A Surprise for Mama

Judy Schachner was born into an Irish Catholic working class family from New England. Money was as tight as their apartment was tiny and though she may not have had the easiest of childhoods, she credits her imagination with helping her survive it. She can’t ever remember a time when she was not drawing and like most budding artists she doodled on everything, including her father’s bald head. She drew herself into stories where she was the smartest in her class and into a family where mothers lived to be a ripe old age. In many ways, Judy feels that her own life has resembled the fairy tales she loved reading as a child, complete with a happy ending. And the best part of this author/illustrator’s story? She married a prince of a guy and they had two beautiful daughters and just like the mothers in her earliest tales, she plans on living to a ripe old age. Described by the New York Times as “ …something like the James Joyce for the elementary - school set…”, Judy Schachner is the #1 NY Times Best Selling Author/Illustrator of over 26 books for children including the Skippyjon Jones series, Sarabella’s Thinking Cap, Dewey Bob, Bits & Pieces, , Yo Vikings, The Grannyman and Willy and May. She has won many awards including the first E. B. White Read Aloud Award.