Winifred Barnum is a children's author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

.

Early life

Barnum was born in Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 in 1941. Her mother had been a writer and her father was a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera as a young man. Barnum attended a private girls' school, Notre Dame De Sion, for the latter part of her high school career. She was raised in the historic Roanoke-Valentine Road District. Her first professional art exhibit opened when she was 15 years old. At the age of 17 she studied with art Professor Vincent Campanella.

Books written

One of Barnum's most famous books is Gumwrappers and Goggles, the story of Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...

' legal fight. In the story, TJ Love, a small jet, is taken to court by two larger jets to keep him from their hangar, and then to try to stop him from flying at all. Taken to court, TJ Love's right to fly is upheld after an impassioned plea from The Lawyer. While no company names are mentioned in the book, TJ Love's colors are those of Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...

, and the two other jets are colored in Braniff and Continental's

Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...

 colors. The Lawyer is designed to resemble Southwest's CEO Herb Kelleher

Herb Kelleher

Herbert D. Kelleher is the co-founder, Chairman Emeritus, and former CEO of Southwest Airlines .-Life and career:...

.

Book adaptations

Gumwrappers and Goggles was adapted into a stage musical, "Show Your Spirit," sponsored by Southwest Airlines, and playing only in towns serviced by the airline.