Ellen Raskin (March 13, 1928 – August 8, 1984) was an American children's writer and illustrator. She won the 1979

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

for ''

The Westing Game ''The Westing Game'' is a mystery book written by Ellen Raskin and published by Dutton on May 1, 1978. It won the Newbery Medal recognizing the year's most distinguished contribution to American children's literature. ''The Westing Game'' was r ...

'', a mystery novel, and another children's mystery, '' Figgs & Phantoms'', was a Newbery Honor Book in 1975. In 2012 ''The Westing Game'' was ranked number nine all-time among children's novels in a survey published by ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'', a monthly with a primarily-U.S. audience.

Life

Raskin was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

and grew up during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. She was educated at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

with a major in fine art. Raskin was an accomplished graphic artist. In New York City she worked as a commercial artist for about 15 years. Among other things she designed more than 1000 dust jackets for books including the first edition of

Madeleine L'Engle Madeleine L'Engle DStJ (; November 29, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including ''A Wrinkle in Time'' and its sequels: ''A Wind in the Door'', ''A Swiftly Tilting Plan ...

's ''

A Wrinkle in Time ''A Wrinkle in Time'' is a Young adult fiction, young adult science fantasy novel written by American author Madeleine L'Engle. First published in 1962, the book won the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and ...

'', the 1963 Newbery Medal winner. In 1957, she married graphic designer Roy Kuhlman, but they soon divorced. In 1960 she married Dennis Flanagan, editor of ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

.'' Raskin died at the age of 56 on August 8, 1984, in New York City, as a result of a connective-tissue disease.

Education

Raskin entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison at age 18 with the intention of majoring in telegraphy. However, she suffered from severe attacks of depression, making her family life hard.

Works

Children's picture books

Raskin wrote and illustrated twelve picture books, published by

Atheneum Books Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since its acquisition of Macmillan in 1994 and it created Athene ...

except as noted. *''Nothing Ever Happens on My Block'', 1967 *''Silly Songs and Sad'',

Thomas Y. Crowell Co. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. was a publishing company founded by Thomas Y. Crowell. The company began as a bookbindery founded by Benjamin Bradley in 1834. Crowell operated the business after Bradley's death in 1862 and eventually purchased the compan ...

, 1967 *''Spectacles'', 1968 *''Ghost in a Four-Room Apartment'', 1969 *''And It Rained'', 1969 *''A & The, or, William T. C. Baumgarten Comes to Town'', 1970 *''The World's Greatest Freak Show'', 1971 *''Franklin Stein'', 1972 *''Moe Q. McGlutch, He Smoked Too Much'', Parents, 1973 *''Who, Said Sue, Said Whoo?'', 1973 *''Moose, Goose & Little Nobody'', 1976 *''Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three'', 1976

Children’s novels

Raskin wrote four novels, all published by

E. P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...

. *'' The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)'', 1971 *'' Figgs & Phantoms'', 1974 *'' The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues'', 1975 *''

'', 1978

As illustrator

Raskin also illustrated more than twenty books by other writers. * ''Happy Christmas: Tales for Boys and Girls'', edited by Claire H. Bishop, Ungar, 1956 * ''

A Child's Christmas in Wales ''A Child's Christmas in Wales'' is a piece of prose by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas recorded by Thomas in 1952. Emerging from an earlier piece he wrote for BBC Radio, the work is an anecdotal reminiscence of a Christmas from the viewpoint of a ...

'', by

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

(1950); J. M. Dent, 1968 * ''Mama, I Wish I Was Snow, Child You'd Be Very Cold'', by Ruth Krauss, Atheneum, 1962 * ''Philosophy and History. The

Ernst Cassirer Ernst Alfred Cassirer ( , ; July 28, 1874 – April 13, 1945) was a German philosopher. Trained within the Neo-Kantian Marburg School, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic philosophy of science. Aft ...

Festschrift'', ed. Raymond Klibansky and H. J. Paton, 1963 (second edition) * ''Poems of Edgar Allan Poe'', selected by Dwight MacDonald, Crowell, 1965 * ''We Dickinson's'', by Aileen Fisher and Olive Rabe, Atheneum, 1965 * ''The Jewish Sabbath'', by Molly Cone, Crowell, 1966 * ''Paths of Poetry: Twenty-Five Poets and Their Poems'', ed.

Louis Untermeyer Louis Untermeyer (October 1, 1885 – December 18, 1977) was an American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor. He was appointed the fourteenth Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1961. Life and career Untermeyer was born in New Y ...

, Delacorte, 1966 * ''Songs of Innocence (Volumes 1 & 2)'', by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

(1789, 1794), music and illustrations by Ellen Raskin, Doubleday, 1966 * ''D. H. Lawrence: Poems Selected for Young People'', ed. William Cole, Viking, 1967 * ''Ellen Grae'', by Vera and Bill Cleaver, Lippincott, 1967 * ''Poems of Robert Herrick'', ed. Winfield T. Scott, Crowell, 1967 * ''Probability: the Science of Chance'', by Arthur G. Razzell and K. G. O. Watts, Doubleday, 1967 ‡ * ''This Is 4: the Idea of a Number'', by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1967 ‡ * ''Books: A Book to Begin On'', by Susan Bartlett, Holt, 1968 * ''Inatuk's Friend'', by Suzanne Stark Morrow, Atlantic/Little, 1968 * ''Lady Ellen Grae'', by Vera and Bill Cleaver, Lippincott, 1968 * ''A Paper Zoo: A Collection of Animal Poems by Modern American Poets'', edited by Renee K. Weiss, Macmillan, 1968 * ''Piping Down the Valleys Wild: Poetry for the Young of All Ages'', edited by Nancy Larrick, Delacorte, 1968 * ''Symmetry'', by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1968 ‡ * ''We Alcotts'', by Aileen Fisher and Olive Rabe, Atheneum, 1968 * ''Circles and Curves'', by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1969 ‡ * ''Come Along!'', by Rebecca Caudill, Holt, 1969 * ''Shrieks at Midnight: Macabre Poems, Eerie and Humorous'', edited by Sara and John E. Brewton, Crowell, 1969 * ''Three and the Shape of Three'', by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1969 ‡ * ''

Elidor ''Elidor'' is a children's fantasy novel by the British author Alan Garner, published by Collins in 1965. Set primarily in modern Manchester, it features four English children who enter a fantasy world, fulfill a quest there, and return to find ...

'', by

Alan Garner Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...

(1965), Walck, 1970 * ''

Goblin Market ''Goblin Market'' (composed in April 1859 and published in 1862) is a narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. The poem tells the story of Laura and Lizzie who are tempted with fruit by goblin merchants. In a letter to her publisher, Rossetti claim ...

'', by

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...

(1862), Dutton, 1970 : ‡ Raskin illustrated at least five volumes in a series of 32- and 48-page mathematics books by Arthur C. Razzell and Kenneth George Oliver Watts, which was inaugurated by Doubleday in 1964.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raskin, Ellen 1928 births 1984 deaths American children's writers American children's book illustrators American mystery novelists Newbery Medal winners Newbery Honor winners University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers from New York City Writers from Milwaukee Artists from New York City Artists from Wisconsin American women illustrators American women novelists American women children's writers Women mystery writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Wisconsin 20th-century American women artists

Life

Education

Works

Children's picture books

Children’s novels

As illustrator

References

Further reading

External links