Ever since I could hold a crayon, pencil, or pen, I've been making pictures. Since my father is also an artist (he illustrated Frank Herbert's Dune and Owl Moon by Jane Yolen), there were always enough art supplies around the house. Often I would take over his sketchbooks after he had used just a page or two. I kept drawing long after other kids stopped and eventually I went to art school at The Cooper Union in New York City.

Although I didn't study illustration in college, my father's lifelong influence on me and my love of books and the work of Howard Pyle (called the "Father of American Illustration") fortified my desire to become an illustrator. Luckily, after I graduated, an editor who had been my creative writing teacher in high school asked me to illustrate a book jacket. On the strength of this, she commissioned me to illustrate Newf, by Marie Killilea. Since then I've illustrated several more children's books.

I live and work in the same house in Woodside, New York, that my great-grandparents bought in 1920. My small studio is crowded with books, furniture, costumes, relics, and files, and I usually have to dance my way in and out because there's so much stuff piled on the floor. My second-grade teacher wrote on my report card, "He works neatly and conscientiously - a real plodder", and while I'm not very neat now, the rest of the description still fits.

MY FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Ant and Bee
by Angela Banner
pictures by Bryan Ward

Happy Birthday with Ant and Bee
by Angela Banner
pictures by Bryan Ward

Peter Pan
by James Barrie

The Five Chinese Brothers
by Claire Huchet Bishop
pictures by Kurt Wiese

The Man Who Lost His Head
by Claire Huchet Bishop
pictures by Robert McCloskey

Georgie and the Robbers
by Robert Bright

The Color Kittens
by Margaret Wise Brown
pictures by Alice and Martin Provensen

Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown

The Story of Babar
by Jean de Brunhoff

The Travels of Babar
by Jean de Brunhoff

The Little House
by Virginia Lee Burton

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
by Roald Dahl

Kings and Queens
by Eleanor & Herbert Farjeon
pictures by Rosalind Thornycroft

The Oh Ball
by Gertrude Espenscheid

The Story About Ping
by Marjorie Flack
pictures by Kurt Wiese

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
by Ian Fleming

Norman the Doorman
by Don Freeman

And Then What Happened Paul Revere?
by Jean Fritz
pictures by Margot Tomes

The Wind and the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
pictures by Ernest H. Shepard

Tiny Nonsense Stories
by Dorothy Kunhardt
pictures by Garth Williams

Ben and Me
by Robert Lawson

The Story of Ferdinand
by Munro Leaf
pictures by Robert Lawson

The Little Red Fire Engine
by Lois Lenski

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse
by Leo Lionni

Frog and Toad (series)
by Arnold Lobel

Make Way for Ducklings
by Robert McCloskey

A Boy, A Dog, and A Frog
by Mercer Mayer

Winnie-the-Pooh (series)
by A. A. Milne
pictures by Ernest H. Shepard

Little Bear
by Else Holmelund Minarik,
pictures by Maurice Sendak

The Little Engine That Could
by Watty Piper
pictures by George and Doris Hauman

The Tale of... (any and all)
by Beatrix Potter

Curious George
by H. A. Rey

Curious George Goes to the Hospital
by Margret and H. A. Rey

The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Busy, Busy World
by Richard Scarry

Funniest Storybook Ever
by Richard Scarry

What Do People Do All Day?
by Richard Scarry

In the Night Kitchen
by Maurice Sendak

In the Night Kitchen
by Maurice Sendak

Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak

London Bridge is Falling Down
by Peter Spier

The Star-Spangled Banner
by Peter Spier

The Little Red Computer
by Ralph Steadman

Emmett's Pig
by Mary Stolz
pictures by Garth Williams

The Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward

The Tall Book of Make Believe
by Jane Werner
pictures by Garth Williams

Lullabies and Night Songs
by Alec Wilder
pictures by Maurice Sendak

John John Twilliger
by William Wondriska