Leonard S. Marcus (born December 11, 1950)^[1] is an American author and expert on English language children's literature. Marcus has been a critic for several publications including Horn Book and the New York Times Book review.^[2] Born and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, he attended Yale University (Class of 1972) and was editor of the Yale Literary Magazine.^{[citation needed]}

Marcus was married to children's book author and illustrator Amy Schwartz from 1990 until her death in 2023. The couple had one son.^[3][4]

Works

• You Can't Say That!: Writers for Young People Talk About Censorship, Free Expression, and the Stories They Have to Tell (September 16, 2021)^[5][6]
• Helen Oxenbury: A Life in Illustration (Walker UK/Candlewick USA, fall 2017)
• The Runaway Bunny 75th Anniversary Book (HarperCollins, spring 2017)
• Comics Confidential: Thirteen Graphic Novelists Talk Story, Craft, and Life Outside the Box (Candlewick, fall 2016)
• Randolph Caldecott: The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing (Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013)
• Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and His Work (Abrams, 2013)
• Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L’Engle in Many Voices (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012)
• Show Me A Story! Why Picture Books Matter (Candlewick, 2012)
• The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth (Knopf, 2011)
• Funny Business: Conversations with Writers of Comedy (Candlewick, 2009)
• Minders of MakeBelieve: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children’s Literature (Houghton Mifflin, 2008)
• A Caldecott Celebration: Seven Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal (expanded, tenthanniversary edition) (Walker, 2008)
• Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children’s Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became an American Icon Along the Way (Random House, 2007)
• Pass It Down: Five PictureBook Families Make Their Mark (Walker, 2007)
• Oscar: The Big Adventure of a Little Sock Monkey, coauthored with Amy Schwartz; illustrated by Amy Schwartz, (Harper/Tegen, 2006)
• The Wand In The Word: Conversations With Writers of Fantasy (Candlewick Press, 2006)
• Storied City: A Children's BookWalking Tour Guide to New York City (Dutton, 2003)
• Ways of Telling: Conversations on the Art of the Picture Book (Dutton, 2002)
• Side by Side: Five Favorite Picture Book Teams Go To Work (Walker, 2001)
• Author Talk (Simon & Schuster, 2000)
• Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom (ed) (HarperCollins, 1998; 2000)
• Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon (Beacon, 1992; Harper Perennial, 1999)
• A Caldecott Celebration: Six Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal (Walker, 1998)
• The Making of Goodnight Moon: A Fiftieth Anniversary Retrospective (HarperCollins, 1997)
• Morrow Junior Books: The First Fifty Years (Morrow, 1996)
• 75 Years of Children’s Book Week Posters (Knopf, 1994)
• Lifelines: A Poetry Anthology (Dutton, 1994)
• Mother Goose's Little Misfortunes (Bradbury, 1990)
• Humor and Play in Children's Literature (Johns Hopkins UP, 1989)
• An Epinal Album: Popular Prints from Nineteenth Century France (Godine, 1984)
• Picture Books (Johns Hopkins UP, 1984)
• Petrouchka (Godine, 1983)