Which children's author are you most closely connected to?

Question

This week's Example Profile is Beverly Cleary, centenarian and beloved children's author who passed away last week.

Featured alongside her in the Connection Finder are other children's authors:

• Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)
• Roald Dahl
• Countee Cullen
• Paul Biegel
• Astrid Lindgren
• Sophie Rostopchine
• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• Dorothy Wall

Who are you most closely connected to? If you're one of the 22,142,000 of us who are connected to each other on our big tree you can check with the Connection Finder.

You can also check for shared ancestors with the Relationship Finder. Are you a cousin to any of them? Your Relationship Finder Quick Links page (see your profile pull-down menu under "Relationships") has quick links for several notable groups.

Let us know below!

P.S. Help us choose and improve profiles for next week's feature: Chefs & Foodies!

Comments

She's not listed but was Beatrix Potter ever done. I am 22 degrees from Roald Dahl

---

Here is Beatrix Potter.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Potter-3292

Answer 1

I am most closely connected to Dorothy Wall at 25 degrees.

Comments

20 degrees for Dorothy, through my Mum (for a change) and the  Irish 3-greats-grand.  It is always pleasing when the trail goes via other than my paternal line.

Answer 2

I am 19 degrees from Roald Dahl and 20 degrees from Beverly Cleary.

Answer 3

I'm closest to Roald Dahl at 24 degrees.

I am 37 disappointing degrees from Astrid Lindgren.
Both connection paths go via the US of A.

We really need some better internal connections in Sweden; Småland and Bergslagen are like two different countries in the connection finder :-/

Comments

Yeah, it looked promising with Astrid Lindgren that she has all 16 gggparents entered, but then there are so few other descendants to those entered so it's like she isn't connected near to most people anyway. (I'm just 28 degrees from Astrid though.)

---

I'm 33 degrees from Astrid Lindgren. Need to build on my Småland branches.  Closest connection with 22 degrees to Dr. Seuss.

---

I did some followup on a couple of the children of Samuel Johan August Ericsson. One of them had a wife Samuelsson from Hässleby parish. Realized that I had a several-times-removed cousin from Bergslagen who went to work in furniture factories in Småland and married a Samuelsson from Hässleby. The right timespan, but looks like they're unrelated. I'll leave that rabbithole for another day and return to the family of the girl from Småland who went to deaf school in Stockholm and married a member of my kinship network in Bergslagen.

---

My connection to Astrid is the longest in this week's roster and the only one that goes through my "boring" Willson Swiss-American "bridge" 

Cute tidbit: Astrid's connection to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry goes through Désirée Clary via a string of Bernadottes. Nice that this one is not transatlantic.

Answer 4

I am 16 degrees from Roald Dahl.

Answer 5

I'm closest to Countee Cullen, at 18 degrees.

Answer 6

I'm equidistant from Roald Dahl, Theo Geisel, and Beverly Cleary at 18 degrees. It doesn't appear that I'm blood related to any of these 3 though.

18 degrees from Beverly Cleary, 18 degrees from Theo Geisel, 18 degrees from Roald Dahl, 20 degrees from Countée Cullen, 31 degrees from Paul Biegel, 33 degrees from Astrid Lindgren, 24 degrees from Sophie de Ségur, 25 degrees from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 25 degrees from Dorothy Badgery

Answer 7

17 degrees to Beverly Cleary and 18 for Dr. Seuss.

I was going to argue for my 3rd cousin 5 times removed Clement C. Moore, author of The Night Before Christmas.  However, he wrote mostly for adults, and his authorship of The Night Before Christmas is in some doubt.  It's still a fun connection, as everyone on the path was born Moore, although for my mother and grandmother it was a middle name.

Answer 8

20 degrees from Theo Geisel
20 degrees from Roald Dahl
20 degrees from Beverly Cleary
21 degrees from Countée Cullen
23 degrees from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
24 degrees from Sophie de Ségur
25 degrees from Dorothy Badgery
33 degrees from Paul Biegel
33 degrees from Astrid Lindgren

Answer 9

Roald Dahl, 14 degrees. Actually 6th cousin to his wife, the actress Patricia Neal thru the Teagues.  

I tell my brother about this degree thing, he usually gives me an eye roll. But this time he actually paid attention. But he was actually interested this time. He's a book collector, and a Patricia Neal fan.

Comments

Interesting.  You caused me to take a second look at Patricia Neal.  She's an 8th cousin twice removed, but other than her mother your path and mine are totally different.  I connect at a Van Der Poel, an immigrant from the Netherlands to New Jersey about 1654.

I get eye rolls too . . .

Answer 10

I am most closely connected to Roald Dahl at 22 degrees.

• 22 degrees from Roald Dahl
• 23 degrees from Beverly Cleary
• 23 degrees from Theo Geisel
• 24 degrees from Countée Cullen
• 27 degrees from Dorothy Badgery
• 27 degrees from Sophie de Ségur
• 30 degrees from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• 35 degrees from Astrid Lindgren
• 36 degrees from Paul Biegel

Answer 11

I'm 19 degrees from Countée Cullen, whom I've never heard of. 

Answer 12

I'm 14 degrees from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and 16 from the Comtesse de Ségur (Sophie Rostopchine). The next closest is Beverly Cleary at 23 degrees.

In addition to the French, I only knew Roald Dahl, Astrid Lindgren and Dr. Seuss before this feature. I enjoyed learning about Beverly Cleary.

Comments

I was surprised to recognize the name Beverly Cleary from a library that I have visited in Portland, Oregon.

Answer 13

I am 21 degrees from Beverly Cleary!  Amazing!

and my closest is 19  degrees from Theo Geisel.  I've never heard of this person but am looking him up now!

Answer 14

15 degrees from Ronald Dahl.

Answer 15

19 degrees from Roald Dahl and Dorothy. Had to look up Enid Blyton too. We had a childrens book author in the family too. I guess there are a few around. Unfortunately she hasn't had enough done to her profile, which means I should do something about that. Mrs Molesworth (nee Stewart-25007).

Answer 16

21 degrees from Beverly Cleary,

and

21 degrees from Pam Dale

Answer 17

She is not listed, but Cathrine Barr (not Catherine Barr) is my second cousin once removed. She wrote and illustrated some children's books. We had an autographed copy of Runaway Chimps when I was little. Her grandfather John Seifert and my great-grandmother Cathrine Seifert were brother and sister. My great-grandmother apparently preferred to spell her name Catherine, but, according to my mother, her actual name was Cathrine. We lived across the street from her grandmother.

Answer 18

No blood relationship for this week

• 18 degrees from Beverly Cleary
• 19 degrees from Roald Dahl
• 20 degrees from Theo Geisel
• 23 degrees from Countée Cullen
• 25 degrees from Sophie de Ségur
• 25 degrees from Dorothy Badgery
• 28 degrees from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• 33 degrees from Astrid Lindgren
• 34 degrees from Paul Biegel

Answer 19

27 From Dr. Seuss and 27 from Roald Dahl

Answer 20

Looks like Beverly Cleary and Roald Dahl this week...... 17 degrees from Beverly Cleary, 21 degrees from Theo Geisel, 17 degrees from Roald Dahl, 23 degrees from Countée Cullen, 31 degrees from Paul Biegel, 32 degrees from Astrid Lindgren, 23 degrees from Sophie de Ségur, 26 degrees from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 25 degrees from Dorothy Badgery 

Comments

How about adding Johnny Gruelle to the list? Creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy  Andy dolls and author and illustrator of dozens of children's books.