Lloyd Chudley Alexander (January 30, 1924 - May 17, 2007) was a widely-influential American author of more than forty books, mostly fantasy novels for children and adolescents, as well as several adult books. His most famous contribution to the field of children's literature is the fantasy series The Chronicles of Prydain. The concluding book of the series, The High King, was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1969. Alexander's other books have also won multiple National Book Awards. He was also one of the creators of children's literary magazine Cricket.
Alexander began to receive significant critical acclaim with the release of his Chronicles of Prydain series. The second book, The Black Cauldron, was a 1966 Newbery Honor book. The fourth book in the series, Taran Wanderer, was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. The fifth and final book in the series, The High King won the 1969 Newbery Medal and was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the American Book Award. However, Alexander's other books were praised as well "The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian," won a 1971 National Book Award. He also won a 1982 National Book Award (at that time temporarily known as the American Book Award) for Westmark.
Among his other awards were the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for The Fortune-Tellers. In 1972 he was included in the prestigious reference series, Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators.