By Gayleen Rabakukk
Jane Yolen, author of more than 400 books for young readers, died on June 11 at the age of 87, according to the announcement on her website.
Cynthia Leitich Smith first had the pleasure of meeting Jane on a listserv for children’s authors. Cynthia said, “Along with Toni Buzzeo, I was one of two apprentice writers on the list. After my first book sold, receiving a congratulations note from Jane became one of my most treasured career memories. Later, her leadership of her own speculative fiction imprint in part inspired me to move forward with establishing Heartdrum.”
In a 2005 interview with Cynthia, Jane recalled her first books published in 1963: a YA nonfiction title, Pirates in Petticoats (David McKay, 1963) and a rhymed concept picture book, See This Little Line (David McKay, 1963). Jane said she still remembered that feeling every day, and that she kept “trying to grow as a writer.”
In a 2009 interview, Jane shared her love of writing. “What I love most is the white heat, the total involvement in an evolving story when something new to the world (and to me) suddenly leaks out of my fingers and onto the page. For the length of the writing, my back doesn’t hurt, the world as it is disappears and the world as I create it takes over, and time in real terms stops.” She went on to say that she often lost track of time while writing and often hated leaving the story world she created.
“Writing is what I love and enjoy. Writing feeds me, gives me strength, makes me happy, keeps me whole,” Jane said.
Jane explained her secret for thriving in the competitive, unpredictable publishing industry was flexibility – trying every genre – and continually writing, ignoring market trends. “…I write what I want to and assume the market will find me. I can do that because of the sheer volume of stories, poems, essays, books that I write.”
She admitted there was a consequence for that mindset. “…I probably get more rejections in a month than most writers. Goes with the territory. A rejection just means I haven’t found the right editor yet.”
Jane gave Cynsations readers a glimpse into her critique group in a 2011 interview with Cynthia. At that time, her group included Patricia MacLachlan, Leslea Newman, Ann Turner, Ellen Wittlinger, Barbara Diamond Goldin, Anna Kirwan and Corinne Demas. They would meet each week, taking turns in one another’s houses. “We begin with the news—sales, rejections, F&Gs, family stuff, agent problems, editor tough love, etc. About an hour of that,” Jane said. “Then it’s manuscripts all the way.”
“We read aloud rather than pass manuscripts around, and we care truly and deeply about one another’s work and successes,” Jane explained.
Jane extended that care and support to a multitude of children’s creators over the years. In a 2016 Cynsations interview with Elisabeth Norton, Naomi Kojima shared the role Jane played in helping her become an author-illustrator.
“It was Jane who helped me start my career in children’s books. I went to the monthly meetings Jane organized in a small library in Hatfield. The group was called the Society of Children’s Book Writers, now the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators,” Naomi said. At the meetings she learned how to make picture books and shared drafts of her book during critique time at the meetings. “After several revisions, Jane told me that Mr. and Mrs. Thief was ready.” It was published by Thomas Crowell in 1980.
In 2019, Rabakukk was among a group of Austin book creators lucky enough to join Jane for a group dinner. She talked with each person about our writing projects and offered encouragement. A favorite bit of Jane advice: “Always have something out on submission (whether it’s a novel or an article); keep sending things out!”
At Jane’s public memorial service at the Eric Carle Museum in August, her daughter Heidi Stemple said nearly every time she’s in a public space, at least one person approaches her and shares “a special Jane Yolen story.” She recalled a recent time when someone shared their experience as a first-time SCBWI conference attendee eating lunch alone when a stranger sat down, and said, “May I sit here? My name is Jane. What are you writing?”
“My mom was just being herself. She loved community, especially the community that is the kidlit world, though to be fair, she absolutely hated the term ‘kidlit.'”
“She wrote every day. It was as important to her as breathing,” Heidi said. “She was as energized by conferences, book festivals, bookstore events, and anywhere where book people gathered. She loved teaching, sharing her journey with other creatives. Especially her picture book bootcamps. She taught the world Butt in Chair, Write with Joy, Touch Magic, Pass It On.”
“The worlds she has created have outlived her and will outlive everyone of us… we will miss her, but all you need to do is open one of her books or read one of her poems and she is very much still with us.”
Heidi closed with a quote from Charlotte’s Web: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend, and a good writer.”
Corinne Demas, a member of Jane’s critique group summed up Jane’s legacy for children’s literature. “I believe her most important contribution was the tone she set for the industry. Jane felt there was always room for more new books and more new writers in a world that’s otherwise highly competitive and sometimes unkind. Jane, in contrast, promoted the making of children’s books as a joyful communal enterprise. She worked her magic. She made us what we are: a community of writers and illustrators who love what we do and who support each other’s efforts. It is her gift to us, and her legacy.”
Cynsational Notes
Gayleen Rabakukk holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and recently completed a Master’s in Library Science at the University of North Texas. She also has an undergraduate degree in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma. She has published numerous newspaper and magazine articles, and two regional interest books for adults. She is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
She’s a Librarian at the Lago Vista Public Library, where she leads a book club for young readers. She also teaches creative writing workshops and loves inspiring curiosity in young readers through stories of hope and adventure. Follow her on Instagram and Bluesky.