# Kate Banks

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**Katherine Anne Banks** (February 13, 1960 – February 24, 2024) was an American children's writer. Her books, *The Night Worker,* won the 2001 [Charlotte Zolotow Award](/source/Charlotte_Zolotow_Award),[1] *And If the Moon Could Talk* won the 1998 [Boston Globe-Horn Book Award](/source/Boston_Globe-Horn_Book_Award) for best picture book.[2] *Dillon Dillon* was a finalist for the 2002 [Los Angeles Times Book Prize](/source/Los_Angeles_Times_Book_Prize) for Young Adult Fiction. *Howie Bowles, Secret Agent* was nominated for the 2000 [Edgar Allan Poe Award](/source/Edgar_Allan_Poe_Award) for Best Juvenile.[3] *Max’s Math* won the 2016 Mathical Book Prize.[4]

## Early life

Kate Banks was born on February 13, 1960, in [Farmington, Maine](/source/Farmington,_Maine).[5] Her father was a history professor at the [University of Maine](/source/University_of_Maine) who was killed in a botched robbery in 1979.[5] Banks said that the grief she experienced after her father's murder influenced the themes of her novels.[5]

## Career

While a student at [Wellesley College](/source/Wellesley_College), Kate Banks applied for an internship at the [Atlantic Monthly Press](/source/Atlantic_Monthly_Press), where she worked for two years in the children's books department.[6][5] In 1984, she was hired by editor [Frances Foster](/source/Frances_Foster_(editor)) to work as her assistant at [Knopf](/source/Knopf).[7][6] Banks worked with Foster for five years before leaving to become a writer, with Foster editing her books for the following couple of decades.[6]

Banks came up with the idea for her first book, *Alphabet Soup*, while still working with Foster, who encouraged her to write it down and paired the author with [Peter Sís](/source/Peter_S%C3%ADs), an illustrator looking for work who had just arrived in New York.[8]

## Personal life

Banks and her husband, Pierluigi Mezzomo, had two sons.[5] They lived in Italy for several years before moving to France.[5]

Banks lived with several major health issues. She was diagnosed with [chronic fatigue syndrome](/source/Chronic_fatigue_syndrome) in her twenties and had chronic pain from complications in childbirth.[5] She also had [mast cell activation syndrome](/source/Mast_cell_activation_syndrome), which left her unable to pursue treatment for [neuroendocrine cancer](/source/Neuroendocrine_cancer), which she was diagnosed with in 2022.[5]

## Death

Banks died through [assisted suicide](/source/Assisted_suicide) in [Basel](/source/Basel), Switzerland, on February 24, 2024, at the age of 64.[5][9]

## Books

- *Alphabet Soup*, Dragonfly Books, 1988
- *Big, Bigger*, Biggest Adventure, Random House, 1991
- *The Bunnysitters*, Random House, 1991
- *Peter and the Talking Shoes*, Knopf, 1994
- *Baboon*, Frances Foster Books, 1997
- *Spider Spider*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997
- *And If the Moon Could Talk*, Frances Foster Books, 1998
- *The Bird, the Monkey, and the Snake in the Jungle*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999
- *Howie Bowles, Secret Agent*, Scholastic, 1999
- *Howie Bowles and Uncle Sam*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000
- *The Night Worker*, Frances Foster Books, 2000
- *A Gift from the Sea*, Frances Foster Books, 2001
- *Mama’s Little Baby*, DK Publishing, 2001
- *Close Your Eyes*, Frances Foster Books, 2002
- *Dillon Dillon*, Frances Foster Books, 2002
- *The Turtle and the Hippopotamus*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002
- *Mama’s Coming Home*, Frances Foster Books, 2003
- *Walk Softly*, Rachel, Frances Foster Books, 2003
- *The Cat Who Walked Across France*, Frances Foster Books, 2004
- *Friends of the Heart/Amici del Cuore*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005
- *The Great Blue House*, Frances Foster Books, 2005
- *Max’s Words*, Frances Foster Books, 2006
- *Fox*, Frances Foster Books, 2007
- *Lenny’s Space*, Frances Foster Books, 2007
- *Max’s Dragon*, Frances Foster Books, 2008
- *Monkeys and Dog Days*, Frances Foster Books, 2008
- *Monkeys and the Universe*, Frances Foster Books, 2009
- *That’s Papa’s Way*, Frances Foster Books, 2009
- *What’s Coming for Christmas?*, Frances Foster Books, 2009
- *The Eraserheads*, Frances Foster Books, 2010
- *Max’s Castle*, Frances Foster Books, 2011
- *This Baby* illustrated by [Gabi Swiatkowska](/source/Gabi_Swiatkowska), Frances Foster Books, 2011
- *The Magician's Apprentice*, Frances Foster Books, 2012
- *The Bear in the Book*, Frances Foster Books, 2012
- *Thank You, Mama* illustrated by [Gabi Swiatkowska](/source/Gabi_Swiatkowska), Frances Foster Books, 2013
- *City Cat*, illustrated by Lauren Castillo, Frances Foster Books, 2013
- *Max’s Math*, illustrated by Boris Kulikov, Frances Foster Books, 2015
- *Boy's Best Friend*, with [Rupert Sheldrake](/source/Rupert_Sheldrake), Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015
- *How to Find an Elephant*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017

## References

1. ["Charlotte Zolotow Award Books"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070226150822/http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/detailListBooks.asp?idBookLists=221). *www.education.wisc.edu*. Archived from [the original](http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/detailListBooks.asp?idBookLists=221) on February 26, 2007.

1. ["Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards: Winners and Honor Books 1967 to present"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121214080902/http://archive.hbook.com/bghb/past/past.asp). *The Horn Book*. Archived from [the original](http://archive.hbook.com/bghb/past/past.asp) on December 14, 2012.

1. ["The Edgars Database"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180927165310/http://www.theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php). Archived from [the original](http://www.theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php) on September 27, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2012.

1. ["Max's Math"](https://www.mathicalbooks.org/projects/maxs-math/). *Mathical Book Prize*. Retrieved June 7, 2021.

1. Williams, Alex (March 27, 2024). ["Kate Banks, Children's Author Who Wrote About Grief, Dies at 64"](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/books/kate-banks-dead.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. [Archived](https://archive.today/20240418092717/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/books/kate-banks-dead.html) April 18, 2024 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Saravalle, Eleonora (January 8, 2018). ["Kate Banks: Children's Book Author"](https://web.archive.org/web/20240302122714/https://www.okaybutwhatdoyoudo.com/home/kate-banks). *www.okaybutwhatdoyoudo.com*. Archived from [the original](https://www.okaybutwhatdoyoudo.com/home/kate-banks) on March 2, 2024.

1. Roback, Diane (June 24, 2014). ["Frances Foster Remembered"](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/63016-frances-foster-remembered.html). *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)*. Retrieved March 2, 2024.

1. Schröder, Monika (September 2013). ["Talking with Kate Banks"](https://www.booklistonline.com/Books-and-Authors-Talking-with-Kate-Banks/pid=5962649). *[Book Links](/source/Book_Links)*. **23** (1): 32–37.

1. Maughan, Shannon (March 5, 2024). ["Obituary: Kate Banks"](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/94512-obituary-kate-banks.html). *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)*

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kate Banks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Banks) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Banks?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.