Nonny Hogrogian, 92, Honored Illustrator of Children’s Books, Dies

Nonny Hogrogian, an illustrator who mined her Armenian heritage to bring diversity and wonder to her woodcuts and watercolors — an approach that helped expand the world of children’s literature and made her a two-time Caldecott Medal winner — died on May 9 in Holyoke, Mass. She was 92.

Her husband, the poet David Kherdian, said the cause of her death, in a hospital, was cancer.

Ms. Hogrogian was among a small number of illustrators to win the Caldecotts, considered one of the highest honors in children’s literature, more than once. She received her first medal in 1966 for the book “Always Room for One More,” written by Sorche Nic Leodhas, and her second in 1972 for “One Fine Day,” based on an Armenian folk tale that she retold and illustrated.

She also received a Caldecott Honor, an award for distinguished runners-up, for “The Contest” (1977), another Armenian folk tale that she retold and illustrated.

Ms. Hogrogian was a close friend of the renowned illustrators Maurice Sendak and Ezra Jack Keats, and like them she drew on the old-world European artistry and traditions of her immigrant family to broaden American children’s literature, starting in the 1960s.

“Nonny helped kick open the door for today’s multicultural movement in children’s books,” Richard Michelson, a friend and fellow children’s author, wrote in an email. “She proudly explored her Armenian heritage in her many books — mining its folk tales and her own history — at a time when most books were more interested in creating a ‘melting pot’ than a ‘patchwork quilt.’”