Children's book author and illustrator Amy Schwartz, who had a hand in more than 50 books published by many publishing houses, died February 25. She was 68. Schwartz leaves behind a legacy of such books as What James Likes Best, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award; Polka Dots for Poppy, a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; Bea and Mr. Jones, a Reading Rainbow selection; 100 Things That Make Me Happy; 13 Stories About Harris; Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner; and A Teeny Tiny Baby.
Growing up in a house full of books, Schwartz fondly remembered trips to the local library and family read-alouds, and her first experience as an illustrator was creating cards for her family. After college, she eventually moved to New York to pursue a career in children's book illustration. Advised by some editors to both write and draw, her first two stories, Bea and Mr. Jones and Begin at the Beginning, were among her first published works and led to further opportunities.
Schwartz settled in Brooklyn with her husband, children's book author and historian Leonard S. Marcus, and their son, Jacob. She took inspiration from her family life and the environment around her. "For all the time I knew her, she was caring and generous and funny and smart and such a canny observer of people, too," Marcus recalled. "She often noticed things in a situation that had completely passed me by, and she usually saw straight through to the heart of any matter. I was always a little bit in awe of her ability to do that. Her books are like that, too: comical and heartfelt but most of all true."
Meredith Mundy, editorial director at Abrams, observed: "Working with Amy over the past five years on her 100 Things series for Appleseed has been an absolute joy. I will miss our e-mails and phone calls--no detail was too small to warrant her thoughtful consideration.... She was a master of capturing subtle gestures and the triumphs--large and small--of childhood. She was a star in the picture book world as well as a delightful human being and will be greatly missed by her Abrams family."
Mary Cash, v-p and editor-in-chief at Holiday House, added: "I can't think of anyone whom I think understood and portrayed the day-to-day routines of families with young children with more intelligence and joy. Amy was an acute observer of all the tiny details that together make up a child's life. Her wonderful books celebrated, laughed at, and offered so much insight into that existence."
Cecily Kaiser, publisher at RISE x Penguin Workshop, said that Schwartz "had a profound sense of young children; she respected her subjects and her readers in a way that very few authors ever have. What a phenomenal gift to have known Amy--reserved, humble, even insecure at times, but with a genius that came through in her words, her art, and her ability to tickle and empower children in the same breath."
"Amy's impeccable eye and ear for the specific details of children's lives was unparalleled," noted Allyn Johnston, v-p and publisher at Beach Lane Books. "It gave her books a universal honesty that touched people of every age. I recently read her A Teeny Tiny Baby aloud to a class of 175 adult picture-book writers as an example of brilliant pacing, page turns, and emotion--and the room was riveted from start to finish. Thirty years later, the book is as fresh and funny and irresistible as the day it was published. That is the power of Amy Schwartz's work."
"During my time at Roaring Brook Press, I was privileged to work with Amy on five delectable books," said Neal Porter, v-p and publisher of Neal Porter Books. "It always amazed me that someone with such a quiet, thoughtful, even taciturn demeanor could produce such sparkling, irreverent work. I think she is one of the great unsung heroes of contemporary picture books."
