Gloria Houston

Gloria Houston (also known as Dr. Gloria D. Houston) was an American educator and award‑winning author of books for young readers, widely recognized for drawing on her upbringing in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University and later a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies from the University of South Florida, after teaching in public and private schools across North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida and later at the University of South Florida and Western Carolina University. A distinguished literacy educator, she was honored by the International Reading Association as a Distinguished Educator and received the National Excellence in Literacy Education Award. She died in 2016.

As a children’s author, Houston wrote numerous critically acclaimed picture books and novels, and her titles have appeared on more than forty award lists. Her best‑known works include My Great‑Aunt Arizona, illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb, which was named a Smithsonian Treasure and received several children’s literature honors, The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, illustrated by Barbara Cooney, an annual Publishers Weekly bestseller that the American Library Association named a Best Book of the Decade, and Littlejim. Many of her books celebrate Appalachian life and strong, resilient teachers and families, often inspired by her own relatives and the culture of rural North Carolina.[15