Lois Ehlert, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom illustrator, has died at 86

Lois Ehlert, the children's book collagist whose vibrant illustrations for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom helped it sell more than 12 million copies, died of natural causes Tuesday in Milwaukee, publisher Simon & Schuster said Thursday. She was 86.

Ehlert's other works include Color Zoo — which won her a Caldecott Honor in 1990 — Eating the Alphabet, Waiting for Wings, In My World, and Fish Eyes. She told Reading Rockets in 2013 that her family helped make her an artist, explained that her book Hands was largely autobiographical, and recounted how she began working in collage before she could even spell the word.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.