Newbery Medal winner Madeleine L’Engle has passed away. (Thanks to Smart Bitches for the news.) She is most loved and well-known for her series that began with A Wrinkle in Time.

She, Andre Norton, Lloyd Alexander, Edward Eager and C. S. Lewis shaped much of my reading–and my self–as a child. They share a good part of the credit (or the blame) for who I am today.

Andre Norton: 1912-2005. She was a librarian for the Cleveland Public Library and wrote over 300 published titles over the course of 70 years.

C. S. Lewis: 1898-1963. He wrote and published only 18 works of fiction, but they have been translated into 30 languages. The Chronicles of Narnia have sold more than 100 million copies.

Edward Eager: 1911-1964. He was famous for introducing magic into the lives of ordinary children. I had only read Half Magic as a child. I own all of his Magic series now and will pass them down to my children.

Lloyd Alexander: 1924-2007. I know he wrote more, but it was his Prydain series that I loved the best. It was a joy to me when my son brought home the first one after having discovered it on his own at the school library. Alexander’s hero–and my son’s and mine–was an assistant pig keeper who never became king.

Who were the influential authors of your childhood? How have they shaped your life?