Blair Lent died last week. Lent was probably best known for his illustrations for Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel (1968), which was a childhood favorite of mine (and perhaps you). I bought the Owlet paperback for my own kids before I even had any. They love it, too. Despite its problematic text.

Then last year I discovered Baba Yaga by Ernest Small; illustrated by Blair Lent (1966). I was in the process of reading every picture book retelling of a Baba Yaga story I could find at my library (there are many); this one--text and illustrations--was my favorite. It was only when I read Lent's obituary that I realized that author Ernest Small and illustrator Blair Lent were one and the same person. I don't think I've ever seen someone credited separately, by pen name and real name, for the same book, but I agree that Lent deserves a lot of credit.