Authors & Illustrators 2019
Angela DiTerlizzi
Angela DiTerlizzi is a mom, wife, and author.
Prior to her career as an author, Angela worked for over 15 years as a make-up artist, most notably in the film, television, and music industry. Her credits include Saturday Night Live, MTV, VH1, E!, Conan O'Brien and the Today show.
From making up faces to making up stories, Angela now creates beloved picture and board books inspired by her love of nature, animals, Little Golden Books, glitter, and most importantly her family.
She and her husband, bestselling author/illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, reside with their daughter, Sophia, and their dog, Mimi, in Amherst, Massachusetts.
James Dean
James Dean’s art has sold in more than ninety galleries and shops across the United States. He has devoted his paintings to Pete the Cat for ten years and has turned his natural love for cats into his life’s work. James published his first adult book, The Misadventures of Pete the Cat, a history of his art work, in 2006. He illustrated his first self-published children’s book, Pete the Cat I Love my White Shoes, written by Eric Litwin, in 2008, and the follow-up book, Pete the Cat: Rocking In My School Shoes, in 2011. James lives in Savannah, Georgia with his wife, Kimberly.
Tony DiTerlizzi
New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi has been creating children's books for nearly two decades. From fanciful picture books like The Spider & The Fly (a Caldecott Honor book), to chapter books like Kenny and The Dragon, DiTerlizzi imbues his stories with a rich imagination. With Holly Black, he created the middle-grade series, The Spiderwick Chronicles, which has sold over 20 million copies, been adapted into a feature film, and has been translated in over thirty countries. He teamed up with Lucasfilm to retell the original Star Wars trilogy as a picture book and his collaboration with celebrated author Mo Willems created the bestselling The Story of Diva & Flea.
Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Lynda Mullaly Hunt is the author of New York Times bestseller Fish in a Tree, as well as One for the Murphys, which is on thirty-one state award lists. She’s a former teacher, and holds writers retreats for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Torrey Maldonado
Torrey Maldonado has taught for twenty years in his Brooklyn childhood hometown. His books consistently receive ALA Quick Pick YA awards. Tight won a humanitarian Christopher. Growing up, Torrey hated books because "they were boring or seemed to hate or dismiss people where I'm from". Culturally responsive books and educators inspired him to teach and write. Voted a "Top 10 Latino Author" & best MG & YA novelist for African Americans, his work reflects his and students' experiences and is celebrated as authentic & universal.
Megan Jo McDonald
Megan has a B.A. in English from Oberlin College and a Masters in Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh. When she took her first writing class, her professor told her to go home and rip up all the poems she had ever written. He told her she was a prose writer. Megan went home and looked up “prose” in the dictionary to find out what she was! Before she became a writer, Megan worked in museums, libraries and bookstores. She has also made a living as a storyteller and a park ranger. Megan McDonald now lives with her husband in Sebastopol, California. Her most popular works is the series of books which concern a third grade girl named Judy Moody. McDonald has also written many picture books for younger children and continues to write. Her most recent work was the Julie Albright series of books for American Girl.
Oge Mora
Oge Mora is a painter residing in Providence, RI.
Her debut book, Thank You, Omu!, was a Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award winner, Ezra Jack Keats Book Award recipient, and a New York Times Notable Book and Editors' Choice. Her work has also been applauded by The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Boston Globe.
Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Vanessa Brantley-Newton has illustrated numerous picture books, including The Girl Who Heard Colors (by Marie Harris), Mary Had a Little Glam (by Tammi Sauer), One Love (by Cedella Marley), A Night Out with Mama (by Quvenzhané Wallis), and The Youngest Marcher (by Cynthia Levinson), as well as the chapter book series Ruby and the Booker Boys (by Derrick Barnes) and Jada Jones (by Kelly Starling Lyons). She wrote and illustrated Let Freedom Sing and Grandma’s Purse. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
About John Rocco
|
John Rocco is a New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator of many acclaimed books for children, including Wolf! Wolf!, winner of the Borders Original Voices Award for best picture book; Moonpowder; Blizzard, and Blackout, a winner of the Caldecott Honor. Rocco also illustrated Whoopi Goldberg's Alice and the covers for Rick Riordan's internationally bestselling series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles,The Heroes of Olympus and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. He also was the illustrator for both #1 New York Times Bestsellers Percy Jackson's Greek Gods and Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes. Rocco’s first Young Adult novel, Swim That Rock, was a finalist for the New England Book Award. |
Dan Santat
Dan Santat wrote and illustrated the graphic novel Sidekicks, and has also illustrated many acclaimed picture books, including the New York Times bestseller Because I’m Your Dad by Ahmet Zappa. He lives in Alhambra, California, with his family.He is also the creator of Disney's animated hit, The Replacements. Dan graduated with honors from the Art Center, College of Design.He lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids, a dog, a bird, and one cat.
Matt Tavares
Matt Tavares created his first picture book as his senior project in college. That book eventually became Zachary's Ball (Candlewick), which received a Massachusetts Book Award Honor, and was named one of Yankee Magazine's 40 Classic New England Children's Books.
Since then, Matt has illustrated nineteen more books, nine of which he also wrote. Three titles received Parents' Choice Gold Awards, two were named ALA Notable Books, one was an Orbis Pictus Honor Book, and eleven were selected for The Society of Illustrators Original Art exhibits. The most recent book he wrote and illustrated is Dasher. Matt lives in Maine with his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters.
Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburg is the winner of two Caldecott Medals, for Jumanji and The Polar Express, as well as the recipient of a Caldecott Honor Book for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. The author and illustrator of numerous picture books for children, he has also been awarded the Regina Medal for lifetime achievement in children's literature. In 1982, Jumanji won the National Book Award and in 1996, it was made into a popular feature film. Chris Van Allsburg was formerly an instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design. Chris lives in Beverly, MA, on Boston’s North Shore. For recreation and amusement, he rides his bike and plays tennis. He is not really the master of any instruments, but can entertain his children by producing simple tunes playing a recorder through his nose.
