Robert E. Peary: North Pole Conqueror

by Erick Berry

A biography of the Arctic explorer who discovered the North Pole in 1909.

80 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1963

About the author

Allena Champlin Berry Best (January 4, 1892 -February 1974) was an American illustrator, author, and fashion designer.

She wrote under the names Erick Berry & Anne Maxon.

Allena Champlin grew up in Albany & studied at the Eric Pape School in Boston and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After working as a commercial artist, she went to further her studies in Paris, and then travelled in West Africa. It was there that she met her second husband, the writer Herbert Best, who worked for the British Government. She illustrated all of his children’s books, and most of her own.

Erick Berry wrote or illustrated over 100 books. Her most notable titles were Winged Girl of Knossos, which she wrote and illustrated, and which was the recipient of a 1934 Newbery Honor award, and Apprentice of Florence and Garram the Hunter, a Boy of the Hill Tribes, which she illustrated and which were Newbery Honor winners in 1934 and 1931 respectively.