following her graduation with a b.a. in english from hollins in 1932, brown worked as a teacher and also studied art. while working at the bank street experimental school in new york city she started writing books for children. bank street promoted a new approach to children's education and literature, emphasizing the real world and the "here and now." this philosophy influenced brown's work; she was also inspired by the poet gertrude stein, whose literary style influenced brown's own writing.