Elizabeth Blair writes: “Ashley Bryan, the celebrated children’s book author and illustrator who created stories centered on African and African American folk tales, has died. He was 98. In a career spanning more than six decades, Bryan’s vibrantly colored collage and paper-cut illustrations adorned the pages of some 50 books, folktales and poetry collections by such acclaimed writers as Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, and Walter Dean Myers.” Bryan’s many awards include the 2012 Coretta Scott King—Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award and a 2017 Newbery Honor for Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan.