Prolific children’s author Jean Van Leeuwen, known for a broad oeuvre including her beginning-reader stories following the adventures of Oliver Pig and his baby sister Amanda, died on March 3 at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., of cancer. She was 87.
Jean Van Leeuwen was born December 26, 1937, in Glen Ridge, N.J., to Cornelius, a minister, and Dorothy, a teacher. She grew up in Rutherford, N.J., experiencing a “book-filled childhood,” she wrote in an essay for Something About the Author. “It was not that my family was a particularly literary one. I was just irresistibly attracted to books,” she wrote. “Anytime, anywhere, I was likely to be found with a book in my hand.”
In sixth grade, Van Leeuwen’s self-described bookworm tendencies remained a strong influence. She recalled an early attempt at writing fiction—an uncompleted tale of a girl and her horse—and a class assignment to write a report about a career, for which she chose “book editor” as her subject.
Van Leeuwen began her studies at Syracuse University in 1955, and after two years of liberal arts courses, she formulated a vague plan for a career that involved writing and editing by declaring a major in magazine journalism at the university’s School of Journalism. Upon graduating with her B.A. in 1959, Van Leeuwen set her sights on the world of magazine publishing in New York City. She landed her first job as an assistant editor at TV Guide. But when she found the work unfulfilling, she answered an advertisement for a library promotion assistant at the small family-owned book publishing company Abelard-Schuman. It was there that she began volunteering extra hours to assist esteemed children’s book editor Frances Schwartz and found her footing as an assistant editor.
In 1963, Van Leeuwen moved to Random House as an assistant editor in the children’s department. Around the same time, she tried her hand at writing for young people and took a night course at Hunter College with picture book author William Lipkind, who later invited Van Leeuwen to join a writers’ workshop. As her skills and confidence grew, Van Leeuwen submitted a picture book manuscript to editor-in-chief Walter Retan and in 1967 Random House published her first book, Timothy’s Flower, inspired by a boy she had seen in her Manhattan neighborhood.
The following year, Van Leeuwen moved to a new position as associate editor at Viking Press, working with editor-in-chief Velma Verner. And in July 1968 she married Bruce Gavril, a mechanical engineer and computer systems designer, with whom she shared two children.
Van Leeuwen published several more children’s titles, including The Great Cheese Conspiracy (Random House, 1969), first in an eventual quintet of chapter books about a crime-boss rat and his bungling rodent crew, and then moved in 1970 to a job at Dial Press as a senior editor working with Phyllis Fogelman, who would also become Van Leeuwen’s longtime editor.
Following the birth of her son David in 1972 and her daughter Elizabeth a year later, Van Leeuwen decided to leave her publishing career to be a full-time mother and try to continue writing—which she did while the children napped. It was during this busy period that Van Leeuwen developed a series of stories—based on observing her own kids—starring young sibling pigs named Oliver and Amanda. In 1979, Tales of Oliver Pig, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, became one of the first entries in Dial’s new line of early readers. The popular, long-running series, later illustrated by Ann Schweninger, grew to include 20 titles. Amanda Pig and the Really Hot Day (Dial, 2005) was named a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book in 2006.
In all, Van Leeuwen published more than 50 books for young readers, moving seamlessly between format and tone, from picture books to contemporary middle grade novels (Dear Mom, You’re Ruining My Life, Dial, 1989) and historical fiction (Cabin on Trouble Creek, Dial, 2004), to a YA novel (I Was a 98-Pound Duckling, Dial, 1972). Many of her works were inspired by her family and personal experiences, and in 2009, the picture book Chicken Soup (Abrams) became more of a family affair, when her son David Gavril illustrated it.
Throughout her career, Van Leeuwen said she loved communicating directly with students during school visits, and she treasured the letters she received from children. In her hometown of Chappaqua, she especially enjoyed an annual project she collaborated on with first-grade teacher Yvonne Davies at Douglas Grafflin Elementary School for many years. Beginning each fall, Van Leeuwen would volunteer as a one-on-one writing mentor for the first graders who came to know her by her married name, Mrs. Gavril. Then, in May, Davies would tell her class that they will be meeting author Jean Van Leeuwen. When the kids discovered that author and volunteer were one and the same, the reaction was “priceless,” Davies told Inside Chappaqua in 2015.
Author-illustrator Marisabina Russo, one of Van Leeuwen’s longtime friends, shared this remembrance: “Jean and I first met many years ago at a book signing at a local school. We came from very different backgrounds—she the daughter of a minister, raised in N.J. and me the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, raised in N.Y.C.—but we bonded over our shared love of children’s books. Soon we were part of an informal authors group that included Pat Schories and Roni Schotter. We got together a few times each year to share our works in progress and to talk shop. Our lunch gatherings began to get longer and longer, stretching into the late afternoons. After we finished eating, we would pull out our latest manuscripts and/or dummies. Jean never asked to go first. She was so modest and self-effacing. She listened intently to each of us before she read her own work. When she gave her critiques, she got to the heart of the matter with precision and kindness. That is exactly who she was.
We shared many other things, good and bad, like births of our grandchildren, love of our Mini Coopers, our struggles with cancer, and more. Jean walked through her life with grace and humility and a sense of humor. Her books reflect that. They will live on.”
And author Roni Schotter, also in Van Leeuwen’s close circle, offered this appreciation: “I first met Jean at a book awards ceremony where both our books were up for an award in the same category. Such an honor for me!
Before I ever met her, I had been reading Jean’s books—especially her Amanda and Oliver Pig books—to my at-the-time young son. And now, here she was, and here I was!
At the end of the awards ceremony, I sat next to Jean—a bit nervous in the presence of such a wise, humorous, and wonderful writer. We made a plan to have lunch. When later on we did, I couldn’t stop praising Jean for her books and the delight they had given me and my son. She soon interrupted me saying, ‘If we’re going to be friends, as I think we are, you need to stop complimenting me.’ This was so Jean. She was talented and modest. She became a steadfast friend and we shared our many publishing stories—the good ones and the tough ones. With the kindest of hearts housed in an elegant, reserved exterior, she was a gift. I miss her terribly.”
