Crosby Newell Bonsall (January 2, 1921 – January 10, 1995) was an American artist and children's book author and illustrator. She wrote and illustrated more than 40 children's books.
Crosby Newell Bonsall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | January 2, 1921 Queens, New York |
| Died | January 10, 1995 (aged 74) Boston, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | illustration |
Born January 2, 1921, in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York, Bonsall studied at New York University School of Architecture and the American School of Design. She had a passion for designing even as a young child. Her children's literature career started as a doodle of an orange-haired, freckle-faced rag doll on her drawing board at the advertising agency she was working for at the time.[1] A doll manufacturer bought the rights to that doll caricature, from which Bonsall later created a family of dolls that became characters in her first book, Tell Me Some More. Illustrated by Fritz Siebel, the book was published in 1961 as part of Harper & Row's "I Can Read" children's series. As a writer, Bonsall supplied the text to six of photographer Ylla's children's books, including award-winning 1964 I'll Show You Cats.[2]
Bonsall's books also include The Case of the Hungry Stranger, The Case of the Cat's Meow, The Case of the Dumb Bells, The Case of the Scaredy Cats, The Day I Had to Play With My Sister, And I Mean It Stanley, Piggle, What Spot? and the illustrations for Joan Nodset's Go Away, Dog.[3][4]
A spokesperson for HarperCollins described her as follows: "Ms. Bonsall's deceptively simple style conceals a wealth of artistry, skillful characterization, suspense and humor rarely found in children's books—the drawings, as delightful as the text, are an extra dividend."[1]
Bonsall died January 10, 1995, of a stroke at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, where she was living at the time, according to her niece, Barbara Phillips.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Karen Ritz, Children's Literature Network Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Crosby Bonsall, 74, Children's Author". The New York Times. January 20, 1995. p. B8.
- ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries Third Series: 1963: July-December, by Library of Congress Copyright Office'
- ^ LibraryThing: Crosby Bonsall (1921-1995)
