The Honey Bunch series of books were part of the Stratemeyer Syndicate 's production of 20th century children's books featuring adventurous youngsters, which included the series Nancy Drew , the Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins . This series was written under the pseudonym Helen Louise Thorndyke, and published for most of its duration by Grosset & Dunlap. The series began in 1923 and chronicled a young girl named Honey Bunch on her various trips and adventures. Along with Laura Lee Hope's series Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue, it was one of their most famous series for younger children.
16-452: The first sixteen volumes were written by Josephine Lawrence : Series books were at times perceived as being poor quality children's literature. Honey Bunch volumes 1 and 2 were among a set of books that school librarians eliminated from reading lists in the 1920s, after determining that they had low literary value. Mildred Wirt Benson , who is best known for writing many of the first Nancy Drew books, wrote five books in this series: And
32-439: A more modern fashion than Rogers had used. The Syndicate was moving toward more progressive artwork during this period throughout its popular series. Schubert continued until book 23. Book 24 also saw the end of individual cover-artwork, until the series was re-vamped in 1957. From book 25 on, Harry Lane is credited with the cover illustration. The previous books were also re-issued with the new, uniform artwork. Harry Lane's artwork
48-779: Is held in the Stratemeyer Syndicate Records at the New York Public Library. Lawrence was born in Newark, New Jersey on March 12, 1889. By 1915, she was the editor of the children's page of the Newark Sunday Call , a weekly independent newspaper published from 1872 to 1946. By the 1920s, she was also the editor of the Household Page of that paper. In 1940 she married actor and tenor Artur Platz and moved to Manhattan. When
64-563: The Newark Sunday Call closed down, she took a job at the Newark News where she wrote book reviews as well as a column titled “Book Marks.” Lawrence died at home in New York City on February 22, 1978 at age 88. Betty Gordon The Betty Gordon books were an early Stratemeyer Syndicate series, published under the pseudonym Alice B. Emerson . Edward Stratemeyer created the series and wrote plot outlines for books by
80-642: The 30s were most deeply felt." Two of her novels were Book-of-the-Month-Club selections: Years Are So Long and If I Have Four Apples. Her last published novel, Under One Roof, came out in 1975. Years Are So Long is among a set of films from two eras in the 20th century that reflect cultural conflicts around aging and femininity that helped to reinforce elder advocacy in American social policy and legislation. The novel, described as “one of her more enduring works (out of approximately one hundred children's books and thirty-five social problem books for adults),”
96-709: The Riddle Club. After success writing for the Syndicate, she began writing her own series and stand-alone stories for children, including a radio series for children, ‘‘Man in the Moon,’’ which began broadcasting in October of 1921, and was the first book of stories read to children over the radio. She later wrote novels for adults, including Glenna (1929), Head of the Family (1932), Years Are So Long (1934) — which
112-593: The lives of common people, with stories often filled with a large cast of bustling characters, emphasizing the everyday lives of children and the elderly. Lawrence was among the many authors who ghost wrote series books for the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate of children's books. She had interviewed Edward Stratemeyer in 1917, and he later invited her to write for his organization. She wrote 51 such volumes between 1920 and 1935, for series including Betty Gordon , Honey Bunch , Sunny boy " and
128-465: The picture cover format, as Grosset & Dunlap had completely switched their line of series over from wrap around dust covers to picture covers. It is believed that all 12 books were published in picture cover format. In the 1960s, Grosset & Dunlap had decided, for example with the Judy Bolton series and Connie Blair , not to republish select titles in picture cover format. It is possible this
144-435: The series continues into a third and fourth decade: The original series consisted of 34 books (with the 34th being published in 1955), although for the final two books, the original title was changed from just "Honey Bunch" to "Honey Bunch and Norman", signaling the shift the series would take to attempt to appeal to both sexes. The 35th book was listed in the back of #34 as Honey Bunch and Norman Visit Cocoa Land . This book
160-488: Was done with the Honey Bunch and Norman series. Picture cover versions tend to be more difficult to find for this series since more copies were printed with dust jackets. The first 12 books originally had individual cover art for each book by Walter S. Rogers , who was active with several Syndicate Series of the 1910s-1930s (The Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys for example). Marie Schubert took over with book 13, providing
176-417: Was first published in 1949 as Honey Bunch: Her First Trip to a Lighthouse, and Honey Bunch and Norman Visit Reindeer Farm 1958 was first published in 1953 as Honey Bunch: Her First Trip to Reindeer Farm. these were book that were written by Andrew E. Svenson and unlike the previous series that had 1 to 3 illustrations these were illustrated throughout The final book of the Honey Bunch and Norman series
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#1732793108302192-488: Was made into a movie Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) — If I Have Four Apples (1935), Sound of Running Feet (1937) and Bow Down to Wood and Stone (1938). Her novels covered the troubles of middle class people during the depression and were both critically praised and sold well at the time they came out, but have been less well known by 21st century readers. The New York Times noted that her novels detailed "money troubles and those family problems and relationships that in
208-561: Was never released, however, the manuscript of it is in the New York Public Library archives. In 1957 the series was re-vamped with a new title starting off the new Honey Bunch and Norman series. As would also be done later by the Syndicate with the Dana Girls series, recent titles in the original series were recycled throughout the beginning of the new series. For example, Honey Bunch and Norman on Lighthouse Island,
224-614: Was published in 1963, Honey Bunch and Norman and the Walnut Tree Mystery #12. This may be the last Stratemeyer Syndicate book to be published with a dust jacket, as most of the other Syndicate series seemed to phase them out by 1962. There is a manuscript for the unpublished 13th book, The Wooden Shoe Mystery , at the New York Public Library Although the final book was published in 1963, the books remained in print for several years, though in
240-472: Was retired with book 32 of the original series. The correct 31st book, Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to Puppyland , was published in 1952. This book is extremely hard to find. There are 32 Honey Bunch books and 12 Honey Bunch and Norman books. When the series was re-vamped in 1957, individual cover illustrations were returned. Josephine Lawrence Josephine Lawrence (1889–1978) was an American storyteller, novelist and journalist . Her works chronicled
256-673: Was treated to an annotated edition in 2012, A Critical Edition of Josephine Lawrence's "Years Are So Long" (1934): A Novelistic Portrayal of Adult Children with Their Elderly Parents during the American Great Depression. In 1965, papers relating to her adult fiction were gathered in the Josephine Lawrence Collection at Boston University , in an archive containing letters, clippings, manuscripts of novels, poetry, and related materials. Correspondence concerning her juvenile fiction for Stratemeyer
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