Way back when, as a brighter-than-average child, I coped with life (some might also say I hid from it) by spending enormous amounts of time at the library. Because of my age I was only allowed to check out 10 books at a time, but I'd dutifully take the bus to the library, peruse the shelves carefully to choose my 10 with great deliberation, check them out, and then head back to the bus stop, my nose already buried deep in what I'd chosen. As fast a reader as I was, I'd usually have finished them all within a day or two (sometimes even before the bus got me back home from the library visit). So at the first opportunity I'd be back on the bus to the library for my next 10...

One of my favorite authors was McCloskey, especially via his books "Homer Price" and "Centerburg Tales" about a boy inventor. Even to this day, if I were in that same library (assuming they hadn't moved things around too much), I could probably walk straight to the shelf where his books were.

I don't know if anyone else here ever heard of his books or drawings or loved them as much as I did, but I was very sorry to hear of Mr. McCloskey's passing.

Famous titles of his, that he either authored or illustrated:

Homer Price
Centerburg Tales: More Adventures of Homer Price
Blueberries for Sal
Make Way for Ducklings
Henry Reed, Inc. (illustrator)
Henry Reed's Babysitting Service (illustrator)
Henry Reed's Big Show (illustrator)

Children's Author McCloskey Dies at Home in Maine