uhlig
was born in New York City in the mid-twentieth century. The youngest in a
large family of rather artistic and versatile characters, Elizabeth was
educated in the U.S. and in French Canada where she earned her BA in
foreign languages at McGill University. Intensely interested in foreign
cultures and languages, Elizabeth knew from a very early age that she was
an artist and kept copious sketchbooks recording her surroundings as well
as her foreign travels. Her particular passion has always been children
and neighborhoods.
During her young adulthood, Elizabeth lived abroad and developed herself in the areas of art, dance and languages. When she returned to New York, she attended graduate school with the intention of becoming a children's librarian. Her ambition was fulfilled and Elizabeth had the opportunity to work with various populations of children in three different schools. This inspired her to begin her next career as an author and illustrator and she created her first book, Grandmother Mary, which she published herself, thus creating her own publishing house, Marble House Editions. Grandmother Mary, which is a chronicle of her remarkable mother's life, also includes the story of Elizabeth's childhood home, family and neighborhood. Subsequently, Elizabeth wrote, illustrated and published a biographical memoir for young readers, Anna Pavlova, Jewel of the Ballet, which fulfilled the author's desire to express her love of ballet and of that enchanted time period, the first half of the twentieth century. Concurrently, she wrote and published Memoir Writing and Illustrating for Children, which offers young authors the tools with which to create a memoir of their own family stories. In keeping with her passion for dance and world cultures, Elizabeth went on to write and illustrate The Whole World is Dancing. This is a collection of children's poetry about international folk dancing, a subject which is neglected in children's literature. Rainwalk, which she wrote and illustrated, is also poetry. For readers of all ages, this little book takes delight in showing children the beauty of enjoying a walk in one's own neighborhood at different times of the year and different times of day. Children Just Like You is a rhyming book that celebrates the childhood pleasures common to young people all over the world - having a pet, listening to a story, or spending time with a grandparent. Just as American children love these pastimes, children in other countries enjoy them too - but they have their own way of doing so! Take this little journey and see how much alike children are, no matter where in the world we go. I Want To Be is for very young readers. A rhyming book illustrated in cut paper, it explores the many kinds of paths that the imagination can take as the day unfolds. In the fall of 2007, Elizabeth's mother, Mary, died. She was nearly 95 years old and had lived a healthy life, as described in Elizabeth's first book (Grandmother Mary). Very much in her style, Mary died painlessly and peacefully in her own bed in the little white house depicted in the story, thereby closing a ten-year cycle from the time the book emerged in 1997. Elizabeth says that writing and illustrating this book, which took several years, was her way of managing the anticipated feelings of loss and separation, not only from her mother, but from the family home and the way of life that had taken place in it. Coinciding with this ten-year milestone and in response to many young readers' having asked, "When are you going to write a book about your life?" Elizabeth completed and published her autobiographical memoir, Before We Met, which encompasses her life up till now as an artist and author. The book begins in that legendary house in Queens in the mid-1950s, where Elizabeth lived with her parents and four older siblings. With tenderness and humor, she paints a verbal picture of her life's path, from childhood to young adulthood, through college and on to her years as a working adult, a married woman, and a professional in the field of children's literature. Her next book was I See America!, a free-verse poem illustrated with collages, that expresses Elizabeth's deep level of awe and gratitude for our American way of life. Subsequently, Elizabeth produced What Is It About Doggies?, a rhyming book for young readers. Illustrated in acrylic paint on canvas skin paper, this book captures many of the feelings that are universal to dog lovers everywhere. In 2013 she published Twelve Tiny Creatures, a collection of short poems about small animals, birds and bugs. Sparingly illustrated in watercolor, the book offers young readers facts and secrets about the habits and survival techniques of these small beings, all spun into easy-to-read rhymes. In 2015, Elizabeth brought out The Magic Chain, a collection of unrelated poems, illustrated in a variety of styles. Two of the poems were composed in 1992, in anticipation of the birth of Elizabeth’s first grandnephew, Nelson, the first great grandchild in her family. Tragically, Nelson died at age 23 in the summer of 2015, just before the book was completed. As it includes poems written in connection with Nelson’s birth, the book is dedicated to him. Lovely Toys of Long Ago is an ABC book for older children, a collection of rhyming poems about toys that children played with in days gone by. Illustrated in delicate watercolor and collage, the poems are meant to enrich the reader’s vocabulary and cultural literacy. Oh, Me, Oh My, Oh, How I Wish That I Could Fly! was especially written for the youngest readers. In writing and illustrating this book, Elizabeth intends to show children not only the power of one's imagination, but also different facets of community life, urban, suburban and rural. The newest book is If a Dinosaur Were Your Pet, an illustrated rhyming poem for very young readers. It is designed to teach children how to care for their pets by comparing their rabbit, hamster, dog, cat, etc. to the woolly mammoth, raptor, stegosaurus and others. Amusing, but filled with useful and practical information, this book captures the interest of every animal-loving child. Elizabeth has also translated and illustrated a number of children's works and also wrote Beginner's Greek, a textbook for adults. In creating this work, which was published by Hippocrene Books, Elizabeth felt that she finally had the chance to write a succinct, effective and usable language textbook. Widely traveled and proficient in more than half a dozen languages, Elizabeth is currently working on several more of her own books that promote knowledge of world cultures. She is known in her circle of friends as a collector of stories as well as an inveterate narrator. The name "Marble House Editions" came from my nephew Danny, who is now a grown man, who was about five years old at the time. When he used to come and visit me at my apartment, he would play with a glass bowl of marbles and therefore named my home "Marble House." I thought it was an elegant name for my company. |
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