Amy Schwartz (author)

Schwartz was born on April 2, 1954, in San Diego to Henry Schwartz, a writer, and Eva Schwartz, a chemistry professor.[1] She grew up on the West Coast[4] with her parents and three sisters.[1]

Schwartz graduated high school early and started university at Antioch College, though she transferred to California College of Arts and Crafts a year later.[1] She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drawing in 1976.[1] Three years later, she illustrated her first book.[1] The publication inspired her to move to New York City for work, where she eventually settled.[1][2] Early in her time in New York, she took a course about writing and illustrating children's books from the School for Visual Arts, which led to her first publication in 1982, Bea and Mrs. Jones.[1] Throughout the 1980s, she wrote and illustrated multiple books and was able to do so full-time.[1]

Schwartz married Leonard S. Marcus in 1990, and in 1992, they had a son, Jacob.[1][2]

Before her sudden death on February 26, 2023,[1] she lived in Brooklyn with her husband.[5]

In 1982, Schwartz's debut children's book, Bea and Mrs. Jones, was featured in the New York Public Library’s selection of 100 Best Children’s Books.[1] Bea and Mr. Jones, Begin at the Beginning, A Teeny Tiny Baby were featured on the television program Reading Rainbow in 1971, 1984, and 1997, respectively, as was The Purple Coat by Amy Hest, which Schwartz illustrated.[6] In 2006, Schwartz's booksellers selected Bea and Mr. Jones for the "Happiest to See Back in Print" Cuffies Award.[7] The Horn Book Magazine named Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner and What James Likes Best one of the best Picture Books of the year in 1988 and 2003, respectively.[8] Three of Schwartz's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Starring Miss Darlene (2007),[9] Tiny & Hercules (2009),[10] and 13 Stories About Harris (2020).[11] The Cooperative Children's Book Center included Starring Miss Darlene in their 2008 CCBC Choices publication, "an annual list of recommended books for children and young adults selected by the librarians at the Cooperative Children's Book Center."[12] Polka Dots for Poppy was named a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year.[2]