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Robert McCloskey, the writer and illustrator whose classic children's books -- among them \"Make Way for Ducklings\" and \"Blueberries for Sal\" -- captivated generations of young readers and their parents, died yesterday on Deer Isle, Maine. He was 88.

Boston, where Mr. [ROBERT MCCLOSKEY] studied art, is the backdrop for \"Make Way for Ducklings.\" And life on the family's island in Maine, with his daughters Sally and Jane and some of their neighbors, is featured in four picture books: \"Blueberries for Sal\" (1948), in which Sal and a bear cub mistakenly follow each other's mother while gathering berries on the same hill; \"One Morning in Maine\" (1952), in which Sal loses her first tooth; \"Time of Wonder\" (1957) and \"Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man\" (1963), his last book, which is full of typical Maine doings despite a whopper of a tale involving a fisherman swallowed by a whale.

Boston, where [ROBERT MCCLOSKEY] studied art, is the backdrop for Make Way for Ducklings. And life on the family's island in Maine, with his daughters Sally and Jane and some of their neighbors, are featured in four picture books: Blueberries for [Sal] (1948), in which Sal and a bear cub mistakenly follow each other's mother while gathering berries on the same hill; One Morning in Maine (1952), in which Sal loses her first tooth; Time of Wonder (1957) and Burt Dow, Deep- Water Man (1963), his last book, which is full of typical Maine doings despite a whopper of a tale involving a fisherman swallowed by a whale.

Mr. [Robert McCloskey] twice won a Caldecott Medal, the American Library Association's annual award of distinction for children's book illustration. The first was for ''Make Way for Ducklings'' (1941), perhaps his most enduring work, in which baby ducks in line behind their mother waddle along busy Boston streets to take up residence in the city's Public Garden. The second honored ''Time of Wonder'' (1957), a kind of prose poem with large watercolor paintings of life on his cherished islands of Maine, where he lived much of his adult life. Boston, where Mr. McCloskey studied art, is the backdrop for ''Make Way for Ducklings.'' And life on the family's island in Maine, with his daughters, Sally and Jane, and some of their neighbors, are featured in four picture books: ''Blueberries for Sal'' (1948), in which Sal and a bear cub mistakenly follow each other's mother while gathering berries on the same hill; ''One Morning in Maine'' (1952), in which Sal loses her first tooth; ''Time of Wonder'' (1957); and ''Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man'' (1963), his last book, which is full of typical Maine doings despite a whopper of a tale involving a fisherman swallowed by a whale. Mr. McCloskey, a shy man who endured the adoring crowds of readers lined up at bookstore signings, won a Prix de Rome in 1939 but World War II postponed his study abroad for 10 years. During that time, he said, ''My greatest contribution to the war effort was inventing a machine to enable short second lieutenants to flip over large training charts in a high breeze.'' Among his many other awards, Mr. McCloskey was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in April 2000.

If it is safety you want, then you have to go one step further. You must have a car that ''talks'' to you, tells you a thing of two, especially if your driving habits have become sloppy or hazardous. Let's hear it for the car that talks up and tells the driver about speeding, cutting across lanes, ignoring signals. A no- nonsense voice comes on: ''Driver. Slow down. You're speeding.'' Or, ''Watch it, Buster. You crossed two lanes. Wanna wind up on a slab?'' Or, ''You go through a red light and I'll cut your ignition.'' The possibilities are endless, considering the number of bad driving habits evidenced on the roads today.

[IGOR KIPNIS] was born on Sept. 27, 1930, in Berlin. His father was singing with the Berlin State Opera at the time, and before turning 8 Mr. Kipnis had traveled widely with his parents. Although a Jew, [Alexander Kipnis] remained a favored performer in Germany during the rise of the Nazis. Mr. Kipnis taught himself, with a little help. The harpsichordist Fernando Valenti, for instance, exchanged lessons for dinner made by Mr. Kipnis' wife, Judith Robison. (They later divorced.) Mr. Kipnis played not only the traditional harpsichord music from the 16th to 18th centuries, but also contemporary music and jazz, including pieces written for him by composers like Ned Rorem, Eric Salzman, Richard Rodney Bennett and Leopold Godowsky.

Igor Kipnis, the virtuoso harpsichordist whose busy concert recording career made him the instrument's most ardent cheerleader, died on Wednesday at his Connecticut home. He was 71.

[Igor Kipnis] was born on Sept. 27, 1930, in Berlin. His father was singing with the Berlin State Opera at the time, and before turning 8 Mr. Kipnis had traveled widely with his parents. Although a Jew, [Alexander Kipnis] remained a favored performer in Germany during the rise of Naziism. Using a ruse -- temporarily straining his voice -- he canceled his opera contract and moved to Vienna. When the Nazis took over there, the family was touring in Australia. They settled in the United States just before the start of World War II, and the elder Kipnis joined the Met. ''The family phonograph loomed large in my early years,'' Igor Kipnis said, ''partly because of my father's many 78 r.p.m. discs of lieder and operatic arias.'' In a 1977 article in Stereo Review, for which he was a critic and contributing editor, Mr. Kipnis recalled growing up in Westport, Conn., taking piano lessons without thoughts of playing professionally and ''madly'' collecting records. Mr. Kipnis taught himself, with a little help. The harpsichordist Fernando Valenti, for instance, exchanged lessons for dinner made by Mr. Kipnis's wife, Judith Robison. (They later divorced.) Mr. Kipnis is survived by his son, Jeremy, of Connecticut.