Happy 88th birthday, Little Bear author.

Else Holmelund Minarik, creator of the beloved Little Bear series (featuring drawings by Maurice Sendak) and other works for children, turns 88 today. Little Bear debuted in 1957 in the eponymous Little Bear. Little Bear's Visit (1961) placed as a runner-up for a Caldecott Medal.

And writer and wartime casanova Roald Dahl was born today in Wales in 1916. (See the newly released The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Washington for further details on Dahl's war work—and more amorous adventures).