Author and editor Shana Corey grew up on a steady diet of “olden-day” girls, the strong, determined types she found in theBetsy-Tacy and Little House books. “So imagine my delight when I went to college and discovered that I could take entire classes on (and get credit for learning about) olden-day girls!” the Smith alum explains on her website. “I learned to call it women’s history, but really, it was the same topic I’d been interested in since I was five.”

As a children’s author, Corey has mined the olden-day-girl terrain for some real gems: feminist pioneer Amelia Bloomer in You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer!, the first-ever All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in Players in Pigtails, water ballet founder and swimsuit modernizer Annette Kellerman in Mermaid Queen.

In my February children's market column at Authorlink.com, Corey shares how she researched and wrote about the plucky olden-day girl who founded the Girl Scouts one hundred years ago, Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low, the focus of Corey’s latest picture book, Here Come the Girl Scouts! Be sure to check it out, plus Corey's website, www.shanacorey.com!