Cooney, Barbara (1917-2000), was an American illustrator and author of children’s books. Cooney won a Caldecott Medal in 1959 for her illustrations for Chanticleer and the Fox (1958) and in 1980 for her illustrations for Ox-Cart Man (1979). The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually for the most distinguished picture book for children published in the United States. During her 60-year career, Cooney wrote or illustrated more than 200 children’s books.
Cooney was born on Aug. 6, 1917, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. She earned a B.A. degree from Smith College in 1938, the year she became an author and illustrator. Her first book as an illustrator was Ake and His World (1940). Her first book as an author was The King of Wreck Island (1941), which she also illustrated. She also wrote and illustrated Miss Rumphius (1982) and Hattie and the Wild Waves (1990). She illustrated such picture books as Too Many Pets (1952), The Owl and the Pussy-Cat and Christmas Folk (both 1969), Squawk to the Moon, Little Goose (1974), Tortillas para Mama and Other Nursery Rhymes (1982), and The Story of Holly and Ivy (1985). Cooney died on March 10, 2000.
