Born in Cleveland, Ohio in on November 25, 1928, Shirley Climo's love of folklore began in her childhood and continued throughout her life. She attended DePauw University until her mother died unexpectedly in 1949, when she dropped out and took up her mother's work writing scripts for the weekly WGAR-Radio children's program Fairytale Theatre.
She eventually wrote 24 books, such as Magic & Mischief: Tales from Cornwall, A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World, A Treasury of Mermaids: Mermaid Tales from Around the World, and Someone Saw a Spider: Spider Facts and Folktales, a Library of Congress Best Children's Book that was originally inspired by her research for Cobweb Christmas. She also wrote King of the Birds, T.J,'s Ghost, and several others.
But she seemed to have a special love of the Cinderella story, evidenced by her publishing four retellings set around the world: The Egyptian Cinderella and The Korean Cinderella (both illustrated by Ruth Heller), The Persian Cinderella (illustrated by Robert Florczack), and The Irish Cinderclad (illustrated by Loretta Krupinksi). At once familiar, yet exotic, all four of these are sure to please the fairy tale enthusiast with their different renditions of the tale and their lavish art.
Mrs. Climo and her husband lived in Los Altos, California, where she died on August 25, 2012 at the age of 83.
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