Deirdre McDermott obituary

Picture book publisher behind a new generation of children’s classics at Walker Books

For the last quarter century, Deirdre McDermott, who has died aged 60 of cancer, was the driving creative force behind the outstanding range of publications for children from Walker Books. The body of work that she had inherited and added to came from figures such as Helen Oxenbury, John Burningham, Maurice Sendak, Lauren Child, Allan Ahlberg, Michael Rosen, Bob Graham, Anita Jeram, David McKee, David Roberts, Oliver Jeffers, Ken Wilson-Max and Júlia Sardà.

Possessed of an uncanny eye for spotting new talent, in recent years Dee discovered the Mexican author and illustrator Flavia Z Drago, now a No 1 New York Times bestseller; Forest Xiao – the winner of the 2026 Klaus Flugge prize with her book Seven Babies; and Chloe Savage, whose book The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish won the illustrated category in the Waterstones children’s book of the year in 2024.