Ellen Raskin
Ellen Raskin (March 13, 1928 – August 8, 1984) was an American children's writer and illustrator. She won the 1979 Newbery Medal for The Westing Game, a mystery novel, and another children's mystery, Figgs & Phantoms, was a Newbery Honor Book in 1975. In 2012 The Westing Game was ranked number nine all-time among children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with a primarily-U.S. audience.
Also recorded as Ellen Ermingard Raskin
Ellen Raskin
- Name
- Ellen Raskin
- Born
- March 13, 1928
- Birthplace
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
- Died
- 8 August 1984
- Place of death
- New York, New York
- Occupation
- Writer, illustrator
- Education
- University of Wisconsin
- Spouse
- * Roy Kuhlman (m. 1957; div. 1958-1960)
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- children's and young adult literature
- Honours
- Newbery Medal
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Ellen Raskin (March 13, 1928 – August 8, 1984) was an American children's writer and illustrator. She won the 1979 Newbery Medal for The Westing Game, a mystery novel, and another children's mystery, Figgs & Phantoms, was a Newbery Honor Book in 1975. In 2012 The Westing Game was ranked number nine all-time among children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with a primarily-U.S. audience.
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Ellen Raskin (1928–1984) was an American writer, illustrator and novelist. The writer was born in Milwaukee and died in New York City.
Ellen Raskin was educated at University of Wisconsin–Madison. Activity centred on children's and young adult literature. Awards and honours include Newbery Medal.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 03 October 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ellen Raskin • Born — March 13, 1928 • Birthplace — Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. • Died — 8 August 1984 • Place of death — New York, New York • Occupation — Writer, illustrator • Education — University of Wisconsin • Genre — Children's novels, picture books • Notable Works — * The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) • Figgs & Phantoms • The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues • The Westing Game • Spouse — * Roy Kuhlman (m. 1957; div. 1958-1960) • Dennis Flanagan (m. 1960, second husband) • Children — Susan Kuhlman Metcalfe • Parents — * Solomon Raskin • Margaret (Goldfisch) Raskin
Life
Life
Raskin was born in Milwaukee, where she grew up during the Great Depression. She was educated at the University of Wisconsin with a major in fine art. Raskin was an accomplished graphic artist. She worked in New York City as a commercial artist for about 15 years. Among other things, she designed more than 1000 dust jackets for books, including the first edition of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, the 1963 Newbery Medal winner. In 1957, she married graphic designer Roy Kuhlman, but they soon divorced. In 1960 she married Dennis Flanagan, editor of Scientific American. Raskin died at the age of 56 on August 8, 1984, in New York City, as a result of a connective-tissue disease.
Education
Education
At the age of 17, Raskin entered the University of Wisconsin with the intention of majoring in journalism. However, after visiting an art exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, she changed her major to fine arts.
Children’s novels
Children’s novels
Raskin wrote four novels, all published by E. P. Dutton. • The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel), 1971 • Figgs & Phantoms, 1974 • The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues, 1975 • The Westing Game, 1978
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1928
Ellen Raskin was born on 13 March 1928.
1984
Ellen Raskin died at New York City.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Milwaukee.
Birth place
New York City.
