Barbara Cooney

Barbara Cooney had an artist's touch that brought delight to children through her many illustrations. So precious was her work that in 1996 she was declared a Maine state treasure.

Born in a hotel room in 1917 in Brooklyn, New York along with a twin brother, Cooney's mother was also an artist and encouraged her daughter to pursue her talents.

Cooney graduated from Smith College in 1938 and studied lithography and etching at Art Students League in New York. It was in New York that she began illustrating children's books-a profession that would earn her two Caldecott medals, a Boston Globe-Horn Award, a Smith College Medal, and an American Book Award. Maine created the Lupine Award after her characters to recognize outstanding children's books by state resident.

In 1942, Cooney joined the Women's Army Corps where she met and married a war correspondent and author. That marriage lasted only a handful of years and in 1949, she married C. Talbot Porter, a medical doctor, whom she would spend the rest of her life with. She had a total of four children-two with each husband.

Cooney's artwork started out as etchings and scratchboard drawings, but she went later in her career on to create illustrations using collage, watercolor, acrylics, and mixed media.

Before her death in 2000, she had illustrated 110 books and written several. She was known for her meticulous research and her commitment to accuracy in the illustrations done to the finest detail.

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