Bird & Diz

Gary Golio has led many lives: visual artist, high-tension electrician, musician, clinical social worker & therapist, arts teacher, gallery director, and children’s book author. He enjoyed an early love of comic books (1950s DC, 1960s Marvel), and originally hoped to pattern his life after Leonardo DaVinci, Spider Man, and Doctor Strange. So he became an artist and author, and removes live spiders from his house when his wife asks him. But seriously: each of Gary’s books highlights an artist/musician’s roots and influences, promoting the idea that artists are models of persistence and commitment, embodying values of imagination, hopefulness, and self-acceptance.

Caldecott medalist Ed Young was born in Tientsin, China, and brought up in Shanghai. He cites the philosophy of Chinese painting as an inspiration for much of his work. “A Chinese painting is often accompanied by words,” he explains; “they are complementary. There are things that words do that pictures never can, and likewise, there are images that words can never describe.”Mr. Young has been illustrating children’s books for more than twenty years and has won many awards. He received the 1990 Caldecott Medal for his book Lon Po Po, and his much-lauded collaboration with anthologist Nancy Larrick, Cats Are Cats, was named one of the Ten Best Illustrated Books of 1988 by The New York Times.Mr. Young studied at the University of Illinois, the Art Center of Los Angeles, and Pratt Institute in New York City. He and his family live in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.copyright 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.