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Acclaimed storyteller, folklorist, and author Diane Wolkstein died on January 31 following emergency heart surgery while traveling in Taiwan. She was 70. Wolkstein’s talent as a storyteller and teacher of storytelling won her international fame; she also wrote more than 20 books, taught mythology at NYU, and hosted a storytelling show on NYC public radio.
Jan Ormerod, author and illustrator of many books for young children, died Wednesday in England. Ormerod began her kid-lit career more than 30 years ago after the birth of her first child; previously she taught art and design. Her first book, Sunshine, won the 1982 Mother Goose Award for British kid lit and was named the Australian Picture Book of the Year and an ALA Notable Book.
Antonio Frasconi, the award-winning illustrator best known for his woodcuts, died on January 8 at age 93. Among his notable contributions to children’s literature are his bilingual picture books The House That Jack Built, a Caldecott Honor Book, and The Snow and the Sun, an ALA Notable Book.
Gerald McDermott, award-winning author, illustrator, and filmmaker who died on December 26 at age 71, will be fondly remembered for his unique style of vibrant, visual storytelling, which has inspired and engaged generations of kids. Highlights of McDermott’s career, which spanned a 49-year period, include a Caldecott Medal, two Caldecott Honor books, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award.
Gerald McDermott, award-winning author and illustrator best known for his original take on folktales, died on December 26. He was 71.
Jean Craighead George, Maurice Sendak, and Jan Berenstain were among the many wonderful authors and illustrators who passed way last year.
Science fiction and fantasy writer Josepha Sherman died on August 23 in New Haven, CT, after a long illness, in which she battled dementia. She was 65. Sherman’s works include Gleaming Bright (Walker, 1994), a story of a resourceful young princess who goes in search of a magic box to avoid marrying a cruel king, and an adult fantasy, The Shining Falcon (Avon, 1989), a tale of love, hate, and magic that’s filled with Slavic mythology.
Nina Bawden, one of the rare authors who could write equally well for both children and adults, died August 22 in London. She was 87.
Mollie Hunter, whose novels for young readers won accolades on both sides of the ocean, died on July 31 in Inverness, Scotland. She was 90.
Jose Aruego, best known for illustrating Robert Kraus’s Leo the Late Bloomer (Windmill, 1971), died August 9 in New York City on his 80th birthday.
Remy Charlip, dancer, actor, and an award-winning author and illustrator of more than 30 children’s books including I Love You (Scholastic, 1999) and Mother Mother I Feel Sick (Parents’ Magazine Press, 1966), died August 14. He was 83.
Jean Merrill, the award-winning author of The Pushcart War, one of the 20th century’s best social satires for children, has died. Merrill, 89, died of cancer on August 2 at her home in Randolph, VA.
A staple in school and public libraries across the country, the chapter books followed the adventures of 10-year-old amateur sleuth Leroy Brown (nicknamed “Encyclopedia” for his range of knowledge) as he solved the mysteries that took place in the fictional town of Idaville, FL. Ahead of his times, Sobol made his boy-wonder-protagonist part of a crime-solving team, along with his partner, the spunky and assertive Sally Kimble, who was never afraid to defend her friend from bullies.
Else Homelund Minarik, the Danish-born author of the hugely popular “Little Bear” (HarperCollins) series for beginning readers, died July 12 at her home in Sunset Beach, NC, of complications following a heart attack. She was 91.
An ardent library fan, Bradbury said he wrote Fahrenheit 451 (Ballantine, 1953) on a typewriter in the basement of UCLA’s Powell Library and that his original intention in writing the book was to show his great love for books and libraries. The dystopian novel, about a future society in which books are outlawed, ranked number 69 on the American Library Association’s Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009.
