Children’s book publisher Katie Cunningham, known as a visionary editor with a keen eye for new talent who championed inclusivity and representation in the projects she took on, died on July 4 at her home in Hudson, Mass., following complications from ovarian cancer. She was 43.
Catherine Anne “Katie” Cunningham was born to Joyce and Warren Cunningham on August 31, 1981 in Boston, the younger of two daughters. She grew up not far away, in Hudson, where at Hudson High School, she played field hockey and was involved in numerous activities including the drama program. A family anecdote recounted how in her role as the Hudson Hawks mascot, Cunningham famously got into a brawl with the Marlborough Panther during the 1998 Thanksgiving Day football game between the rival teams.
Upon graduating high school in 1999, she enrolled at Simmons College, majoring in English, with a minor in photography. Those fields of study put Cunningham in good stead to pursue a career in children’s books, and she landed her first job in 2003 as assistant to Liz Bicknell at Candlewick Press. “I came to Candlewick right out of college,” Cunningham told the podcast A Bookish Home in a 2018 episode. “It’s the kind of career where you really learn at your mentor’s elbow, and that’s definitely how I learned to edit and to find what my particular tastes and strengths, and areas to grow were—literally watching Liz mark up pages and talk to editors, designers, authors, and salespeople.”
Over her two-decade tenure at Candlewick, Cunningham rose through the editorial ranks including working on the Big Picture and Candlewick Studio imprints, and was eventually named SVP, editorial, and associate publisher in 2023. Among the notable projects she shepherded were the debut works Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, a Stonewall Book Award winner; Rescue and Jessica by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, which received a Schneider Family Book Award; and the debut novel Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow, a National Book Award finalist and a Printz Honor book.
Cunningham additionally worked with Candlewick authors Matt Tavares on his bestselling holiday title Dasher and his graphic novel Hoops; poet Charles R. Smith Jr. on the Sports Royalty series; and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on his children’s book What Color Is My World: The Lost History of African-American Inventors, which won an NAACP Image Award.
In 2018 Cunningham married her wife Erin on Cape Cod. Two years later the couple welcomed their son, Jack, and the family made their home in Hudson.
By late 2024, Cunningham had stepped away from Candlewick and in March of this year was appointed publisher at Nosy Crow Inc., the U.S. company launched in 2022, an expansion of Nosy Crow, which was founded in the U.K. by Kate Wilson in 2010. Cunningham shared her enthusiasm about the new position and about working with her team “to create books that will speak to children read after read—because every child deserves a favorite book.”
Providing all children the opportunity to find their favorite book was a driver throughout Cunningham’s career. She spoke of the gratification that came with watching an inclusive book be positively received in the world. “The idea of being seen in a picture book if you have never seen yourself represented anywhere before is something that I think—until you’ve had the experience of not seeing yourself—it’s hard to imagine how powerful it is,” she told A Bookish Home.
When asked what she enjoyed about being an editor, Cunningham said she was most excited about the continuous improvement involved in the work. “The stakes working in children’s books are low—we don’t have to do brain surgery every day; there’s no nuclear code, and it’s a very long process so there’s a lot of opportunity to fix your mistakes and to improve and be better,” she said. “But in the end, you’re making a product for a population whose memories are so good, and so subject to influence. The people in children’s books are a group who really want to do the right thing and are constantly challenging themselves to be better. It’s a great group of people to be surrounded with every day.”
Many of Cunningham’s colleagues and the creators whose work she nurtured paid tribute. Nosy Crow president John Mendelson said, “It’s difficult to convey not only Katie’s extraordinary talent as an editor and publisher, but also the light she brought into every room and every interaction. Her energy, vision, and profound empathy were unique. She was kind and funny. She was a good friend. Her passing is an enormous loss, not only to us at Nosy Crow, but to the entire industry and to future readers. I am heartbroken for us all.”
Kate Wilson, group CEO of Nosy Crow, offered: “Every one of us who had anything to do with Katie knows how magnificent she was. Her integrity, careful thought, and shining vitality leave a profound mark. I count it a privilege and inspiration to have shared as much time as I did with her.”
Liz Bicknell, former executive VP, executive editorial director, and associate publisher at Candlewick, shared this appreciation: “Having worked with Katie for more than two decades, I knew her to be a brilliant editor of vision and integrity as well as a generous, caring colleague impossible not to respect and love. While the majority of her career was at Candlewick Press, I know she would have gone on to even greater heights as publisher at Nosy Crow. I’m personally devastated to lose her, and I am heartbroken for the world of children’s literature that her daring and passion for the best books has been cut short far, far too soon.”
And Kate Fletcher, Candlewick editorial director, remembered her this way: “Katie and I started at Candlewick together more than 20 years ago, and I was lucky enough to call her a dear friend as well as a colleague. Katie was kind, generous, and always eager to jump in and offer support. Her gift for connecting with creators and bringing out their best work was truly remarkable. I know she will be missed by co-workers, creators, and anyone lucky enough to have known her.”
Author Kenneth M. Cadow recalled, “There was simply nothing like being believed in by Katie. She made the hard work of writing, of addressing 3,500 edits, of painstaking page break design fun. I knew I was a part of something beautiful and energetic and good, working with her. I also really appreciated her permission to take off my uncomfortable shoes at the National Book Awards and wear clogs—this was because Katie was wearing sneakers. Who could make you laugh so hard, and also be so effective at calling people, systems, governments on their BS?”
And author Matt Tavares said of her: “Katie was my editor for 17 years. She was a brilliant editor, and more importantly, a dear friend. During those years, I watched her rise to senior vice president. But I don’t think she ever cared much about her job title. Her only professional ambition was to make great books. She will be missed by so many people who loved her, but I know her legacy will live on in all the books she helped put into the world, and in her son, and in all the lives she made better. I know that to so many of us in the children’s book world who knew her, Katie wasn’t just a coworker, or an editor. She was family.”
In the years following her own diagnosis, Cunningham devoted time and energy to bringing attention to ovarian cancer and raising money for research. She wrote the following, two months ago: “I hope you have never had a cancer diagnosis touch your life, but if you have, or if you will, I want you to have every piece of weaponry humanity can dream up. I want you to have every tool to fight like hell to get to the other side. I don’t know if I’m on the other side, but I know where I am is absolutely beautiful.”
In lieu of flowers, her family has suggested donations in Katie’s memory to the Pan Mass Challenge: Katie’s Ride, Team Ovarian Cancer, MGH Cancer Center, or the Center for Coastline Studies. Memories of Katie, which are being compiled to share with her family, friends, and colleagues, may be emailed here.
