Nora Spicer Unwin

Nora Spicer Unwin (February 22, 1907– January 1, 1982) was a children's book illustrator and author. She was born near London, England, in a family already renown for publishing and printing circles and for founding three different publishing houses, most notably Allen & Unwin.

Nora grew up with a passion for art. Her parents converted the upstairs nursery of their Surrey home into Nora's first art studio. She enrolled in Leon Underwood’s prestigious London art school, then continued her training at the Kingston School of Art and the Royal College of Art where she received a diploma in design in 1932. During these eight years of specialized training, she explored several mediums including book illustration, pottery, wood carving, embroidery, bookbinding, mural decoration, engraving, etching, and architecture.

Best known for her work in book illustration and wood carving, her first commissioned illustration, a dust jacket for Edith Nesbit's Five of Us and Madeline, came at the age of eighteen. While at the Royal Academy two of her wood engravings were selected for display at the British Museum. After graduating, she began to teach part-time while illustrating children’s books on the side. She credits a wartime job where she had the opportunity to work with children as well as living in a rural setting as influences on her book illustrations.

Nora's interest in children’s literature was enhanced by her friendship with the American children’s book author Elizabeth Yates, whom she met in London in 1937 and with whom she would later collaborate with on numerous book projects. Yates returned to the United States and settled in Peterborough, New Hampshire in 1939. Nora subsequently followed in 1946 and remained in the United States for the rest of her life. The rural New England setting of Peterborough and the surrounding Monadnock region provided inspiration for many of her illustrations and woodcuts.

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