Jennifer Sheena "Jen" Wang (born March 22, 1984) is an American cartoonist, writer and illustrator based in Los Angeles. Wang has published graphic books including Koko Be Good, In Real Life (with Cory Doctorow), and The Prince and the Dressmaker. Wang is a co-founder and organizer for Los Angeles-based comics festival Comic Arts LA.[2] Jen's art work has been published in Adventure Time and LA
Before writing professionally, she wrote while pursuing acting in television, stage, and improvisational comedy, as well as studying in Mexico and the United Kingdom. She spent a year and a half as an unpaid missionary in Paraguay, then returned to the United States to earn her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Utah and a master's in creative writing from the University of Montana. Hale also worked as an instructional designer, developing web-based training for Avaltus and Allen Communication before becoming a full-time writer.[citation needed]
Her first published book, The Goose Girl, met with numerous rejections until it was finally published in 2003.[3]
Her first published book, The Goose Girl, met with numerous rejections until it was finally published in 2003.[3]
Mary Downing Hahn (born December 9, 1937) is an American writer of young adult novels and former school librarian. She is known for many books such as Stepping On The Cracks and Wait Till Helen Comes.[1] She published her first book in 1979 and has since written over twenty novels.
New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of over 60 books, Tedd Arnold was born in Elmira, New York in 1949. Tedd moved with his family to Florida at age 10 and soon began his first art lessons, held in an abandoned dentist's office in downtown Gainesville. He finished school and graduated from the University of Florida with a BFA. He met Carol, who became his wife. For 10 years he worked in textbook illustration, graphic design, and advertising. During that time, Carol received a master”s degree in early childhood education and taught kindergarten.
Tedd became interested in the picture books his wife read to her young students. Each evening he studied them cover-to-cover. When his first son, Walter, was born, Tedd and Carol happily took turns doing the bedtime read-aloud. He tried writing and illustrating his own stories, accumulating rejection slips for six years.
He moved his family to New York City as a book designer for a large publisher, where his second, son, William, was born. Tedd”s first book, No Jumping on the Bed!, was inspired by Walter's bed jumping in their aging Yonkers apartment building. Tedd soon quit his day job and moved back to his hometown, Elmira, to write and illustrate books and raise a family. Tedd, Carol, and three cats live there today. Both Walter and William are now grown and married.
Tedd's first book, No Jumping on the Bed!, became an IRA-CBC Children's Choice book, Green Wilma (a PBS Storytime featured title) and Parts (Parents Magazine 50 All-time Best Children's Books). He is also a two-time winner of the ALA's Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor for Hi! Fly Guy and more recently, I Spy Fly Guy.
Tedd has often said, “I've always been an artist.” But he's had a variety of jobs before becoming an author, including newspaper boy, soldier, hamburger cook, popcorn popper at a drive-in movie theater, worm counter at a fishing tackle store, designer, and advertiser. He's happy to say he loves his current job the most. “All my life I've been drawing and painting. Yet in hindsight, I recognize that with all my art activities, written words were never far away. My grade school cartoons had word balloons. College artworks often displayed lengthy titles. In advertising, I wrote the headlines and text for the ads I illustrated. The writing was never more than an accessory to lend support to my art. The pictures were the real thing for me, the fun. However, with each new book I write, I learn more about the magic in the words---how a few pieces of the alphabet can create, shape, or change whole story worlds. And stories are what create pictures.”
“If anyone were to ask me, “What”s the biggest surprise of your career in children”s books?” I would have to answer, “Going back to elementary school!” I never knew that visiting schools would be part of my job description. But meeting and talking with young readers in classrooms and libraries is something that I love.”
Visit Tedd online at www.teddarnoldbooks.com
Download Tedd's full-color biography (PDF)
Tedd became interested in the picture books his wife read to her young students. Each evening he studied them cover-to-cover. When his first son, Walter, was born, Tedd and Carol happily took turns doing the bedtime read-aloud. He tried writing and illustrating his own stories, accumulating rejection slips for six years.
