Barbara Jean Koplein Elleman, of Amherst MA, passed away peacefully on October 9, 2024. Barbara was born on October 20, 1934, in Coloma, WI; daughter of Donald and Evelyn (Kissinger) Koplein. She grew up around Waupaca, WI with her siblings Charlotte and Sharon. As a child, she loved reading, playing with dolls, and being with her family on the farm. After graduating high school in Ripon, WI, she attended Wisconsin State University Oshkosh receiving her B.S. in 1956. She worked as school librarian in Port Washington, WI, and then went to the University of Denver, receiving her M.A. in Library Science in 1964. On November 14, 1970, Barbara married the love of her life, Don W. Elleman.

Barbara was a brilliant children’s librarian, book reviewer, editor, and author. She took on roles as a school and public librarian. She was a reviewer and then editor of the American Library Association’s Booklist magazine, where she founded Book Links, Connecting Books Libraries and Classrooms. While working at Marquette University, she was named Distinguished Scholar of Children’s Literature.

In 2011, she and Don moved to Amherst, MA. There, she served as trustee, advisor, and curator at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Barbara donated her thousand-plus, often-signed picture book collection to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, where her substantial reference collection about children’s literature resides in the Barbara Elleman Research Library, referred to as the BERL. In 1999, she wrote a biography of Tomie dePaola: Tomie dePaola: His Art and His Stories. Following that, she co-authored (with Russell Freedman) Holiday House: The First Sixty-Five Years (2000), and Virginia Lee Burton: A Life in Art (2002). She recently published another biography of Tomie dePaola: The Worlds of Tomie dePaola: The Art and Stories of the Legendary Artist and Author (2021), an update of her earlier biography, covering two new decades of his creativity.

Barbara was an avid traveler who criss-crossed the globe with her husband Don. They often went touring in Europe to explore the origins of many notable children’s fables and fairy tales, bringing the books that she loved so dearly to life. She was also a great fan of the arts, with regular attendance at the symphony, opera, as well as numerous shows. For a time, Barbara and Don kept an apartment in New York to readily access Broadway. More recently, in Amherst, trips to Tanglewood were a regular pastime and joy.

Barbara is survived by her sister Sharon Riemer of Oshkosh, WI; her very good friend Charlene Moran of Amherst, MA; her nieces Nancy Ocain Scrivner, Shawn Miller, Alesha Hau; and nephews Rick Ocain and Tim Ocain. Many great and great great nieces and nephews adored their Aunt Barbara.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, November 7, 2024, 5:00 p.m., at The Eric Carle Museum, 125 West Bay Road, Amherst, MA 01002. The interment will be held in Brookfield, WI at a later date.

 Memorial gifts can be made in Barbara’s honor to the Barbara Elleman Research Library at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

Memorial guestbook at www.douglass.com