Children’s writer and artist Kate Duke, known for her illustrated concept books featuring guinea pigs, died April 20 at age 57. Born on August 1, 1956 in New York City, Duke was an avid bibliophile whose parents encouraged her to read. Books had an enormous impact on her: Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy (Harper, 1964) gave her an appreciation for writing, while Hugh Lofting’s  “Doctor Dolittle” books instilled in her a desire to communicate with animals—a passion that would stay with her as an adult creating her own work. She attended Duke University but left after a year and later took art courses in New York City. Charmingly illustrated, Duke’s works were also informational, conveying concepts such as letters and counting or the idea of storytelling. In 1983, she published her first work, The Guinea Pig ABC (Penguin), which featured a series of appealing guinea pigs acting out an adjective starting with each letter of the alphabet. This launched several more titles featuring guinea pigs: she followed up with Guinea Pigs Near and Far (1984), What Would a Guinea Pig Do? (1988), and, years later, One Guinea Pig Is Not Enough (1998, all Penguin), which introduced young readers to addition and counting. School Library Journal praised the latter title as “a cleverly layered and constructed concept book.” Animals populated many of Duke’s other books, such as her “Aunt Isabel” titles, which star an eccentric, storytelling mouse who sports a feathered headband and flapper-style dress, along with her niece, Penelope. School Library Journal described Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One (Penguin, 1992) as an “entertaining way to introduce children to the elements of storytelling while providing an impetus for their own creative endeavors.” Duke’s editor at Dutton, Lucia Monfried, told School Library Journal that the book was her favorite among Duke’s titles. “In such a gentle, fun way, Aunt Isabel harnesses the energy and ideas of her impudent niece and helps her give form to her story,” Monfried said. Though Duke took on nonfiction in Archaeologists Dig For Clues (1996) and folktales in Roseberry’s Great Escape (1990) and also illustrated picture books by other authors, such as Raffi’s Tingalayo (1983) and Barbara Baker’s One Saturday Morning (all Penguin, 1995), she rarely strayed far from guinea pigs. She returned to the animals one last time with Ready for Pumpkins (Random, 2012), the tale of a classroom guinea pig who plants his own garden of pumpkins. Likewise, Duke was an enthusiastic gardener. “[Her] garden at her home in New Haven was a gorgeous place as well as a creative endeavor,” said Monfried. “She lavished love and the same attention to detail on it that she did on her books.” The author was equally passionate about introducing her work to children, often visiting schools and libraries where she spoke and conducted workshops on writing and illustrating. “[Duke] was marvelous at giving so much character to her creatures,” said Monfried. “Her gentle wit was so much in evidence in her art.”