Prolific children's book author Nancy Willard, "whose 70 books of poems and fiction enchanted children and adults alike with a lyrical blend of fanciful illusion and stark reality," died February 19, the New York Times reported. She was 80. Willard's A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers (1982) was the first volume of poetry to receive the Newbery Medal. Illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, it also earned a Caldecott Honor.
Her first children's book, Sailing to Cythera: And Other Anatole Stories, "was published in 1974 after her son, James Lindbloom, was born," the Times wrote, adding that she "published other 'Anatole' stories, and James became a model for a character in several other books."
Willard's many titles include A Nancy Willard Reader: Selected Poetry & Prose; A Starlit Snowfall, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney; The Nightgown of the Sullen Moon, illustrated by David McPhail; Swimming Lessons: New & Selected Poems; The Sea at Truro; Things Invisible to See; and In the Salt Marsh. Although best known for her children's books, Willard also wrote novels for adults, including Sister Water.
Poet Donald Hall wrote that "Willard's imagination--in verse or prose, for children or adults--builds castles stranger than any mad King of Bavaria ever built. She imagines with a wonderful concreteness. But also, she takes real language and by literal-mindedness turns it into the structure of dream."