Zena Sutherland Dies at 86

Zena Bailey Sutherland, 86, a writer, editor, and university professor who became a prominent reviewer of children's literature, died of cancer, June 12, in a Chicago hospital.

Sutherland was internationally known as a children's book critic, having reviewed more than 30,000 books from 1958 to 1985 for The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, read by librarians, editors, publishers, writers, and illustrators. She also wrote 19 books, succeeding May Hill Arbuthnot as the author of the textbook Children and Books, considered a classic in the field of library science. Sutherland wrote the monthly "Books for Young People" column for the Saturday Review from 1966 to 1972, and from 1972 to 1986 she taught at the University of Chicago's library school. While there, she served on the Newbery and Caldecott Awards committees, as well as on other important library and children's books committees. Sutherland taught two classes as an associate professor in the university's graduate library program, "Children's Literature" and "Literature for Young Adults."

Two of her former students created the Zena Sutherland Lecture Series in 1983; and in 2000, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools launched the Zena Sutherland Prizes in Children's Literature. Sutherland was also the children's book editor at the Chicago Tribune from 1972 to 1984.

Born in Winthrop, MA, in 1915, Sutherland grew up in Chicago and earned her bachelor and master's degrees from the University of Chicago. While attending the university's graduate library school, Sutherland took a children's literature course on a whim and soon after was asked to temporarily take over The Bulletin.