“I am wrapping this up on Valentine’s Day,” she continued, “and the most genuine, non-vase-oriented gift I can hope for is
that the right person reads this, finds Jason, and another love story begins.”
Her husband said in a statement afterward, “When I read her words for the first time, I was shocked at the beauty,
slightly surprised at the incredible prose given her condition and, of course, emotionally ripped apart.”
Since 2005, Ms. Rosenthal has written 28 spirited children’s picture books, two quirky, poignant memoirs (“Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal,” in 2016,
and an alphabetized “Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life,” in 2005); delivered TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Talks and NPR commentaries; and produced short films and YouTube videos of what she called social experiments, with titles like “ATM: Always Trust Magic,” “The Money Tree” and “The Beckoning of Lovely.”
“I tend to believe whatever you decide to look for you will find, whatever you beckon will eventually beckon you,” she told one audience.
Rabbit!” and “Little Oink.” Ms. Rennert said Ms. Rosenthal had completed seven more picture
books before her death, including a collaboration with her daughter, “Dear Girl.”
In Book Review in 2009 Bruce Handy said of her work: “For all I know, she may suffer torment upon torment in front of a blank screen,
but the results read as if they were a pleasure to write.” He added, “Her books radiate fun the way tulips radiate spring: they are elegant and spirit-lifting.”
Amy Renee Krouse was born on April 29, 1965, in Chicago to Paul Krouse and the former Ann Wolk, both publishers.