He moved his family to New York City as a book designer for a large publisher, where his second, son, William, was born. Tedd”s first book, No Jumping on the Bed!, was inspired by Walter's bed jumping in their aging Yonkers apartment building. Tedd soon quit his day job and moved back to his hometown, Elmira, to write and illustrate books and raise a family. Tedd, Carol, and three cats live there today. Both Walter and William are now grown and married.
Tedd's first book, No Jumping on the Bed!, became an IRA-CBC Children's Choice book, Green Wilma (a PBS Storytime featured title) and Parts (Parents Magazine 50 All-time Best Children's Books). He is also a two-time winner of the ALA's Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor for Hi! Fly Guy and more recently, I Spy Fly Guy.
Tedd has often said, “I've always been an artist.” But he's had a variety of jobs before becoming an author, including newspaper boy, soldier, hamburger cook, popcorn popper at a drive-in movie theater, worm counter at a fishing tackle store, designer, and advertiser. He's happy to say he loves his current job the most. “All my life I've been drawing and painting. Yet in hindsight, I recognize that with all my art activities, written words were never far away. My grade school cartoons had word balloons. College artworks often displayed lengthy titles. In advertising, I wrote the headlines and text for the ads I illustrated. The writing was never more than an accessory to lend support to my art. The pictures were the real thing for me, the fun. However, with each new book I write, I learn more about the magic in the words---how a few pieces of the alphabet can create, shape, or change whole story worlds. And stories are what create pictures.”
“If anyone were to ask me, “What”s the biggest surprise of your career in children”s books?” I would have to answer, “Going back to elementary school!” I never knew that visiting schools would be part of my job description. But meeting and talking with young readers in classrooms and libraries is something that I love.”
Visit Tedd online at www.teddarnoldbooks.com
Download Tedd's full-color biography (PDF)
Mo Willems has a knack for both writing and drawing images. He started drawing cartoons when he was a child and never quit. When it was time to start college, Willems decided on pursuing a degree in animation at New York University. He became successful with a few smalltime films while in still a student. Upon graduating, Mo Willems took a job with Children’s Television Workshop in the research department. This later led to him working as a writer for the hit show, Sesame Street. Doing so gained him six Emmy awards. Willems continued working there from 1994 to 2002. During this time, he was also credited with creating Sheep in the Big City and Codename: Kids Next Door.
In the library world, Mo Willems is better known for his children’s books. In 2003, Willems released his first picture book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Due to the popularity and writing, the book was given a Caldecott Honor. Now, the book is backbone of several other Pigeon books. Not only are his Pigeon books successful, but Willems has been awarded honors and medals for other books. Included in this list is a series of “Easy Readers.” There is also an illustrated memoir available for older readers to enjoy reading about his trip exploring different parts of the world.
Currently, Willems lives in Massachusetts with his family. He is no longer involved with television, but he is still drawing and writing.
In the library world, Mo Willems is better known for his children’s books. In 2003, Willems released his first picture book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Due to the popularity and writing, the book was given a Caldecott Honor. Now, the book is backbone of several other Pigeon books. Not only are his Pigeon books successful, but Willems has been awarded honors and medals for other books. Included in this list is a series of “Easy Readers.” There is also an illustrated memoir available for older readers to enjoy reading about his trip exploring different parts of the world.
Currently, Willems lives in Massachusetts with his family. He is no longer involved with television, but he is still drawing and writing.
Nick Bruel
Born
in Tarrytown, New York, The United States
December 09, 1978
Website
http://www.nickbruel.com/
Genre
Children's Books
edit data
Nick Bruel is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of children's books including Bad Kitty, Bad Kitty Gets a Bath, Bad Kitty Meets the Baby, and Boing!, among others. Nick is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist, and during his down time, he collects PEZ dispensers and grows tomatoes in the backyard. He lives in Tarrytown, NY with his wife Carina and their lovely cat Esmerelda.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/nickbruel
Born
in Tarrytown, New York, The United States
December 09, 1978
Website
http://www.nickbruel.com/
Genre
Children's Books
edit data
Nick Bruel is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of children's books including Bad Kitty, Bad Kitty Gets a Bath, Bad Kitty Meets the Baby, and Boing!, among others. Nick is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist, and during his down time, he collects PEZ dispensers and grows tomatoes in the backyard. He lives in Tarrytown, NY with his wife Carina and their lovely cat Esmerelda.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/nickbruel
Troy Cummings has written and/or illustrated more than 30 children's books, including THE NOTEBOOK OF DOOM series, CAN I BE YOUR DOG?, CARING FOR YOUR LION, LITTLE RED GLIDING HOOD, and MIGHTY TRUCK.
