It is with deep sadness that we announce that Canadian children’s author Janet Lunn passed away earlier this week at the age of 88. During her long writing career, Lunn wrote 18 books for young readers. She won two Governor General’s Literary Awards for Shadow in Hawthorn Bay and The Hollow Tree and was a two-time finalist for the CCBC’s Geoffrey Bilson Award for The Hollow Tree and A Rebel’s Daughter: The 1837 Rebellion Diary of Arabella Stevenson. She was also honoured with the Vicky Metcalfe Award for Literature for Young People and the Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of a Writing Life. In 1996 she was a recipient of the Order of Ontario, and in 1997, she was named to the Order of Canada.

In addition to writing her own books, Janet was a book reviewer with the Kingston Whig Standard, the Toronto Star and the CBC. In 1972, she became the first children’s book editor in Canada when Clarke Irwin hired her to head their children’s publishing program.

Our condolences go out to Janet’s family and friends.

Funeral details
Janet Lunn’s funeral will take place Wednesday, July 5 at 2:00 pm at the Church of the Ascension, 253 Echo Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 1N3. The service will be at 2:00 pm  and a reception will follow in the church hall at 4:00 pm.