Young, Ed (1931-2023), was an American children’s book illustrator and author known for his illustrations and retelling of fairy tales, myths, and folk tales from Chinese, European, and Native American traditions. Young was born to Chinese parents and raised in China. His illustrations frequently reflect the style of Chinese art in their sensitive use of charcoal, pastels, and water colors. Young won the 1990 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished illustrated children’s book of the year for his water-color and pastel illustrations for Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China (1989).
Young was born on Nov. 28, 1931, in Tianjin (also spelled Tientsin), China. His childhood in China inspired his picture book The House That Baba Built: An Artist’s Childhood in China (2011). He immigrated to the United States in 1951 to attend college. After completing his B.A. degree in art in 1957, he worked as an illustrator in advertising. His first book as a children’s illustrator and author was The Mean Mouse and Other Mean Stories (1962). Young won praise for his illustrations for such books as The Emperor and the Kite (1967), Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes (1968), The Girl Who Loved the Wind (1972), Foolish Rabbit’s Big Mistake (1985), Cats Are Cats (1988), Seven Blind Mice (his own retelling of a Chinese folk tale, 1992), Desert Song (2000), The Sons of the Dragon King (2004), I, Doko (his retelling of a Nepalese folk tale, 2004), Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem About China (2005), My Mei Mei (2006), Wabi Sabi (2008), Should You Be a River (2015), and The Cat from Hunger Mountain (2016). Young died on Sept. 29, 2023.
