Patricia Wrightson, an Australian children's author known for entwining Aboriginal mythology into her stories, has died. She was 88.

She died of natural causes in a hospital in northern New South Wales last week, her son Peter Wrightson said Thursday.

Wrightson wrote 27 children's books including The Rocks of Honey, Behind the Wind, The Nar-gun and the Stars and The Sugar-Gum Tree.

She was a multiple winner of the book of the year award from the Australian Children's Book Council and in 1986, she won the Hans Christian Andersen Medal from the Swiss-based International Board on Books for Young People. The award recognizes lifetime achievement in writing for young people.

In her writing, Wrightson strove to bridge a cultural gap by bringing the Aboriginal connection to the land to generations of young Australians.

"She was trying to create a kind of pan-Australia — a whole new Australian mythology which was part non-indigenous and part indigenous," said her publisher Mark Macleod.

Wrightson was born on a farm near the New South Wales town of Lismore in 1921. She moved to Sydney to work in a munitions factory during the Second World War and married there.

After her marriage fell apart, she moved to Bonalbo, a village 800 kilometres north of Sydney to raise her two children, Peter and Jenny.

She wrote the first of her books, The Crooked Snake, there, having her father read it to the children as she wrote to judge the reaction.

That work won the book of the year award, and she continued writing, working Aboriginal folklore into her stories of fantasy and adventure.

In the recent past, her use of Aboriginal myth was criticized as exploitation and expropriation of voice, according to Maurice Saxby, author of History of Australian Children's Literature.

However, he called Wrightson a "pioneer" of Australian writing.

Peter Wrightson said his mother was always careful to avoid legends that were regarded by Aborigines as sacred or secret.

"Things have changed now, but at the time, a lot of Aboriginal leaders were saying keep doing it, because she treated Aboriginal culture with respect," he said.

Her 1968 book A Racecourse for Andy, brought her to international renown, especially in the U.S. and U.K. Her books have been published in 16 languages.