Allan Ahlberg, the author known for his children’s books, many of them illustrated by his wife, Janet Ahlberg, has died at 87, the Guardian reports.

Allan Ahlberg was born in Croydon, England, and worked as a teacher before making his literary debut in 1975 with Here Are the Brick Street Boys, illustrated by his wife. The couple would go on to publish dozens of children’s books, including The Vanishment of Thomas Tull, Each Peach Pear Plum, Funnybones, Peepo!, The Jolly Christmas Postman, and The Bear Nobody Wanted.

Janet Ahlberg died of breast cancer at the age of 50 in 1994. After her death, Ahlberg went on to write more than two dozen children’s books, including The Better Brown Stories, illustrated by Fritz Wegner; The Woman Who Won Things, illustrated by Katharine McEwan; The Adventures of Bert, illustrated by Raymond Briggs; The Baby in the Hat, illustrated by André Amstutz, and Under the Table, illustrated by Bruce Ingman.

In 2014, Allan Ahlberg was set to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Booktrust Best Book Awards but turned it down after learning it was sponsored by Amazon, a company that he criticized for not paying what he saw as its fair share of taxes in the U.K. “The idea that my ‘lifetime achievement’ should have the Amazon tag attached to it is unacceptable,” he said.

Ahlberg’s admirers paid tribute to him on social media. On the platform X, children’s author and professor Michael Rosen wrote, “Goodbye Allan. You were a pioneer of great children’s literature, both in picture books and poetry. You were clever, funny and wise. My children loved your books. So did and so DO I.”

And children’s author Onjali Q. Raúf posted, “What a huge loss to the world of children’s literature. #AllanAhlberg’s co-created stories shaped the foundation of so many hilarious, magical reading moments of my childhood...His books will live on. And in ways even he couldn't imagine…”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.