Alice Low

Four of Low’s books are about witches because, she said, “with witches anything can happen.” In her most popular book, The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches (1978), Low tells the story of a young witch, Wendy, whose older bossy sisters tell her she will never learn to fly on a broomstick, mix potions, or make up rhyming spells like they can. One Halloween, with the help of a friendly trick-or-treater, Wendy finds her self-confidence, decisively out-witching her sisters. The I-Can-Read! version was on The New York Times Children’s Paperback Bestseller list. Low adapted the book into a short animated film and wrote the book and lyrics for the musical of the same name (music by Jacob Stern), first performed in 1993 and later at the Emelin Theater. The idea for her book Witches’ Holiday (1971; illustrated by Tony Walton) was inspired by Low’s youngest child’s fears about witches in his closet at night. The book celebrates the joys of summer for children, has been published in at least six physical editions, and is currently available in e-book format. With publication of the eighth version of The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches, Low became one of the few authors to have written both an I-Can-Read! book and a Beginner Book. and was selected by the Children’s Book Council as the Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies in 1986. Many of her books have been children’s Book Club selections. Four of her books were published in a foreign language (Japanese, French). She edited five anthologies and published short stories and many poems. Her poem “A Merry Literary Christmas”, an ode to giving books as gifts, was printed in Publishers Weekly and included in her anthology, The Family Read-Aloud Christmas Treasury (1989, illustrated by Marc Brown). Low also reviewed children’s books for The New York Times, taught creative writing, was the editor for the Children’s Choice Book Club, which was recorded by singers such as Mary Martin and Ray Bolger, as well as the lyrics for songs on the Tom Glazer album Noisy and Quiet/Big and Little. Many of Low’s manuscripts and notes are housed in the Kerlan Collection, part of the University of Minnesota’s Children's Literature Research Collection. ==Personal life==