Background

Catherine Edwards Sadler was born on December 3, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The daughter of Anne Edwards, a writer.

Education

Catherine Edwards Sadler attended the American College of Switzerland in 1969-1970, and the United States International University during 1970-1971. In 1974 she received her B.A. from Windham College.

Career

Catherine Edwards Sadler has been involved in children’s publishing from several different angles over the course of her career. She took a job with a New York City publishing house G. P. Putnam’s Sons as an editorial assistant from 1974 to 1975 and an editor in 1975-1977. This (and her language skills) led to her work as a translator of several books for young children depicting the birth process of animals. Illustrated with actual photographs, "A Foal Is Born", "A Flamingo Is Born", and "A Duckling Is Born" appeared in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was a freelance writer and journalist during 1977-1982.

Besides, Sadler and her husband travelled to China in 1979. Their experiences in the southern city of Guilin formed the basis for Sadler’s first authored book "Two Chinese Families", published in 1981.

From Sadler’s experiences in China sprung the literary resources for two subsequent works, each collections of Chinese fairy tales that Sadler retold and published as "Treasure Mountain: Folktales from Southern China", which appeared in 1982, and 1985’s "Heaven’s Reward: Fairy Tales from China". Both were illustrated by Cheng Mung Yun. "Treasure Mountain’s" six stories highlight traditional Chinese values, but the story entitled “The Magic Brush” was altered to reflect a Communist viewpoint. "Heaven’s Reward" presents a wider range of tales from China, each one set in a different historical period and representing various strains of Chinese philosophy, such as Confucianism and Taoism.

Sadler has also authored a biography for young adults on a little-known daughter of a famous writer. In 1982’s "Sasha: The Life of Alexandra Tolstoy", she chronicled the rather unhappy early life of the daughter of nineteenth-century Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.

Sadler has also adapted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s nineteenth-century British prose found in his Sherlock Holmes detective stories into more accessible text for young readers. In 1981 several of these stories were published in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", before Sadler traded her career as a writer for one as a marketing executive. She worked at Conran’s Stores, Inc. in New York City as vice president of marketing and creative director during 1982-1989 and has been vice president of marketing at Koala Blue, Inc. in Van Nuys, California since 1989.

Achievements

• Catherine Edwards Sadler received the Outstanding Science and Trade Book for Children Award from the National Science Teachers Association and the Children’s Book Council in 1981 for "A Duckling Is Born". She also got the American Catalog Silver Award from Conran’s Catalogue in 1986, 1987, and 1989.

Works

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  • Sasha: The Life of Alexandra Tolstoy
  • Two Chinese Families: Liang Chia Chung-Kuo Jen
  • Treasure Mountain: Folktales From Southern China
  • Heaven's Reward
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Book 1
  • Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Book 2
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Book Three
  • Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Book 4

Membership

Catherine Edwards Sadler has been a member of Author’s Guild, Direct Marketing Association and Catalog Council.

Connections

Catherine married Alan Sadler, an executive producer, on June 20, 1976. They have two children: Maxwell and Casey.

Mother:

Anne Edwards

Spouse:

Alan Sadler

Son:

Maxwell Sadler

Son:

Casey Sadler