I Like to Read Books

James E. Ransome’s highly acclaimed illustrations for Before She Was Harriett received the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include Coretta Scott King Honor Book Uncle Jed’s Barbershop; Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt; and Let My People Go, winner of the NAACP Image Award. He frequently collaborates with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome. Some of their titles include Game Changers: The Story of Venus Serena Williams, which received four starred reviews; My Story, My Dance: Robert Battle’s Journey to Alvin Ailey; and Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass. Mr. Ransome teaches illustration at Pratt Institute and lives in upstate New York with his family. Visit James at JamesRansome.com.

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.

Rebecca Emberley has created more than 40 books for children, including a number of highly successful bilingual books. With her father Ed Emberley she has created books including The Red Hen and Chicken Little. She lives in Kittery, Maine.

Becky White taught elementary school for five years before creating more than three hundred educational books. She lives with her husband in a windmill home in California, where she enjoys gardening and making books and movies for her grandchildren.

Marilyn Janovitz is the author and illustrator of I Will Try, an I Like to Read(R) book. She lives in New York City and works in a studio that looks out on the Empire State Building.

Michael Garland has written and illustrated many books for children, including several bestsellers. His titles include Fish Had a Wish, cited as one of the Top 25 Children’s Books of the Year by Kirkus Reviews; Tugboat; and the I Like to Read(R) books Car Goes Far, Lost Dog, and Pizza Mouse. His work is frequently featured in the Society of Illustrators art show, and has won many honors. He lives in New York.

David McPhail is the acclaimed author and illustrator of more than one hundred and fifty books, including Henry Bear’s Park (Atheneum), Mole Music (Holt), and the beloved Pig Pig series (Dutton). He lives in Rye, New Hampshire.

Ethan Long is an internationally recognized children’s book author and illustrator with more than 70 titles to his credit. Up, Tall and High! was a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner and Chamelia and the New Kid in Class was a Children’s Choice Book Award finalist. He is also part of the creative team behind Give Me Back My Book! He lives in Orlando, Florida.

Ann Hassett and her husband, John, have written many books for children. Ann is the principal of an elementary school and John volunteers in local schools as an after school program mentor and visiting artist. They live in Maine.

John Hassett and his wife, Ann, have written many books for children. John volunteers in local schools as an after school program mentor and visiting artist and Ann is the principal of an elementary school. They live in Maine.

Ted Lewin grew up in Buffalo, New York, and now lives in New York City. His career as an artist began with illustrations for adventure magazines, but over the last thirty-five years he has devoted all of his time to writing and illustrating children’s books. An avid traveler, many of Ted’s books have been inspired by his trips to places such as the Amazon River, the Sahara Desert, Botswana, Egypt, Lapland, and India. His illustrations in Peppe the Lamplighter by Elise Bartone were awarded a Caldecott Honor. Ted and his wife Betsy Lewin, the illustrator of Click Clack Moo and other titles, live in Brooklyn, New York.

Valeri Gorbachev has illustrated more than forty books for children, including his own Big Little Elephant and Skunk’s Spring Surprise by Lesléa Newman. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Bob Barner is the author and illustrator of more than twenty-five books for children, including Fish Wish, Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!, and the bilingual Day of the Dead/El Dia de los Muertos. His work has received the Parents’ Choice Award and the Teachers’ Choice Award. An accomplished artist, he began his career as a cartoonist working on Li’l Abner under Al Capp before moving on to art direction and illustration. His clients include The Boston Globe, Scholastic, Chronicle, the New England Aquarium, Little, Brown, and many more. He lives in San Francisco, California.

Betsy Lewin has illustrated many successful books for young readers, including Click Clack Moo, for which she won a Caldecott Honor Medal. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Pat Schories is the author-illustrator of many early readers for children. Her most recent books include Squeak the Mouse Likes His House, Pie for Chuck, and Pants for Chuck, all “”I Like to Read”” books published by Holiday House. She has also created several wordless books about a dog named JACK. Pat is also the illustrator of the highly acclaimed BISCUIT series of “”I Can Read”” books written by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and published by HarperCollins Her early readers include simple text with lots of repetition. She makes sure her illustrations mirror the text, which is vital for children learning to read. Pictures become reading cues. Her books are endlessly useful for encouraging careful observation, language development, sequencing, plot development, and ultimately, a love of books and reading. Many of her books have won awards, including Junior Library Guild Selection, Bank Street College of Education’s “”Best Children’s Books of the Year,”” CCBC Choices, select state awards, and starred reviews.

Tedd Arnold is the author and illustrator of the bestselling Fly Guy series and the illustrator of more than 60 books, including DETECTIVE BLUE. He has received Theodor Seuss Geisel Honors for HI! FLY GUY and I SPY FLY GUY! Tedd lives with his wife, Carol, in upstate New York.

Bruce Degen illustrated all the Jesse Bear books. He was the author and illustrator of Jamberry, and the illustrator of the acclaimed Magic School Bus series. He taught courses on art and the writing and illustrating of children’s books to children and adults. Mr. Degen lived with his wife and their two sons in Connecticut in a renovated farmhouse with ducks on the pond, bats in the barn, and a family tree that Jesse Bear himself would love to climb.

David Catrow is the illustrator of many picture books including Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon and its sequel Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon, written by Patty Lovell; I Wanna Iguana and its two companion books I Wanna New Room and I Wanna Go Home, written by Karen Kaufman Orloff; Our Tree Named Steve by Alan Zweibel;The Middle Child Blues by Kristyn Crow; and We the Kids: the Preamble to the Constitution. He lives in Ohio with his wife, Deborah.

