Memoriam: Atha Tehon

Atha Tehon Thiras, credited professionally as Atha Tehon, was the award-winning children’s book designer and art director at Dial Books for Young Readers from 1969 to her retirement in 2001.  She died Feb. 15.

Tehon worked with many of the top authors and artists in the business, including Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Jerry Pinkney, and Stephen Kellogg. Her award-winning books include Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, which won the 1976 Caldecott Medal; Ashanti to Zulu, which won the 1977 Caldecott Medal; and Moja Means One and Jambo Means Hello, which won Caldecott Honors in 1972 and 1975.

Bellairs Corpus

Tehon is credited with book design on the copyright page of the following editions:

• The Curse of the Blue Figurine (1983)
• The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt (1983)
• The Dark Secret of Weatherend (1984)
• The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull (1984)

Reference

• Obituary: Atha Tehon; Publishers Weekly, Feb. 23, 2012.

External links

• GoodReads
• Wikipedia