Trina Schart Hyman

Trina Schart Hyman (April 8, 1939 – November 19, 2004) grew up in a rural area of Pennsylvania learning to read and draw at an early age. She credits her mother for instilling in her the joy of books by reading to her from the time she was an infant. She spent a whole year wearing a red satin cape that her mother had made for her because her favorite story was Little Red Riding Hood.

“I figured out at four years old that somebody had made the pictures in my books and though I didn’t know what these people were called, I knew I wanted to be a book illustrator. . . . I began to make books from my own stories and drew pictures to illustrate them. “

Hyman illustrated more than 150 books, which collectively sold millions of copies. She was the art director for  Cricket magazine from 1972 until 1979, and she influenced and encouraged many younger illustrators.

Hyman won the Caldecott Medal, for  “St. George and the Dragon” and also received three  Caldecott honors: for “Little Red Riding Hood”; “A Child’s Calendar,” with text by John Updike; and “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins” by Eric A. Kimmel.  The Golem by Barbara Rogasky won the 1997 National Jewish Book Award

Read the NY Times obituary here.

Read a remembrance by Eric Kimmel here.

Read a remembrance by Jim Arnosky here.