Karla Kuskin

1932—2009
Black and white image of the children's poet Karla Kuskin in a scarf, leaning against a pole outside.
Photo by Julia Kuskin. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Karla Kuskin was born in 1932 in New York. The author and illustrator of over 50 books of prose and poetry for children, Kuskin’s titles include James and the Rain, released in 1957 and re-released in 1995; Any Me I Want to Be (1972); and The Philharmonic Gets Dressed, nominated for a National Book Award (1982). Often alliterative, Kuskin’s poems employ wit and rhyme. Her favorite subjects were animals, the seasons, food, day and night. In 1979 she received an award for excellence in children’s poetry from the National Council of Teachers of English. She died in Seattle in 2009.