Theodore Peter Lewin (May 6, 1935 – July 28, 2021) simply known as Ted Lewin, was an American illustrator and writer of children's books. Lewin and his wife

Betsy Lewin Betsy Reilly Lewin (born May 12, 1937) is an American illustrator from Clearfield, Pennsylvania. She studied illustration at Pratt Institute. After graduation, she began designing greeting cards. She began writing and illustrating stories for ...

drew on their travels to exotic places such as the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

, the Sahara Desert, and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

when collaborating on their many books. Lewin illustrated over 100 books for children and young adults over the course of 20 years.

Early life

Ted Lewin was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

on May 6, 1935. He has a sister and two brothers, Donn and

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

, both of them

professional wrestlers Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. The Lewin household had a number of exotic pets, such as an

iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his bo ...

, a

rhesus monkey The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally b ...

, a

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

, and a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

. Lewin grew up with the hobby of sketching his family pets. He also copied works of many illustrators and painters that interested him. While attending Lafayette High School (LHS), Lewin refined his talent for art. He graduated from LHS in 1952, and in 1956 earned a BFA degree from Pratt Institute of Art in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, where he met his wife, Betsy Reilly. He and his wife resided in Brooklyn, New York. In order to finance his education at Pratt, Lewin took on a part-time career as a teenage professional wrestler alongside his brothers. His wrestling career lasted for 26 years, and it inspired him to record his experience by writing ''I Was a Teenaged Professional Wrestler''. He wrestled mainly in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1963 to 1968. In 1994, Lewin's book ''Peppe the Lamplighter'' received a Caldecott Honor. In 2006, ''One Green Apple'', illustrated by Lewin and written by

Eve Bunting Anne Evelyn Bunting (née Bolton) (born December 19, 1928), also known as Eve Bunting, is a Northern Ireland-born American writer of more than 250 books. Her work covers a broad array of subjects and includes fiction and non-fiction books. Her no ...

, won the inaugural Arab American Book Award for books written for Children/Young Adults.2007 Arab American book Award Winners, http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/2007-Arab-American-Book-Award-Winners.id.261.htm ''One Green Apple'' tells the story of a young girl who has just immigrated to America from an Arab country and her discovery that her differences are what makes her special.

Exhibits

Some exhibits featuring Ted's work: *"Ted and Betsy Lewin's World of Picture Books",

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...

, New York, March 4–30, 2004 *"Adventures With Ted and Betsy", Society of Illustrators main floor gallery, June 1 through June 11, 2005 *"Travels with Ted and Betsy Lewin",

Children's Museum of Manhattan The Children’s Museum of Manhattan is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by Bette Korman, under the name GAME (Growth Through Art and Museum Experience), in 1973. The museum became the Children’s Muse ...

, New York *"Around the World with Ted and Betsy Lewin", Pratt Institute Libraries, October 30 - December 2, 2008

Awards

* 1994: National Jewish Book Award in the Children's Picture Book category for illustrating ''The Always Prayer Shawl''

Championships and accomplishments

* Cauliflower Alley Club ** Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award (2001)

References

External links