May Hill Arbuthnot (August 27, 1884 – October 2, 1969) was an American educator, editor, writer, and critic who devoted her career to the awareness and importance of children's literature.
[2] In Pioneers and Leaders in Library Services to Youth, Marilyn Miller describes how Arbuthnot contributed to the beginning of nursery training schools in Ohio.
In 1927, with her valiant efforts, this training school became the department of elementary education at Western Reserve University.
[2] May Hill Arbuthnot's biggest contribution to the field of library and information science was her wide array of published books.
In 1947, Arbuthnot and William S. Gray, a friend from the University of Chicago, developed and co-authored this series for early readers.
[2] Even after Arbuthnot retired from being an associate professor at the university, she continued to publish books and give lectures.
After retirement, she built many anthologies that were made to point educators of children to collections of books that would accompany their teachings.
In 1959, the Women's National Book Association honored her with the Constance Lindsay Skinner Medal (now named WNBA Award).
[7] Her philosophy can be further explained by her introduction to the book, The Real Mother Goose, by Blanche Fisher Wright.
She goes on to describe this learning style by saying, “As a result, children will know more words and speak them more crisply and clearly than they would have without Mother Goose.