Hilda van Stockum was born in Rotterdam, Holland, on February 9, 1908. Her father was a Naval officer and her mother one of the initial proponents of the Montessori educational method. At age five, she wrote and illustrated her first book, making a gift for her younger brother Willem. She studied at the Dublin School of Art, the Amsterdam Academy of Art, and the Corcoran School of Art. In the 1920s, Ms. Van Stockum worked as an illustrator for Browne & Nolan, an Irish publisher. She married her brother’s college roommate, Ervin Ross Marlin, in 1932. He was American and returned with his bride to Washington, DC, where he had a distinguished career with the United Nations and the State Department.

She was first published in Ireland, illustrating the Irish Readers, used for teaching Irish after independence and familiar to every Irish student.

In 1934, Harper Brothers published Ms. van Stockum’s first American children’s book, A Day on Skates: the Story of a Dutch Picnic. This book contained an introduction by Ms. van Stockum’s aunt, Edna St. Vincent Millay, who was also published by Harper. A Day on Skates received a 1935 Newbery Honor.

Harper Brothers did not wish to publish Ms. van Stockum's second book, which found a home with May Massee at Viking Press, who continued to publish Ms. van Stockum's books for years to come.

Her children’s books were well-known throughout the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. The Cottage at Bantry Bay (1938) and its two sequels were set in Ireland, where the author spent a good share of her childhood. The first of the three books about The Mitchells appeared in 1948. It was based on the lives of her own six children and took place in Washington, DC, and Canada. In the 1960s and '70s, Ms. Van Stockum wrote two books about the Dutch Resistance during World War II: The Winged Watchman and The Borrowed House were widely read.

Often illustrating her own books, Ms. van Stockum also illustrated versions of classics such as Hans Brinker, Little Women, and Little Men. In 1993, one of Ms. van Stockum’s still lifes, "Pears in a Copper Pot," was chosen to appear on an Irish postage stamp.

From her first published book in 1935 to her last published book in 2001, Ms. van Stockum had a rich and varied career. Her husband of 62 years passed away in 1994. She is survived by her six children and numerous grandchildren. Many of her books are available from Bethlehem Books in North Dakota and on Amazon.com.

We lost a light in this children’s book author and illustrator, Hilda Van Stockum, when she passed away on November 1, 2006, at the age of 98.