Toni Yuly has been an early bird her whole life and loves to start the day in her studio listening to other early birds sing outside her window. She lives in a small house by the water in Bremerton, Washington, near Seattle where she was born. Toni fell in love with Eastern sensibilities during a year spent in Sendai, Japan. She graduated from the University of Washington with a BFA in painting where she studied with the great American painter Jacob Lawrence. Now, after many years as a librarian in the King County Library System (she took a ferry to work!) Toni dedicates herself to designing, painting and writing full time. EARLY BIRD, published by the fantastic people at Feiwel & Friends, was her first picture book.