Karla Kuskin facts for kids

Karla Kuskin (born Karla Seidman) was an amazing American author, poet, and artist. She wrote and illustrated many books for children from 1932 to 2009. Karla was famous for her fun poems and stories that often used playful sounds and words.

She sometimes wrote under a different name, Nicholas J. Charles. Karla also reviewed children's books for The New York Times Book Review.

About Karla Kuskin

Karla Seidman was born in 1932 in Manhattan, New York City. She grew up in a lively part of the city called Greenwich Village. She was the only child of Sidney and Mitzi Seidman.

Karla loved learning and went to special schools like the Little Red School House. Later, she attended Antioch College and then Yale University. At Yale, she studied graphic design and learned from famous artists. She earned her degree in 1955.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Karla worked in different jobs. She was an assistant to a fashion photographer and helped with design and advertising. Her very first book, Roar and More, came from a project she did in her last year at Yale. She designed and printed the book herself!

In 1994, Kuskin wrote a book called Paul. It featured paintings by the artist Milton Avery. These paintings were originally made for a children's book that was never finished.

Karla also wrote a book about her own life called Thoughts, Pictures, and Words in 1995. Her son, Nicholas, took the photographs for it.

She lived and worked in Brooklyn for most of her life. Later, she moved to Bainbridge Island, Washington, and finally settled in Seattle. Karla Kuskin passed away in Seattle in August 2009, when she was 77 years old.

Her Family Life

Karla Kuskin was married twice. Her first husband was Charles M. Kuskin, who played the oboe. They were married from 1955 to 1979. In 1989, she married William L. Bell, Jr., who was a lawyer.

Karla was very talented because she not only wrote books but also drew the pictures for almost half of them!

Books Written and Illustrated by Karla Kuskin

Here are some of the books Karla Kuskin both wrote and illustrated:

• Roar and More (1956)
• James and the Rain (1957)
• In the Middle of the Trees (1958) — a book of poems
• The Animals and the Ark (1958)
• Just like Everyone Else (1959)
• Which Horse Is William? (1959)
• Square as a House (1960)
• The Bear Who Saw the Spring (1961)
• All Sizes of Noises (1962)
• Alexander Soames: His Poems (1962) — written as Nicholas J. Charles
• How Do You Get from Here to There? (1962)
• ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ (1963)
• The Rose on My Cake (1964) — a book of poems
• Sand and Snow (1965) — written as Nicholas J. Charles
• Jane Anne June Spoon and Her Very Adventurous Search for the Moon (1966)
• The Walk the Mouse Girls Took (1967)
• Watson, the Smartest Dog in the U.S.A. (1968)
• In the Flaky Frosty Morning (1969)
• Any Me I Want to Be (1972) — a book of poems
• What Did You Bring Me? (1973)
• Near the Window Tree (1975) — poems and notes
• A Boy Had a Mother Who Bought Him a Hat (1976)
• Herbert Hated Being Small (1979)
• Dogs and Dragons, Trees and Dreams (1980) — a collection of poetry
• Night Again (1981)
• Something Sleeping in the Hall (1985)
• The Philharmonic Gets Dressed (1986)
• Soap Soup (1992)
• City Dog (1994)
• My Llfe in the Sky (2000)

Books Written by Karla Kuskin

Here are some books Karla Kuskin wrote, with illustrations by other artists:

• A Space Story, illustrated by Marc Simont (1978)
• The Philharmonic Gets Dressed, illustrated by Mark Simont (1982) — this book was nominated for a National Book Award
• The Dallas Titans Get Ready for Bed, illustrated by Mark Simont (1986)
• Jerusalem, Shining Still, illustrated by David Frampton (1987)
• A Great Miracle Happened There: A Chanukah Story, illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker (1993)
• Paul, with paintings by Milton Avery (1994)
• Patchwork Island, illustrated by Petra Mathers (1994)
• City Noise, illustrated by Renee Flower (1994)
• James and the Rain, illustrated by Reg Cartwright (1995)
• The Upstairs Cat, illustrated by Howard Fine (1997)
• The Animals and the Ark, illustrated by Michael Grejniec (2002)
• The Sky Is Always in the Sky, illustrated by Isabelle Dervaux (1998)
• I Am Me, illustrated by Dyanna Wolcott (2000)
• Moon, Have You Met My Mother? The Collected Poems of Karla Kuskin, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier (2003)
• Under My Hood I Have a Hat, illustrated by Fumi Kosaka (2004)
• Ice Cream Dreams, illustrated by Lewis Matheney (2005)
• Toots the Cat, illustrated by Lisze Bechtold (2005)
• So, What's It Like to Be a Cat?, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (2005) — this book won the Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award in 2006

Books Illustrated by Karla Kuskin

Here are some books that Karla Kuskin illustrated for other authors:

• O Ye Jigs & Juleps!, by Virginia Cary Hudson, 1962
• Traces, by Paula Fox, 2008