Bernard Waber (September 27, 1921 – May 16, 2013) was an American children's author most famous for the books ''

The House on East 88th Street ''The House on East 88th Street'' is a children's book written by Bernard Waber first published in 1962. The book is the first in the ''Lyle the Crocodile'' series. The story is about a family named the Primms who move into an old Victorian bro ...

'' (1962), ''

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile ''Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile'' is a children's book written by Bernard Waber first published in 1965. It is the sequel to ''The House on East 88th Street'', published in 1962. The book is the second in the ''Lyle the Crocodile'' series, which follo ...

'' (1965) and the subsequent books in the ''Lyle'' series.

Background

He was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to Henry and Pauline Waber. Although he started a degree in finance at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, he left school to enlist in the military at the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. From 1942 to 1945, Waber served the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as a staff sergeant. Immediately following the end of the war, he returned to his studies at the

Philadelphia College of Art Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

. Waber graduated and earned his degree in 1951. Upon graduation, Waber launched his career as a commercial artist. Soon after, he began illustrating and writing children's books. At the age of 28, Bernard married Ethel Bernstein, and the couple moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and had three children. When his children were young, Waber worked in the art department of Condé Nast Publications, writing his books at night and on the weekends.

Writing

Waber wrote numerous children's books about the adventures of animals, including ''Do You See a Mouse?'', ''Evie and Margie'', ''An Anteater Named Arthur'' and ''A Lion Named Shirley Williamson''. His ''Lyle'' series, started in 1962, was his most well-known set of children's books. In the books, Lyle is a city-dwelling

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

that lives in a bathtub. Lyle's character brings joy to everyone he meets. In 1954, Waber wrote his first illustrated book ''My Egg, Your Egg! by Eleanor Estes'', published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. Shortly after the attacks of

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, Waber wrote the book ''Courage''. In the book, through various characters, children are taught the meaning of bravery.

Death

Waber died May 16, 2013, from

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

. At the time of his death, his publishing company,

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Financial Dist ...

, said that his 33 books had sold a total of 1.75 million copies.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waber, Bernard 1921 births 2013 deaths American children's writers American children's book illustrators University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni Writers from Philadelphia Writers who illustrated their own writing 20th-century American writers United States Army personnel of World War II Deaths from kidney failure