Dorothy Elmhirst Straight[1] (born May 25, 1958) is an American author who wrote How the World Began in 1962 at the age of 4[2] for her grandmother, Dorothy Payne Whitney,[3] making her among the youngest published authors in history.
After her grandfather died of influenza during the 1918 pandemic, while serving with the United States Army in France during World War I,[7] her grandmother married Leonard Knight Elmhirst (1893–1974).
[10][11] Kirkus Reviews praised her work as a child, writing:[9] Her art work is in the mainstream of the Kindergarten approach to paint and paper -- totally refreshing use of color and a wild approximation of shape.
Her concept of God's activities during the Creation are nothing if not complete -- after inventing the jungle and its wild animals, he went on to pins and thread, birds and bees.
The importance children place on the familiar and the furniture of their surroundings comes through in Dorothy's words and pictures.