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,
By Gayleen Rabakukk
Author Andrea M. Page
Author Andrea M. Page (Hunkpapa Lakota) died March 5, 2026 at the age of 61, after a difficult battle with breast cancer, stated Walker Brothers Funeral Home. Andrea taught 6th grade English Language Arts for more than 30 years. During that time, she started researching the Lakota Code Talkers,
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,
Continue Reading In Memory: Authors Peg Kehret, Robert Burleigh & Author-Illustrator Hudson Talbot »
“Acclaimed illustrator and author Jeanette Winter, a pioneer of picture book biographies and nonfiction, many of which focused on brave women fighting for social justice, died Nov. 7 in New York City of heart and kidney failure. She was 86,” reported Shannon Maughan for Publishers Weekly. Winter’s picture book biography,
Continue Reading In Memory: Author-Illustrator Jeanette Winter »
Photo Credit: John MacLachlan
Patricia MacLachlan, award-winning and prolific author, died at home on March 31 in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. She was 84.
Obituary: Patricia MacLachlan by Shannon Maughan from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “Award-winning children’s book author Patricia MacLachlan, widely lauded for her spare,
Photo courtesy of Melissa Stewart
Steve Jenkins, award-winning author and illustrator of books featuring torn-paper collages about the natural world, died on Dec. 26 of a splenic artery aneurysm. He was 69.
Steve Jenkins, 69, Dies; His Children’s Books Brought Science to Life by Penelope Greener from the New York Times.
Photo credit: Bill McGuinness
The children’s literature world lost a giant when celebrated illustrator and author Ashley Bryan died on Feb. 2, 2022 in Sugar Land, Texas, at the home of his niece Vanessa Robinson. He was 98.
Mark Karlins, author and poet, died Jan. 1, 2022. He was 74.
He was born Sept. 19, 1947. He was originally from New York City, and many of his picture books are set there. In a Children’s Book Review interview with Luisa LaFleur he said,
Photo courtesy of Jeff Sayre.
April Pulley Sayre, award-winning author and photo-illustrator died Nov. 6 in South Bend, Indiana after a battle with advanced metastatic breast cancer. She was 55.
Much of April’s work focused on natural history, and because of her passion for conservation,
Photo credit: Alvin Trusty
Celebrated and legendary illustrator Jerry Pinkney died of a heart attack Oct. 20 at Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, New York. He was 81.
Obituary: Jerry Pinkney by Shannon Maughan from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “Renowned children’s book illustrator Jerry Pinkney,