Raffi Songs to Read Books

Raffi Cavoukian is an internationally renknowned musician and performer for children, best known for hits like Baby Beluga, Bananaphone, and Down by the Bay. He is the founder of the Centre for Child Honouring, which advocates for an ecological worldview, a whole systems shift in the way we make decisions that affect our children’s world. Learn more about Raffi, his music, and his foundation at RaffiNews.com, on Twitter at @Raffi_RC, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Raffi.Cavoukian.

Jerry Smath is the illustrator for several books for children, including Thumbelina, Sammy Salami, and But No Elephants. He lives in Croton-on-Hudson, NY.

Jose Aruego was a lawyer before becoming a children’s book illustrator. . A native of the Philippines, he moved to New York City in 1956 to study at Parsons School of Design. His cartoons were published in the New Yorker and the Saturday Evening Post, and his illustrations can be seen in Five Little Ducks by Raffi, as well as in the 82 children’s books he wrote himself. He died in 2012.

Ariane Dewey, with her illustrating partner Jose Aruego, has illustrated over 60 children’s books. Originally from Chicago, she now lives in New York City. Her art can be seen in Five Little Ducks by Raffi.

Nadine Bernard Westcott has illustrated more than 100 books for young readers, including I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Big Picnic, Down by the Bay, and Peanut Butter and Jelly, the latter of which she also wrote. Nadine lives in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and divides her time between illustrating and designing her own line of fabrics.