For someone who made such an enormous contribution to American literature, Mark Twain has been the subject of many books but few major biographies.
Samuel Marshak was one of the founders of modern Russian children's literature. Soviet children used to know his poems by heart, but only since glasnost have American editors shown any interest in issuing his poems here.
I guess I never grew up. I was still reading kids' books in high school and college. I was always interested in writing or illustrating children's books, and I started collecting out-of-print books when I was about 10 years old.
Frank Baum knew at once he had written something special when he completed 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.'
