Author Else Holmelund Minarik Dies at age 91

The author Else Holmelund Minarik, of the easy reader series Little Bear (Harper, 1957) and many other books, died on July 12 at the age of 91. She was a first grade teacher and mother of a young daughter when she wrote her first manuscript, because she noticed the lack of easy-to-read books for that age group. Editor Ursula Nordstrom used the first Little Bear book to launch the groundbreaking “I Can Read” series of beginning reader books for Harper, and chose Maurice Sendak to illustrate Minarik’s story. With more than 40 books to her name, Minarik’s work is known by many children due to the popularity of the Little Bear television show on Nickelodeon.  See the New York Times obituary here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/books/else-holmelund-minarik-childrens-writer-dies-at-91.html .