Elizabeth Foreman Lewis

Elizabeth Foreman Lewis drew on years teaching and supervising schools in China for her best-known children's fiction. Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze, first published in 1932, follows a country boy learning the coppersmith's trade in 1920s Chungking, now Chongqing. The book received the 1933 Newbery Medal. Macmillan's Square Fish edition identifies Lewis as author, William Low as illustrator, and readers aged ten to fourteen as its intended audience. EBSCO describes the story as a developmental adventure concerned with trust between generations and encounters between Chinese and Western traditions. Lewis also wrote Ho-Ming, Girl of New China, China Quest, and other works drawing on her experience abroad. Later editions introduced new illustrations, including work by Ed Young, so edition details matter when identifying contributors. Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze remains the central title in Lewis's bibliography, linking her educational work in China with an American tradition of historical children's fiction and award recognition.