I Can Read Books

For 30 years, Jack Prelutsky’s inventive poems have inspired legions of children to fall in love with poetry. His outrageously silly poems have tickled even the most stubborn funny bones, while his darker verses have spooked countless late-night readers. His award-winning books include Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast, The Dragons Are Singing Tonight, The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, and The Beauty of the Beast.

Judyann Ackerman Grant and her family have raised numerous chickens as well as assorted cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, and goldfish on their farm in upstate New York. Ms. Grant was inspired to write Chicken Said, “Cluck!” by watching chickens scratch in the new-turned garden every spring. This is her first book.

Alyssa Satin Capucilli is the award-winning creator and author of the Katy Duck series and the bestselling Biscuit series, which has sold over twenty-four million copies. A dancer as well as a writer, she lives with her family in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Lee Bennett Hopkins is an award-winning author and poet. He has published more than 100 books of poetry, including City I Love and Behind the Museum Door. He lives in Cape Coral, Florida.

Judy Sierra, who holds a Ph.D. in folklore, puts a hilarious new spin on some of the most familiar storybook characters in her two books starring B.B. Wolf. She is the author of other highly acclaimed picture books such as Wild About Books, a New York Times #1 Bestseller, Born to Read, and The Sleepy Little Alphabet.

Margery Cuyler has written more than 50 books, most recently The Little Fire Truck, The Little Ice Cream Truck, and Bonaparte Falls Apart. When asked why she writes children’s books, she answers that it’s a privilege to write for the best people in the whole world. In addition, she says she was raised by children, being the youngest of nine children. Her earlier titles include the classics Skeleton Hiccups and 100th Day Worries. She and her husband, the parents of two grown sons, live in Lawrenceville, NJ.

Donald Lemke works as a children’s book editor. He has written dozens of comic books, including the Zinc Alloy series and the adventures of Bike Rider, and many chapter books for DC Comics. Donald lives in Minnesota with his beautiful wife, Amy, and their not-so-golden retriever, Paulie.

Else Holmelund Minarik first introduced readers to her timeless character in the classic Little Bear. Publication of this book, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak, launched the I Can Read series. This much-loved author continues to write stories for children at her home in North Carolina.

Liz Marsham began her storytelling career as an editor for DC Comics and Disney Publishing. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, a cat who thinks she is a princess, and a cat who thinks he is a dog.

Sue Truesdell has illustrated many children’s books over her two-decade career, including Betsy Byars’s I Can Read! series about the adventuresome Golly Sisters and Chicken Said, “Cluck!” by Judyann Ackerman Grant, winner of a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor in 2009.

Steve Bjorkman is the celebrated illustrator of numerous books for children, including Jeff Foxworthy’s New York Times bestsellering picture books DIRT ON MY SHIRT and SILLY STREET, as well as EMIILY’S EVERYDAY MANNERS by Cindy Post Senning and Peggy Post, and Jay McGraw’s LIFE STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH BULLIES. He lives with his wife in California. SPLIT! SPLAT! is his first book with Scholastic Press.

Paul Meisel, who holds a master’s degree in graphic design from Yale University, has illustrated many books for children, some of which he also wrote. Two of his I Like to Read(R) books, See Me Run and I See a Cat, are Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor books. His Nature Diary series began with My Awesome Summer by P. Mantis, a finalist for the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books and a Virginia Reader’s Choice. The Schmutzy Family, written by Marilyn Rosenberg and illustrated by Paul Meisel, was a National Jewish Book Award Finalist. Paul lives in Connecticut.

Barry Gott has illustrated numerous children’s books as well as written and illustrated greeting cards.

Robert Neubecker is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and just about every magazine in print. He helped create the look of Slate.com and was on staff there from 1996-2015. Robert won the prestigious 2004 Key Award for Best Comedy Poster for the movie Sideways. Robert’s first book for children, “Wow! City!” won the ALA Notable Book Award for 2005. Over thirty books have followed including: “Every Corner Needs a Monster” with Jean Reidy, 2013 Colorado Book Award winner “I got Two Dogs” with John Lithgow, “Air Show!” with Treat Williams, and “Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth” with Sarah Weeks.” In 2012, Robert’s “What Little Boys are made of” won a Kirkus Review Best Books of the Year award. Spring, 2017: “Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing” by Kay Haring, Keith’s sister. Summer 2017: “King Louie’s Shoes” with DJ Steinberg was released from Beach Lane Books. Fall 2017: Robert’s “Fall is for School,” Winter 2017: “Space Boy and the Snow Monster” by Dian Curtis Regan from Boyd’s Mill Press. Spring 2019: “King Louis’ Shoes” by Sarah Aronson Spring 2019: “Just Like Rube Goldberg” by Sarah Aronson Fall 2019: “Little Smokey” Robert has taught at School of Visual Arts in New York, BYU, and the University of Utah. An ex-New Yorker, Robert now lives on the side of Iron Mountain in Park City, Utah. He is married with two teenage kids and lives in the woods at the edge of town with a whole bunch of dogs and cats. Moose come around and eat his garden.

Laura Rankin is the illustrator of Rabbit Ears, Swan Harbor, and The Handmade Alphabet. She lives in York Beach, Maine.

Bryan Langdo is the author and/or illustrator of more than twenty books for children. He is the illustrator of the popular picture books Hero Dad and Hero Mom, both written by Melinda Hardin, among other titles. He is also a monthly contributor to Cobblestone Magazine. Bryan lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children. Learn more online at www.bryanlangdo.com.