The Christmas Elf Countdown!

Established in July 2013 in a merger between Penguin and Random House, Penguin Random House, with nearly 250 independent imprints and brands on five continents, more than 15,000 new titles published each year, and close to 800 million print, audio, and eBooks sold annually, is the world’s leading trade book publisher. Like its predecessor companies, Penguin Random House is committed to publishing adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction print editions and is a pioneer in digital publishing. Its publishing lists include more than 60 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read authors.

Ever since Mike can remember he knew he wanted to be an artist. His dad, who was an engineer at the Hiway Department, would bring home reams of paper that had hiway plans on one side and were blank on the other. He would be so excited to have all that paper to draw on and would fill each sheet with race cars, snowmobiles, baseball players, super heroes - everything he was interested in. In high school his art teacher, Mr. Chase, encouraged Mike to pursue art as a career. This, along with a scholarship, led him to the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. Since graduating with a B.F.A. in Illustration, Mike has illustrated over 20 books for children. He has worked with various clients including Random House, Dutton Children’s Books, Clarion Books, Holiday House, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, Walker & Co., Hyperion Books, Sterling Books, Cricket Magazine Group, General Mills, 3M, and Peaceable Kingdom Press.