Obituary: Little Bear author Else Holmelund Minarik (1920-2012)

Else Holmelund Minarik, the Danish-born American author best known for the Little Bear series, has died at the age of 91.

First published in 1957, the Little Bear series revolved around a bear cub and his family. There were five books in the series, with the last one published in 1968, and they were illustrated by Where the Wild Things Are author Maurice Sendak. The series is estimated to have sold around 6m copies worldwide, and spawned both a TV series and an animated film.

Minarik was a journalist before becoming an author. After the Little Bear series, she wrote a number of other books including 1989′s Percy and the Five Houses, which was illustrated by James Stevenson.