Biography of Children’s Book Illustrators and Authors.
Herman Melville – American Novelist, Poet 1819-1891 Herman Melville was borm in New York on August 1, 1819, two months after Walt Whitman. His father, Allan, was a Boston merchant who had moved to the big city to see if he could improve his fortunes. Unfortunately, this was not the case and he died a …
Jerry Pinkney – American Illustrator and writer of children’s books 1939- Jerry Pinkney, American illustrator, b. 1939. Born in Philadelphia, Jerry Pinkney drew constantly and was recognized as a talented child in school. His parents encouraged him to pursue his talent. As a boy of about twelve, he sold newspapers at a stand, and because …
James Fenimore Cooper – American writer 1789-1851 James Fenimore Cooper was born September 15, 1789, in Burlington, New Jersey, which thirteen years earlier had been invaded by the Hessians and twelve years earlier had been bombarded by the British. But bygones were now bygones, and Cooper rode into the world right on the heels of …
Ray Bradbury – American Author & Screenwriter 1920-2012 Though he has never learned to drive a car and will not fly (in airplanes), Ray Douglas Bradbury has been rocketing in and out of the far corners of interstellar space with the greatest of ease since boyhood. Born in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1920, he knew the …
James Joyce – Irish novelist, poet 1882-1941 James Augustine Joyce was born in Rathmines, a suburb of Dublin, on February 2, 1882. He was the eldest son of John Stanislaus Joyce, a gentleman from Cork who has been described as an Irish Micawber, notorious in Dublin for his reckless extravagance, his biting wit, and his …
Diana Wynne Jones – British Author 1934-2011 Diana Wynne Jones has recalled that she chose to write fantasy “because I was not able to believe in most people’s version of normal life.” Jones grew up in Britain during the disruptions of World War II, and her parents’ devotion to their work as educators often left …
Brian Jacques – British Author 1939-2011 A series of fantasy novels about the animals that live in and around Redwall Abbey has propelled author Brian Jacques to international success with readers of all ages. Born in Liverpool, England, Brian Jacques attended local Catholic schools until he became a sailor at age fifteen. He also worked …
Kevin Henkes – American Author and Illustrator 1960- Kevin Henkes is best known for his warm, lively, humorous picture books, distinguished for their remarkable understanding of the true world of young children. Peopled, for the most part, with expressively drawn mouse characters who are completely human in their feelings and relationships, these picture books sound …
Stephen Gammell – American illustrator 1943- Stephen Gammell’s distinctive illustrations is imbued with emotion. Every color and change of value creates mood. Child and adult alike will find themselves shivering, chilled by his illustrations in Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981). His colored pencil drawings in the Caldecott Medal-winning Song and …
Eleanor Estes – American author 1906-1988 With her rare gift for depicting everyday experiences from the fresh perspective of childhood, Eleanor Estes based many of her stories on memories of growing up in a poor but loving family in West Haven, Connecticut. Following high school graduation, the author worked at the New Haven Public Library, …