Born on July 17, 1932, in New York City, Karla Seidman was the only child of Sidney and Mitzi Seidman (née Salzman) and was raised in Greenwich Village. Her father worked in advertising while her mother worked as an actress, briefly on Broadway, before settling into working as a photographer. Growing up in New York City profoundly shaped Kuskin’s artistic sensibility and provided the backdrop for much of her work.

Kuskin attended the Little Red School House, followed by Elisabeth Irwin High School. From 1950-1953, she attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and then transferred to Yale University, where she studied graphic design with notable artists such as Josef Albers, Herbert Matter, and Alvin Eisenman, earning her B.F.A. in 1955. "Roar and More" began as her senior thesis, a children’s book about the sounds animals make, and made by hand with letterpress and wood cuts. It was her first work published by Harper & Row in 1956.

In 1955 Kuskin married Charles M. Kuskin, an oboist with The Dorian Wind Quintet. Early on, she worked various jobs; assistant to the fashion photographer Erwin Blumenfield, and an advertising copywriter, all while writing and illustrating children’s books. Karla and Charles had two children, Nicholas (1960) and Julia (1964). Her experiences as a mother deeply influenced her work, with books like "The Bear Who Saw the Spring" written while she was pregnant with Nicholas, and "Sand and Snow" dedicated to her infant daughter Julia.

Kuskin was an avid teacher of poetry and writing, frequently visiting schools and libraries to share her love of language and storytelling. She believed that reading and writing poetry was an invaluable educational tool that helped children learn more about themselves and the world around them.

Karla and Charles separated in 1979, and later divorced in 1987. She married William L. Bell Jr. in 1989. They married, she announced with a chuckle, on Bill’s lunch break. Kuskin lived and worked in Brooklyn Heights for most of her adult life before moving to Bainbridge Island, Washington in 2001, and then settling in Seattle in 2007. She died on August 20, 2009, at age 77.

The Kuskin archives are currently housed at several esteemed universities (see contact page). The largest archive is at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University which contains papers spanning from the 1930’s (with older paperwork from her grandparents and parents) to the early 2000’s, including writings, artwork, reviews, photographs, audiovisual materials, digital materials, and business and personal papers related to Kuskin's life and work. 

Obituaries
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https://tinyurl.com/latimes-kuskin