Death place
Children's picture books
Raskin wrote and illustrated twelve picture books, published by Atheneum Books except as noted. • Nothing Ever Happens on My Block, 1967 • Silly Songs and Sad, Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1967 • Spectacles, 1968 • Ghost in a Four-Room Apartment, 1969 • And It Rained, 1969 • A & The, or, William T. C. Baumgarten Comes to Town, 1970 • The World's Greatest Freak Show, 1971 • Franklin Stein, 1972 • Moe Q. McGlutch, He Smoked Too Much, Parents, 1973 • Who, Said Sue, Said Whoo?, 1973 • Moose, Goose & Little Nobody, 1976 • Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, 1976
As illustrator
Raskin also illustrated more than twenty books by other writers. • Happy Christmas: Tales for Boys and Girls, edited by Claire H. Bishop, Ungar, 1956. • The Bound Man and Other Stories, by Ilse Aichinger, transl. by Eric Mosbacher, New York: Noonday Press, 1956. • A Child's Christmas in Wales, by Dylan Thomas (1950); J. M. Dent, 1968. • Mama, I Wish I Was Snow, Child You'd Be Very Cold, by Ruth Krauss, Atheneum, 1962. • Philosophy and History. The Ernst Cassirer Festschrift, ed. Raymond Klibansky and H. J. Paton, 1963. (second edition) • Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, selected by Dwight MacDonald, Crowell, 1965. • We Dickinson's, by Aileen Fisher and Olive Rabe, Atheneum, 1965. • The Jewish Sabbath, by Molly Cone, Crowell, 1966. • Paths of Poetry: Twenty-Five Poets and Their Poems, ed. Louis Untermeyer, Delacorte, 1966. • Songs of Innocence (Volumes 1 & 2), by William Blake (1789, 1794), music and illustrations by Ellen Raskin, Doubleday, 1966. • D. H. Lawrence: Poems Selected for Young People, ed. William Cole, Viking, 1967. • Ellen Grae, by Vera and Bill Cleaver, Lippincott, 1967. • Poems of Robert Herrick, ed. Winfield T. Scott, Crowell, 1967. • Probability: The Science of Chance, by Arthur G. Razzell and K. G. O. Watts, Doubleday, 1967. ‡ • This Is 4: the Idea of a Number, by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1967. ‡ • Books: A Book to Begin On, by Susan Bartlett, Holt, 1968. • Inatuk's Friend, by Suzanne Stark Morrow, Atlantic/Little, 1968. • A Paper Zoo: A Collection of Animal Poems by Modern American Poets, edited by Renee K. Weiss, Macmillan, 1968. • Piping Down the Valleys Wild: Poetry for the Young of All Ages, edited by Nancy Larrick, Delacorte, 1968. • Symmetry, by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1968. ‡ • We Alcotts, by Aileen Fisher and Olive Rabe, Atheneum, 1968. • Circles and Curves, by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1969. ‡ • Come Along!, by Rebecca Caudill, Holt, 1969. • Shrieks at Midnight: Macabre Poems, Eerie and Humorous, edited by Sara and John E. Brewton, Crowell, 1969. • Three and the Shape of Three, by Razzell and Watts, Doubleday, 1969. ‡ • Elidor, by Alan Garner (1965), Walck, 1970. • Goblin Market, by Christina Rossetti (1862), Dutton, 1970. • ‡ Raskin illustrated at least five volumes in a series of 32- and 48-page mathematics books by Arthur C. Razzell and Kenneth George Oliver Watts, which was inaugurated by Doubleday in 1964.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Ellen Raskin”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q5364985: Ellen Raskin
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."Ellen Raskin: Notable Wisconsin Author" [Biography]. Ginny Moore Kruse. Copyright 1981, 2000. Wisconsin Authors and Illustrators. The Cooperative Children's Book Center [CCBC]; School of Education; University of Wisconsin (ccbc.education.wisc.edu).
- 2."Ellen Raskin". The New York Times. August 10, 1984.
- 3.Ellen Raskin Papers. MS 85. Simmons College Archives.
- 4.Bird, Elizabeth. Top 100 Chapter Book Poll Results. A Fuse #8 Production. Blog. School Library Journal (blog.schoollibraryjournal.com). July 7, 2012.
- 5."Free Study Guide for The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin". Ray Mescallado. The Best Notes (thebestnotes.com). May 15, 2008.
- 6.Archived copy. ccbc.education.wisc.edu.
- 7."Books Written and Illustrated by Ellen Raskin". Wisconsin Authors and Illustrators. CCBC. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Strasser, Marilyn. Ellen Raskin. Twayne Publishers. 579. 1991. 9780805776270.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the heading Ellen Ermingard Raskin. Her recorded language was English. She married Dennis Flanagan. Recorded with the occupation children's writer. Recorded as writer, novelist and illustrator.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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