https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/1000742114/chicka-chicka-boom-boom-illustrator-lois-ehlert-dies-at-86

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/86515-obituary-lois-ehlert.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/30/books/lois-ehlert-dead.html

Excerpt:

....In “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,” whose text is by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, a complete alphabet of brightly colored lowercase letters compete to climb a coconut tree and get to the top first. Chaos, minor injuries and undampened enthusiasm ensue. At the 2013 White House Easter Egg Roll, President Barack Obama read the book — and showed off Ms. Ehlert’s illustrations — to young visitors.

....Ms. Ehlert began creating artwork as a child, and her parents set up a folding table at home exclusively for her projects. Then they made a deal: As long as she kept working on her art, she didn’t have to clean up her papers, tools and materials at the end of each day. For decades she publicly expressed her appreciation to them for that one luxury. “We had a very small house,” she recalled

She received a scholarship to the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, where she earned a certificate in advertising design in 1957. Some family reports indicate that she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Layton and others that she had a B.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin.

https://www.google.com/search?q=lois+ehlert&biw=1280&bih=879&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=CNZfVJqfDtTGsQTwtYLQAQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ
(photos and artwork)

https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.books.childrens/c/t9M5mqNxu-Y/m/0R9H9qIPfpUJ
(birthday post from 2014, with interviews, videos and long booklist)

Excerpt:

She began illustrating books in 1961 and writing them in 1987. She has
four entries in the "Something About the Author" encyclopedia series,
plus an entry in vol. 28 of the "Children's Literature Review"
encyclopedias.

I first discovered her work via "Eating the Alphabet," which is clearly
for preschoolers - but when you get to the end, there's a description
for older readers of the backgrounds of all the fruits and vegetables!
Fun.

Her book "Color Zoo" was named a Caldecott Honor Book in 1989