His illustrations have appeared on magazine covers, jigsaw puzzles, card games, posters, cookbooks, greeting cards, and a box of fish sticks.
Troy Cummings lives in Indiana with his wife, two kids, two cats and three robots, all of whom are programmed to laugh at his hilarious jokes.
His illustrations have appeared on magazine covers, jigsaw puzzles, card games, posters, cookbooks, greeting cards, and a box of fish sticks.
Troy Cummings lives in Indiana with his wife, two kids, two cats and three robots, all of whom are programmed to laugh at his hilarious jokes.
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and the New York Times Bestselling author of 25 books, including REBOUND, the follow-up to his, Newbery-medal winning middle grade novel, THE CROSSOVER. Kwame writes for children of all ages. Some of his other works include THE PLAYBOOK: 52 RULES TO HELP YOU AIM, SHOOT, AND SCORE IN THIS GAME OF LIFE; the picture books, SURF’S UP, ANIMAL ARK and OUT OF WONDER, and the novels, SOLO and BOOKED.
A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of several awards, including The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Prize, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, The NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. He believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people around the world through his Writing Workshop. He's led cultural exchange delegations to Brazil, Italy, Singapore, and to Ghana, where he is training teachers and building a library and health clinic, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an International literacy program he co-founded. The 2018 NEA Read Across America Ambassador, Kwame is also the host and producer of the literary variety/talk show, Bookish, which airs on Facebook Watch, and the Founding Editor of VERSIFY, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of several awards, including The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Prize, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, The NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. He believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people around the world through his Writing Workshop. He's led cultural exchange delegations to Brazil, Italy, Singapore, and to Ghana, where he is training teachers and building a library and health clinic, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an International literacy program he co-founded. The 2018 NEA Read Across America Ambassador, Kwame is also the host and producer of the literary variety/talk show, Bookish, which airs on Facebook Watch, and the Founding Editor of VERSIFY, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers
Jeff Kinney is an online game developer, designer, the creator of Poptropica.com, and the #1 New York Times best-selling author and illustrator of the wildly popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
Born in Maryland in the 1970s, Jeff spent his childhood in the Washington, D.C., area and moved to New England in 1995. As a young reader, Jeff was inspired by the books of Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Piers Anthony, and J.R.R. Tolkien. Jeff attended the University of Maryland in the early 1990s. It was there that he ran a comic strip called "lgdoof" in the campus newspaper and knew that he wanted to be become a newspaper strip cartoonist.
Although Jeff started writing down ideas for Diary of a Wimpy Kid in 1998, it wasn't until spring of 2007 that his book was published — and quickly became a New York Times bestseller, eventually reaching the number one spot. In 2010, Diary of a Wimpy Kid was made into a movie starring Zach Gordon as Greg Heffley.
In 2009, Jeff was named one of the 20 Artists & Entertainers in The TIME 100, the magazine's list of The World's Most Influential people.
Jeff lives Plainville, Massachusetts with his wife and their two sons.
Born in Maryland in the 1970s, Jeff spent his childhood in the Washington, D.C., area and moved to New England in 1995. As a young reader, Jeff was inspired by the books of Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Piers Anthony, and J.R.R. Tolkien. Jeff attended the University of Maryland in the early 1990s. It was there that he ran a comic strip called "lgdoof" in the campus newspaper and knew that he wanted to be become a newspaper strip cartoonist.
