Art designer/illustrator Yaroslava Mills, 83, in September ("An Egg is for Wishing" by Helen Kay, 1966)

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Aka Yaroslava Surmach-Mills, she was born in Queens, New York and
lived in West Nyack, NY for nearly half a century. She died on Sept.
17th.

"Her reverse glass paintings have been made into greeting cards, and
she has created stained-glass windows for the St. Demetrius Ukrainian
Catholic Church in Toronto, and the glass entrance doors to the New
York Senate Building."

Often, in her books, she was simply credited as "Yaroslava." She was
the art director/editor for the children's magazine, "Humpty Dumpty."

I SO loved "An Egg is for Wishing."
"Nikolas's mother wants to make him a Pysanky egg, but he's afraid of
the chickens- especially the rooster. He tries other eggs, but they
won't do, so he must overcome his fears."

(He's even rather climb up the roof for a stork egg than face the
rooster. Interestingly, a 1984 New York Times article said: "As long
as people make pysanky, it is said, a monster personifying evil will
remain chained to its cliff and the world will be safe.")

She was also known for the 1964 edition of the Ukrainian folktale,
"The Mitten." Her coauthor was Alvin Tresselt.

BTW, Helen Kay was also known for "A Pony for the Winter."

http://www.infoukes.com/newpathway/24-2008_Page-8-1.html
(brief bio)

http://books.google.com/books?id=1ik9ZUywjcQC&pg=RA1-PA265&lpg=RA1-PA265&dq=yaroslava+%22humpty+dumpty%22&source=bl&ots=In8AmdfETf&sig=b2HSI1U6EW3SToTAxke5JfeI5kI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PRA1-PA265,M1
(more biographical information)

http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=Yaroslava+surmach+Mills&btnG=Search+Images
(illustrations)

http://goodmorningmarysunshine.blogspot.com/2008/10/yet-another-planned-project.html
(three illustrations from "The Mitten")

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=yaroslava%20pysanky&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
(Pysanky eggs)

Also:

Self-illustrated:

Ukrainian Easter Eggs, 1957
Tusya and the Pot of Gold, From an Old Ukrainian Folktale, 1971
I Like You and Other Poems for Valentine's Day, 1976

As illustrator:

The Mitten by Alvin Tresselt, 1964
"Classic Ukrainian Folktale about a lost mitten and all the animals
who take up residence in it."

A Stocking for a Kitten by Helen Kay, 1965
"The heartwarming tale of a grandmother's love and how - in her own
way- she teaches her granddaughter an important lesson in forgiveness"

An Egg is for Wishing by Helen Kay, 1966

How A Shirt Grew In The Field by Konstantin Ushinsky and Marguerita
Rudolph, 1967
"this story first appeared more than 100 yrs ago and show the day-to-
day life of russia's past."

Apron On Apron Off by Helen Kay, 1968

Ivanko and the Dragon, an Old Ukrainian Folk Tale by Ivan Rudchenko,
Translated by Marie Halun Bloch, 1969

The Winter Child by Lee Wyndham, 1970
"A Russian farmer and his wife have a wonderful and rich life except
for one thing, they long for a child, and one day, after a great
snowfall, the farmer and his wife make a beautiful little snow girl
and wishing she were real, their wishes magically come true. A little
girl of their own to love! But as winter begins to fade, so do the
spirits of their little winter girl, who finally bids them goodbye
with the promise to return again in cold weather."

Rosachok: A Russian Story by Boris Vladimirovich Zakhoder, translated
by Marguerita Rudolph, 1970
"When little Tadpole changes into a frog it makes Rosachok wonder what
he will turn into when he grows up."

Folk Crafts for World Friendship , by Florence Temko, 1976

Your Child's Record-Keeping Book Growing Up Years by Frank Caplan,
1978

Guardian Angel Children's Prayer Book by Fr. T. Lozynsky, 2001

Lenona.