Natalie Babbitt

Natalie Babbitt's family moved around in Ohio several times when she was a child. She graduated from Laurel School, a private girls' high school, and went on to attend Smith College. She married Samuel Babbitt and the two had three children in the late 1950s. In 1966, Babbitt and her husband worked together on their first picture book, which her husband wrote and she illustrated. After this, however, Samuel Babbitt wasn't interested in writing more books, so Natalie Babbitt began to write her own. After writing several picture books and a few chapter books, her fourth children's novel, Knee-Knock Rise, won the 1971 Newbery Honor. Tuck Everlasting, which she published in 1975, has been consistently popular with children and with teachers; it was named an ALA Notable Book after its publication and won the 1976 Christopher Award, while in the 21st century, it's made it onto lists of 100 best books for children compiled by the School Library Journal and the National Education Association. Babbitt continued to write and illustrate books, including several books of poetry by Valerie Worth, until a few years before her death in 2016. She died at home not long after she was diagnosed with lung cancer.