Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge (January 26, 1831 – August 21, 1905) was an American children's author and editor, best known for her novel Hans Brinker. She was the recognized leader in juvenile literature for almost a third of the nineteenth century.
Dodge conducted St. Nicholas, one of the most successful magazines for children during the second half of the nineteenth century, for more than thirty years. Many of the great writers contributed to her magazine, including Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, and scores of others. One day, Kipling told her a story of the Indian jungle that resulted in The Jungle Book.
Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates (New York, 1865) became an instant bestseller and was translated into Dutch, French, German, Russian and Italian. In the year 1874, Dodge published Rhymes and Jingles. During her career as an editor, she published seven books for adults as well as two books for small children, Baby Days and Bay World.
(source: wikipedia)