Well-Loved Children’s Author Florence Parry Heide Dies at 92

It was not a big fancy obituary. It was just a small notice. But anyone who is interested in children’s literature would feel a great loss of the recent passing of author Florence Parry Heide. 

She is an author Wisconsin has been proud of and has honored throughout her career. She has received a first prize from the Council for Wisconsin Writers as well as a Notable Book Citation from the American Library Association. Heide lived for many years in Kenosha which declared Sept. 26, 2009, as Florence Parry Heide Day. She was obviously well-loved in her home town. Every Fourth of July, she organized a parade. Hundreds of children showed up at her house with their bikes all decked out and would proceed to ride twice around her block to the beat of a drum. 

Florence Parry Heide has written numerous and varied books. She has written for little ones, elementary children and even young adults. Some are funny; some, touching; and some just plain fun. Some are wildly imaginative like The Shrinking a Treehorn (J Heide), the story of a little boy who starts to shrink but whose parents do not seem to even notice or Princess Hyacinth, The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated (Pic Heide) in which a little princess must be weighed down with a heavy crown, gold in the hems of her dress and little diamond pebbles sewn into her socks or else she would float up, up, up in her Royal Underwear. Not much of a life for a spunky little girl.

Heide also writes very seriously. Her book, Sami and the Time of the Troubles (Pic Heide), won the Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Literature. It is located in the picture book section, but is not written for preschoolers. Even adults could learn and be touched by this one. It is the story of a young boy living in Beirut and begins, “My name is Sami, and I live in the time of the troubles. It is a time of guns and bombs. It is a time that has lasted all my life, and I am ten years old.” Sami lives in the basement of his uncle’s house because it is just too dangerous to live above ground. In those moments when the fighting settles down and Sami can go outside, he is struck by the blueness of the sky. He has forgotten what the outside world looks like because it has been so long.

We miss both the sincerity and the humor of Florence Parry Heide. It is a good thing that she has left us with some great literature.