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Bernard Waber | Children's author, 91

Bernard Waber, 91, the author of such children's books as The House on East 88th Street and Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, died May 16 at his Long Island, N.Y., home after a long illness, the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said Monday.

Bernard Waber, 91, the author of such children's books as

The House on East 88th Street

and

Lyle, Lyle Crocodile,

died May 16 at his Long Island, N.Y., home after a long illness, the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said Monday.

Mr. Waber - a Philadelphia native and graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) - made his debut as an author in 1962 with The House on East 88th Street.

The book introduced readers to the lovable Lyle, first spotted in a bathtub in an Upper East Side brownstone.

Lyle's story continued in Lyle Finds His Mother, Lyle and the Birthday Party, and other works. Mr. Waber also wrote many non-Lyle books, such as Ira Sleeps Over, in which a boy fears he will be teased for taking a favorite stuffed teddy bear to a friend's house.

The publishing company said his 33 books have sold 1.75 million copies. - AP