Peg Kehret, award-winning author of more than 50 books for middle grade readers, died on Dec. 7, 2025; at her home in Bellevue, Wash., reported the Seattle Times. According to her website, Kehret’s first book for young readers was Winning Monologs For Young Actors (Meriwether, 1986).
That book was soon followed by Deadly Stranger (Dodd, Mead, 1987), edited by Roseanne Lauer, who went on to edit many more of Kehret’s books after moving to Dutton Children’s Books in 1989. Lauer recalled to Shannon Maughan at Publishers Weekly how much Kehret enjoyed interacting with young readers and replying to their letters. “In the early years, she and her husband Carl traveled in their RV across the country visiting schools and accepting the many Children’s Choice awards she won,” Lauer said.
Kehret’s longtime literary agent, Ginger Knowlton told Publishers Weekly, “Anyone who has read Peg’s books knows how deeply she loved animals.” About 10 years ago, Knowlton visited Kehret at her cabin near Mt. Rainier. “It was a magical place, brimming with life and filled with calm and peace—much like Peg herself—and so many wild and domestic animals and birds to keep her company.”
Kehret shared this advice about writing on her website: “Read as much as you can, and practice writing. Writing is a skill, and the more you do it the better you get.” She also noted that she wrote ideas on scraps of paper and kept them in an Ideas Box in her office.
Author Robert Burleigh died Jan. 12 at the age of 90. Burleigh was a poet and visual artist, showing work in Chicago and New York galleries under the art name Burleigh Kronquist. He also wrote more than 50 children’s picture books and is best known for his poetic picture book biographies.
Burleigh, first children’s book, A Man Named Thoreau, illustrated by Lloyd Bloom (Atheneum, 1985) He went on to write many more picture book biographies on an array of subjects, working with illustrators like Raúl Colón, Barry Root, Mike Wimmer, and Ed Young, reported Shannon Maughan for Publishers Weekly. In 1992, Burleigh received the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh, illustrated by Mike Wimmer (Philomel, 1991).
Burleigh worked with illustrator Wendell Minor on Into the Woods: John James Audobon Lives His Dream (Athenum, 2003), and afterward, they collaborated on many more titles. Minor shared with Publishers Weekly’s Maughan about the dynamic he developed with Burleigh: Minor would suggest a biography subject, then Burleigh would think about it and later send Minor the manuscript. “I discovered very quickly that that was such a unique relationship. I don’t think I met another author and illustrator who worked as closely as we did,” Minor said. “…we’d have these long conversations, and out of those conversations would come the idea for a book.”
Burleigh received the Illinois Prairie State Award in 2011 and was recognized as the state’s children’s book author of the year. His most recent book was Winter Magic, illustrated by Wendell Minor (Little, Brown/Ottaviano, 2024).
Hudson Talbott, an award-winning author and illustrator of more than 30 children books, died Jan. 22, 2026 at age 76 after a brief illness, reported the Courier-Journal.
Talbott grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and was drawn to art at an early age. After high school, Tallbott studied art at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art campus in Rome, and earned a B.F.A. in 1971. From there, he continued working and studying art in Amsterdam and Hong Kong before moving to New York City in 1974. He worked as a freelance illustrator, creating calendars, greeting cards and posters for museums, arts organizations and department stores.
One of Talbott’s calendars featured funny dinosaurs and drew the attention of David Allender of Crown Children’s Books. That led to Talbott’s debut picture book, We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story (Crown, 1987) about a gang of dinosaurs to New York City and end up in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. A few years later the book became an animated film with the same title.
Talbot published nearly 30 more books, sometimes writing and illustrating, other times creating images to accompany others’ words. In 2006, Talbott illustrated a Newbery Honor book, Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam, 2005). His 2021 book A Walk in the Words received a Schneider Family Honor Award.
Cynsational Notes
Gayleen Rabakukk holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is currently a student in the Library Science Master’s program 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 works part-time as a Library Assistant 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.