Lavinia R. Davis

Lavinia Riker Davis (1909-1961) was an American author of picture books, teenage novels, and mysteries for children and adults. She wrote over forty books, mostly under her own name, but sometimes using the pseudonym "Wendell Farmer".

She also wrote short stories, some published in "The American Girl", "The American Boy", "St Nicholas" and "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction". [ [http://www.tomfolio.com/autographimg.asp?sigid=166&ret=AGIni Tomfolio author bio] ]

One of her illustrators, Hildegard Woodward, was twice awarded the Caldecott Award Honor Medal for her illustrations to books written by Lavinia R. Davis, "Roger and the Fox" in 1948, and "The Wild Birthday Cake" in 1950. [ [http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal.cfm#50s ALSC Caldecott list] ]

elected Bibliography

*"Hobby Horse Hill" (1939) (illus. Paul Brown)
*"Buttonwood Island" (1940) (illus. Paul Brown)
*"We All Go Away" (1940) (illus. Dorothea Warren)
*"We All Go To School" (1941) (illus. Dorothea Warren)
*"Plow Penny Mystery" (1942) (illus. Paul Brown)
*"A Sea Between Us" (1945)
*"Roger and the Fox" (1947) (illus. Hildegard Woodward)
*"The Wild Birthday Cake" (1949) (illus. Hildegard Woodward)
*"Donkey Detectives" (1955) (illus. Jean MacDonald Porter)
*"Island City: Adventures in Old New York" (1961) (illus. Jean MacDonald Porter)

Crime Club
*"Evidence Unseen" (1945)
*"Barren Heritage" (1946)
*"Threat of Dragons" (1948)

As "Wendell Farmer"
*"The Surprise Mystery" (1943) (illus. Alice Harvey)
*"Bicycle Commandos" (1944) (alt. title "Bicycle Detectives") (illus. Alice Harvey)
*"Fish Hook Island Mystery" (1945) (illus. Ninon Macknight)

References