Although Jeff started writing down ideas for Diary of a Wimpy Kid in 1998, it wasn't until spring of 2007 that his book was published — and quickly became a New York Times bestseller, eventually reaching the number one spot. In 2010, Diary of a Wimpy Kid was made into a movie starring Zach Gordon as Greg Heffley.
In 2009, Jeff was named one of the 20 Artists & Entertainers in The TIME 100, the magazine's list of The World's Most Influential people.
Jeff lives Plainville, Massachusetts with his wife and their two sons.
The second oldest of five siblings, Christopher was born and raised in Flint, Michigan which has been used as a prominent setting in several stories including The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 and Bucking the Sarge. Graduating from Flint Southwestern High School, Christopher immediately did two things: 1) enrolled at Flint’s University of Michigan and 2) applied for a job at Fisher Body Plant No. 1, a General Motors assembly facility. This was extremely typical for many young adults. Most blue-collar jobs, particularly in “the jungle” where Christopher worked, were often heavy-duty, hard-working tasks, requiring minimal educational skills at best. The pay and benefits couldn’t be beat, so for high school graduates that wanted a significant income right out of school, General Motors was the ticket.
Of all the various departments one could work, the "Jungle” was easily one of the worst. The Jungle was where the manufacturing process began, various sizes and shapes of metal being welded together at sequential work stations that eventually became the body frame of the automobile. With all the large welding equipment hanging from the ceiling like Amazon liana branches, as well as pneumatic, electrical and other connections running to and from all the robotic welding arms gave the area the appearance of a mechanical jungle. In addition, the scent of oil, grease and lingering smoke from the welding guns only added to the metallic ambience.
Once the car’s basic skeletal frame was established, one of the first things to get added were the doors. This was Christopher’s work station. During the 70s, Fisher Body produced three models – the Electra 225 (also known as a “deuce and a quarter”), LaSabre and Riveria. All very big and extremely heavy vehicles. Very little plastic was used; the cars were made of mostly metal. Because the doors were so big and quite heavy, the company set the job up for two men to alternate installing the doors on every other car coming down the assembly line. This went on each night for eight or more hours, about 60 cars per hour.
Christopher and his coworker decided that instead of working every other car, they would work every 30 minutes. This allowed Christopher time to do other things — besides reading novels (one of his great passions), he began writing to overcome the boredom. Some of the writings were letters; others were sketches of stories that, like his character Bud Caldwell (Bud, Not Buddy), began the colorful sojourn which led him to become one of America’s leading authors of children’s literature.
Christopher currently lives in Detroit, Michigan and in his free time still enjoys reading, playing basketball and collecting music.
Of all the various departments one could work, the "Jungle” was easily one of the worst. The Jungle was where the manufacturing process began, various sizes and shapes of metal being welded together at sequential work stations that eventually became the body frame of the automobile. With all the large welding equipment hanging from the ceiling like Amazon liana branches, as well as pneumatic, electrical and other connections running to and from all the robotic welding arms gave the area the appearance of a mechanical jungle. In addition, the scent of oil, grease and lingering smoke from the welding guns only added to the metallic ambience.
Once the car’s basic skeletal frame was established, one of the first things to get added were the doors. This was Christopher’s work station. During the 70s, Fisher Body produced three models – the Electra 225 (also known as a “deuce and a quarter”), LaSabre and Riveria. All very big and extremely heavy vehicles. Very little plastic was used; the cars were made of mostly metal. Because the doors were so big and quite heavy, the company set the job up for two men to alternate installing the doors on every other car coming down the assembly line. This went on each night for eight or more hours, about 60 cars per hour.
Christopher and his coworker decided that instead of working every other car, they would work every 30 minutes. This allowed Christopher time to do other things — besides reading novels (one of his great passions), he began writing to overcome the boredom. Some of the writings were letters; others were sketches of stories that, like his character Bud Caldwell (Bud, Not Buddy), began the colorful sojourn which led him to become one of America’s leading authors of children’s literature.
