Ashley Bryan, acclaimed children’s author, dead at 98

ISLESFORD, Maine (AP) — Ashley Bryan, a prolific children’s book illustrator and storyteller who often retold African folktales he had heard as a child, has died. He was 98. The Ashley Bryan Center in coastal Maine says Bryan died Friday at his niece’s home in Texas. The Bangor Daily News reports Bryan received Coretta Scott King awards for “Beat the Story Drum: Pum-Pum,” a series of Nigerian folktales illustrated with woodcut prints, and “Beautiful Blackbird,” a Zambian folktale illustrated in paper collage. Gov. Janet Mills had proclaimed July 13, 2020, as Ashley Frederick Bryan Day in Maine to mark Bryan’s then-97th birthday.  A memorial service will be held in Isleford this July 13.