Jane Yolen, the prolific and beloved author whose stories reshaped children’s literature and gave voice to myth, history, folklore, and imagination, died peacefully at home with her family by her side.

Jane Yolen was born on February 11, 1939 in New York City at Beth Israel Hospital, the first child of Isabel Berlin Yolen and Will Hyatt Yolen. A couple years later she was joined by her brother Steve.

The family briefly moved to California and Newport News but returned to New York City where she excelled in school, dancing, piano, and, of course, writing. She studied ballet at Balanchine’s school. During this time, she and Steve created a newspaper for their apartment building. They wrote all the articles and interviewed neighbors. Their mother typed and xeroxed the papers which they sold for five cents each to the same neighbors they’d interviewed.

In the summer of her 13th year, the family moved to Westport, Connecticut. She excelled there, as well. She sang in the choir, was captain of the girls’ basketball team, won the debate awards, was News Editor of the school paper, and vice president of the Spanish and Latin Clubs. She matriculated to Smith College where, by senior year, she was president of the Press Board and had won poetry awards and the journalism award. She wrote the lyrics to the class musical and starred in the senior show. She wrote and published poetry.

After college, she moved back to New York City and became an assistant editor at Knopf—writing during lunch breaks, evenings, and weekends. At work, she wrote flap copy for many books, including CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. While she considered herself a poet and journalist, on her 22nd birthday, she sold her first children’s book—a nonfiction called PIRATES IN PETTICOATS. Shortly after, she sold her first picture book, SEE THIS LITTLE LINE illustrated by Kathleen Elgin.

It was there, in The Village, that she met David Stemple, whom she married several years later. For the better part of a year, they toured Europe and Isreal, camping in their van and working on kubutzes. They returned pregnant with their daughter Heidi. They settled in Massachusetts and had two boys. They bought a 15 -acre farm in Hatfield with 4 barns—one of which they opened up for artisans including potters and leather workers, silversmiths and instrument makers. The family camped in the summers wherever she was teaching that year.

Jane was passionate about community—she was the second person to join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and one of their first keynote speakers. She established their first regional conference in New England. She began, arguably, the longest running writer’s group in existence. She started the Western Massachusetts Illustrator’s Guild (WMIG). She taught children’s literature at Smith College and lectured all over the country.

OWL MOON, illustrated by John Schoenherr, was published in 1988 and won the Caldecott metal --catapulting her author status out of the midlist. Jane championed free speech, book access for all, our connection with the natural world, children confronting injustice, and trusting readers of all ages to take in the truth. When she was asked to write about Christopher Columbus, she refused to whitewash history, choosing to write the story from a Tiano boy’s perspective in her book ENCOUNTER illustrated by David Shannon. She mentored other writers and wrote books to showcase new illustrators. Her novel BRIAR ROSE was burned on the steps of the Kansas City Courthouse. She received honorary doctorates from Keene State College, The University of Massachusetts, Bay Path College, Our Lady of the Elms College, Westfield State College, and her alma matter Smith College. Her books won many awards including The Christopher Medal, the Golden Kite Award, The Nebula, The World Fantasy Award, The Mythopoeic Award, The Sophie Brodie Medal, The Anne Izzard Storytelling Award, The Massachusetts Book Award, The Association of Jewish Libraries Award and the Catholic Libraries Medal, as well as many awards for her full body-of-work. More importantly, she received mail from readers almost daily telling her what a difference her books had made in their lives. This was her true award.

Her husband David died in 2006 after a hard-fought battle with cancer after 44 years of marriage. During his treatment, she wrote a series of sonnets, one for each day. She did this because writing was her own salvation in hard times, but THE RADIATION SONNETS was published, and it helped countless readers through their own medical crises.

In 2018 Jane published her 365th and 366th book on the same day. A gala to celebrate A Jane Yolen Book for Every Day of the Year was held in her honor at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. And in 2026, she published her 450th book.

It’s hard to overstate the roll Jane played in the field of children’s literature. There are few kidlit writers who weren’t inspired, influenced, or mentored directly or indirectly by her and/or her books including her own grown children and grandchildren. She believed that books for children were one of the most important building blocks of childhood and she refused to talk down to her readers of all ages. That said, she never took herself too seriously. She loved a pun and any kind of world play. She would, with little encouragement, recite from memory the names of all the students in her first-grade class or the entire Jabberwocky. She was known to climb atop a piano and belt out a song. And she loved to reminded writers that the magic word for all writing was BIC which was short for “Butt In Chair.” Scholarships in her name at both Boyds Mills and SCBWI will continue to support writers into the future.

She was predeceased by her parents, Will and Isabel Yolen and her husband David Stemple. She is survived by her brother Steven Yolen, her children, Heidi E.Y. Stemple, Adam Stemple, and Jason Stemple, her daughters-in-law Elizabeth and Joanne, as well as her grandchildren, Maddison, Ariel, David, Caroline, and Amelia, her grandson-in-law Richard, her son-out-law Dennis, and her partner Peter. Beyond that, she will be missed deeply by her wider creative family of authors and illustrators and readers. Thankfully, her legacy of story will live on in her books.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple Scholarship at Boyds Millshttps://boydsmills.org/jane-yolen-heidi-ey-stemple-scholarship/ Jane Yolen Midlist Grant at SCBWI https://buy.stripe.com/aFa6oGdhQaMggmF6zNawo0e or the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art https://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/donor-form?svcid=renxt&formId=aa6bda54-f045-4608-930a-8657423ab3a4&envid=p-Zvfc0ahKpEaGAYIjVD5nFg&zone=usa