Douglas Florian is the creator of many acclaimed picture books including How to Draw a Dragon, UnBEElievables, Poetrees, and Dinothesaurus. He lives with his family in New York.

Shelley Rotner is the author and photo-illustrator of more than thirty books, including Families. Her collaborations with Sheila M. Kelly include Shades of People, an ALA Notable Children’s Book, and her solo work includes Hello Spring!, which received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Hans Wilhelm is a widely published author and illustrator of over 200 books. He lives in Weston, Connecticut.

Bio to come

MICHAEL ROBERTSON graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in painting. He spent ten years as a toy designer and character developer before trying his hand at illustration. His work has appeared on many children’s products, greeting cards, and magazines, and has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators. He is the illustrator ofMonster Trouble by Lane Fredrickson (Sterling). Michael lives in downtown Cleveland, where he enjoys painting, cooking, and listening to his extensive collection of vintage soul, jazz, and Brazilian music.

Joe Cepeda received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach, and also studied Engineering at Cornell University. He is a fine artist, as well as an illustrator of more than thirty-five book jackets and picture books, which have received many honors including Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, Parenting Magazine’s Reading Magic Award, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award, Texas Library Association 2x2 Reading List, ALA Notable Books, and Child Magazine’s Best Book of the Year. Joe illustrated Hey, Hey, Hay! by Christy Mihaly, ¡Vamonos! Let’s Go! by Rene Colato Lainez, and Swing Sisters by Karen Deans. He both wrote and illustrated two I Like to Read books–Up and I Dig. Joe received an American Library Association Pura Belprè Honor and the Recognition of Merit Award from the George G. Stone Center for Children’s Books. He lives in Southern California.

ANTONGIONATA FERRARI has illustrated numerous works for children. In 2007 he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for best Italian illustrator for children. Other books for Holiday House include The Kindhearted Crocodile by Lucia Panzieri and No Honking Allowed! by Stephanie Calemenson.

Pat Cummings was born in Chicago but grew up traveling with her military family all over the world. She has been writing and illustrating children’s books since she graduated from Pratt Institute and is the author and/or illustrator of more than forty books. In addition to her art for the Coretta Scott King Award winner My Mama Needs Me by Mildred Pitts Walter, Pat’s luminous work includes Angel Baby; Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon!; and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner Talking With Artists. She teaches children’s book illustration and writing at Parsons School of Design, the New School, and Pratt Institute. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit her online at www.patcummings.com.

Susan Batori lives in Budapest, Hungary, with her soul mate, Robert, and with her cat, Kamilla. She studied graphic design at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest. She worked as an art director at an advertising agency; then she noticed that drawing hilarious characters was much more fun. Since 2013, Susan has been working as a freelance children’s book illustrator. Humor is the one thing in her studio that she could not live without.

Bernice Myers began her career mid-century and has been entertaining and educating children ever since. Career highlights include Not This Bear, a Nancy Pearl Book Crush Rediscovery, and the science based “All Around” series of books. Dog Meets Dog is her first for Holiday House. She celebrated her 94th birthday the week she finished the art.

Lizzy Rockwell is a picture book author and illustrator with over 35 books published. Her artwork can also been found in games, magazines and murals. Lizzy loves science, food, and animals, all of which have been themes in her books. Much of what she knows about making books, she learned as a child. Her parents, Anne and Harlow Rockwell made books in their home studio in Connecticut, when Lizzy and her brother and sister were growing up. As an adult, Lizzy collaborated as illustrator on 19 books written by her mother. Her favorite things to draw are animals, plants, landscapes, and children’s faces. When Lizzy is not working in her studio, in Bridgeport, CT, she might be found in her garden, baking in her kitchen, or taking long walks at the beach and the woods, with her English Setter, Reggie. She also volunteers every week as artistic director and community organizer for a quilting group called Peace by Piece: The Norwalk Community Quilt Project.

Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss perform in the U.S. as well as abroad as Beauty & the Beast Storytellers. Their books and recordings have won an Irma Simonton Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature. They live in Ithaca, New York.

Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss perform in the U.S. as well as abroad as Beauty & the Beast Storytellers. Their books and recordings have won an Irma Simonton Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature. They live in Ithaca, New York.

Ed Emberley is the illustrator and author of over 80 books, including the bestselling Go Away, Big Green Monster! and his enormously popular Drawing Book series. He has received many awards and accolades, including a Caldecott Honor in 1967 and a Caldecott Medal in 1968. Ed lives in Ipswich, Massachusetts, with his family. You can visit him online at edemberley.com.

Megan Lloyd has illustrated more than forty books for children, including The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams, Thanksgiving at the Tappletons’ by Eileen Spinelli, and The Mixed-Up Rooster by Pamela Duncan Edwards. She lives with her husband on a farm in Pennsylvania, where she raises sheep, chickens, and cows. Some of the rabbits from her vegetable garden have even been kind enough to allow Ms. Lloyd to sketch them as models for this book.

Will Hillenbrand has written and illustrated many books, including Bear in Love and Bear and Bunny, both written by Daniel Pinkwater. Will Hillenbrand lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Urska Stropnik Sonc graduated from the Faculty of Education in Maribor for book illustration. Her first picture book illustrations were published in 1997. Since then, she has illustrated more than 70 books. She lives with her husband and three sons in Velenje, Slovenia.

Roberta Angaramo has illustrated more than thirty titles with publishers all over the world, including A Perfect Home for a Family and Dog in Boots. She lives in Italy in a small rural village. Visit her on the web at www.robertaangaramo.com.