Jerry Pinkney, award-winning illustrator, dies at 81

NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Pinkney, a prize-winning children’s book illustrator known for his richly textured images of Black life, fables and fairy tales in works ranging from “The Lion and the Mouse” to “The Sunday Outing,” has died at 81. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers says Pinkney died Wednesday. His wordless adaptation of the Aesop fable “The Lion and the Mouse” led to his receiving the Randolph Caldecott Medal for outstanding illustration in 2010. He was also a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for best work by a Black artist. He designed Black Heritage stamps honoring Harriet Tubman and Jackie Robinson among others.