About Bonnie

Bonnie Christensen was an author and illustrator whose award-winning picture books transported young readers into the lives of such iconic personalities as Andy Warhol, Elvis Presley, and Woody Guthrie.

Of her more than 20 titles, the most acclaimed was Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People (Alfred A. Knopf, October 2001), which won the Horn Book - Boston Globe Honor Award and inspired praise for its subtle images, which Booklist described as “sinewy and emotionally compelling.” It was also named a New York Times Notable Book.

Neal Porter, her editor at Macmillan, said she “infused all her books with wit, a keen intelligence, and unbridled beauty.

Bonnie was born in 1951 in Saranac Lake, the older of two daughters of forest economist Wallace Christensen and his wife, Theo, a grocer's daughter. She moved seven times before she was 16. At the University of Vermont, she majored in theater and studied film under Frank Manchel, then moved to Manhattan to work with Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. While writing plays for small theaters, she took jobs at the Actor's Studio, the Screen Actors Guild, and Paramount Pictures.

A wood-engraving course with John DePol changed her life. She left theater and returned to Vermont, immersing herself in printmaking. Her first illustrating contract, with Chapters Publishing, came in 1994. A year later she began teaching art at St. Michael's College. She exhibited in local galleries, made numerous school visits, and worked on the sets of two Hollywood films, Sweetheart's Dance and The Spitfire Grill.

A burgeoning artist community, cast of embracing and lively friends, and the aesthetic of the town and surrounding landscape drew Bonnie to Wilson, North Carolina in 2006. Starting in 2011 she returned biannually to Vermont as faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program.

She excelled at whatever she did, whether gluing feathers on rubber chickens or plumbing a house, and never wanted for ideas. Dedicated to a fault, she pursued every project with passion. In her fifties she taught herself Italian, explored most of Italy, and learned the violin.

Bonnie died of ovarian cancer in January at age 63. The release of her last children’s book, Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King (Henry Holt, 2015) came shortly thereafter.

Spring 2024 will see the publication of Bonnie’s middle grade novel, Sunshine, Moonshine (Onion River Press, March 2024), co-authored with her daughter, Emily Herder, and illustrated by Annelise Capossela.

With special thanks to Bonnie’s close friend and fellow writer, Diane Foulds, for writing the above obituary in 2015.