The Dutch Twins

Lucy Fitch Perkins was an American illustrator and writer of children's books, best known for her Twins series, particularly Dutch Twins (1911). She was born on July 12, 1865, in Maples, Indiana, to a family of teachers. After graduating from high school, Perkins attended the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, where she met her future husband, Dwight H. Perkins. After their marriage, Perkins moved to Chicago, where she worked for the Prang Educational Company as an illustrator. She began writing children's books to supplement her family's income and published her first work, The Goose Girl, in 1906. Perkins' most successful work, The Dutch Twins, was published in 1911 and inspired a series of books that were popular with children. To write these books, Perkins conducted extensive research and interviewed people who grew up in the given country to understand their customs. Perkins sold over two million copies of her books, making her Houghton Mifflin's most profitable author. Perkins died in Pasadena, California, on March 18, 1937, of a heart attack caused by coronary thrombosis. She had recently moved there with her husband to restore her health. Perkins had two children, Eleanor Ellis, a writer, and Lawrence Bradford, an architect.