Christopher currently lives in Detroit, Michigan and in his free time still enjoys reading, playing basketball and collecting music.
Children of all ages have read and enjoyed books by Roald Dahl. Many of his stories, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, have become classics in their own time.
As recounted in Boy, Roald Dahl’s father, Harald Dahl, immigrated to England from Norway around the turn of the century (1900). Not long after the death of his first wife, he took a trip back to Norway in hopes of finding a wife to help him raise his young son and daughter. He married Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg in 1911 and the couple moved to Dahl’s home in Llandaff, Wales. Over the next six years they had five children: Astri, Alfhild, Roald, Else, Asta. Roald was born on September 13, 1916 in Llandaff. Unfortunately Astri, the eldest, died of appendicitis in 1920. Harald Dahl quickly deteriorated after his daughter’s death and he died of pneumonia a few months later. Sofie Dahl, pregnant at the time with Asta, was left with three of her own children, two step-children, a sizeable estate, and her husband’s dying wish that his children would be educated in English schools, which he thought the best in the world.
A less determined woman would have packed up and moved back home to Norway, but Sofie decided to stay in Wales and carry out Harald’s wish. But she wasn’t ready to move to England yet. First she moved the family into a smaller, more manageable home in Llandaff and then one-by-one sent each of her children to Elmtree House, a local school, for kindergarten. When Roald was seven Sofie decided it was time for him to go to a proper boy’s school, so she sent him to nearby Llandaff Cathedral School. He spent two years there and his only memories of it are described in Boy – one involves an older boy whizzing by on a bicycle, and the other involves The Great Mouse Plot that earned him and his friends a savage caning by the school’s headmaster. This violent incident was what prompted Sofie to withdraw Roald from the Llandaff school and finally send him off to an English boarding school: St. Peter’s.
As recounted in Boy, Roald Dahl’s father, Harald Dahl, immigrated to England from Norway around the turn of the century (1900). Not long after the death of his first wife, he took a trip back to Norway in hopes of finding a wife to help him raise his young son and daughter. He married Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg in 1911 and the couple moved to Dahl’s home in Llandaff, Wales. Over the next six years they had five children: Astri, Alfhild, Roald, Else, Asta. Roald was born on September 13, 1916 in Llandaff. Unfortunately Astri, the eldest, died of appendicitis in 1920. Harald Dahl quickly deteriorated after his daughter’s death and he died of pneumonia a few months later. Sofie Dahl, pregnant at the time with Asta, was left with three of her own children, two step-children, a sizeable estate, and her husband’s dying wish that his children would be educated in English schools, which he thought the best in the world.
A less determined woman would have packed up and moved back home to Norway, but Sofie decided to stay in Wales and carry out Harald’s wish. But she wasn’t ready to move to England yet. First she moved the family into a smaller, more manageable home in Llandaff and then one-by-one sent each of her children to Elmtree House, a local school, for kindergarten. When Roald was seven Sofie decided it was time for him to go to a proper boy’s school, so she sent him to nearby Llandaff Cathedral School. He spent two years there and his only memories of it are described in Boy – one involves an older boy whizzing by on a bicycle, and the other involves The Great Mouse Plot that earned him and his friends a savage caning by the school’s headmaster. This violent incident was what prompted Sofie to withdraw Roald from the Llandaff school and finally send him off to an English boarding school: St. Peter’s.
Raina Telgemeier is the author and illustrator of the graphic novels Smile, Drama, Sisters, and Ghosts, all #1 New York Times bestsellers. She also adapted and illustrated four graphic novel versions of Ann M. Martin’s Baby-sitters Club series, and has contributed short stories to many anthologies. Raina’s accolades include three Eisner Awards, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, a Stonewall Honor, and many Best-of and Notables lists. Raina lives and works in San Francisco, CA.
Raina is represented by Judith Hansen of Hansen Literary Agency
For more info and answers to Frequently Asked Questions, visit Raina’s FAQ
Raina is represented by Judith Hansen of Hansen Literary Agency
For more info and answers to Frequently Asked Questions, visit Raina’s FAQ