Maud and Miska Petersham

Maud (1890–1971) and Miska (1888–1960) Petersham were an illustrating husband-and-wife team who are most famous for writing and illustrating The Rooster Crows, a book of American songs, rhymes, and games in the tradition of Mother Goose, which won the 1946 Caldecott Medal. Their first book was called Miki (published 1929) about their son.

Frontispiece of the 1922 first edition of Carl Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories, illustrated by the Petershams.

Maud

Maud was born Maud Fuller in Kingston, New York on August 5, 1890. Her family traveled extensively, from Kingston to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Newburg, New York, and finally to Scranton, Pennsylvania. She was graduated from Vassar College in 1912, later studying at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art. She worked at the International Art Service, where she met her future husband, Miska Petersham. When Miska died in 1960, Maud sold the Woodstock, New York, house in which they had lived.

Miska

Miska was born Petrezselyem Mikaly in Torokszentmiklos, Hungary, on September 20, 1888, the son of a carpenter and blacksmith. He moved to London in 1911 looking for a job. When he didn't find one, he moved to America in 1912 — anglicizing his name to "Petersham" — and obtained a job at the International Art Service, where he met his wife, Maud.

External links

• Papers
• Maud (Fuller) and Miska Petersham Papers, 1936–1967. University of Minnesota