She radiated loveliness, both personally and in her work. She was a gifted and creative artist, author, illustrator, and print maker, active both locally and overseas in exhibitions and galleries. While I didn’t know her well personally, Bonnie Christensen was one of those people you meet and instantly like, adored by friends and admired by colleagues for her warmth, humor, grace, and kindness. We were so sad to learn the news of her passing this week at the all-too-young age of 63.
We Vermonters feel lucky to be able to claim Bonnie as our own. Her website gives a sense of the breadth and depth of her artistic talents, from delightful and appealing picture books for young children to woodengravings and woodcut art (singly and for books like the middle-grade novel, Moon Over Tennessee by Craig Crist-Evans), to both realistic and abstract etchings, engravings, monotypes, oils and frescoes.

An award-winning artist, Bonnie wrote and illustrated a number of beautiful, informative picture book biographies, including Django, I, Galileo, Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People, Fabulous: A Portrait of Andy Warhol, The Daring Nelly Bly, America’s Star Reporter, as well as illustrating numerous notable fiction and nonfiction picture books written by herself and other authors. Just a few of her works:

She also teamed up with dear friend and fellow Vermonter Leda Schubert on the charming Princess of Borscht. 

Her most recent release was the beautiful A Single Pebble: A Story of the Silk Road.

On April 21, 2015, her newest book, Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King, will arrive in bookstores across the country, and we will have the chance to celebrate Bonnie anew.

It grieves me that the children’s book world has lost yet another great light, yet if anyone will continue shining after passage from this world, it is the radiant Bonnie Christensen.
Please feel welcome to add your celebration and memories of Bonnie and her work to our comments section.