The field of children’s books has suffered several important losses recently. As Pam noted, Donald Sobol died last week. Within the last several months, Maurice Sendak, Phyllis Craighead George, and more recently Margaret Mahy have all passed away.
A New Zealander, Mahy wrote and illustrated more than 150 children’s books. Trained as a librarian, she was unsuccessful in getting her books published. In1969, an American publisher read one of her stories and within a year, they published 6 of her books.
Known for her quirky rhymes, she had the ability to “leaven unbelievable situations with believable characters.” Some of her books are “A Lion in the Meadow,” “Beaten by a Balloon,” and
“Bubble Trouble.”