Armstrong Wells Sperry was born on November 7, 1897, in New Haven, Connecticut, and attended the Yale School of Art and the Art Students League. During World War I he served in the U.S. Navy, and in the 1920s he traveled in the South Seas. Returning to New York City, Sperry found work as a commercial artist and illustrator. His first book for children was published in 1933. Call It Courage was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1941.
The book shown here, The Amazon: River Sea of Brazil, is from 1961 and a series called "Rivers of the World Books." It is illustrated with photographs and with maps by Sam Galy. The jacket design is by Ernest Kurt Barth.
Armstrong Sperry died on April 26, 1976, at age seventy-eight.
Original text copyright 2014 Terence E. Hanley
