2011's Talented Authors and Illustrators |
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Nora Raleigh Baskin Nora Raleigh Baskin is the author of seven novels for young people. She has also published short stories and personal narrative essays, which have appeared in The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine and The Writer Magazine. Ms. Baskin teaches creative writing through the Gotham Writers Workshop and the Writers Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Her 8th young adult novel The Summer Before Boys was released by S&S this spring and received a starred review from Kirkus. A YA novel, Surfacing, will be published in 2013 by Candlewick Press. |
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A.C.E. Bauer A.C.E. Bauer has published two middle grade novels. No Castles Here was chosen for the ALA Rainbow List and was named "one of the strongest titles of the year" in a starred review by Kirkus Reviews. Come Fall was chosen as a CCBC Choices book and received a starred review by Publishers Weekly. Gil Marsh, her first book for young adult readers, will be released in February, 2012. Born and raised in Montreal, she spends most of the year in New England, and much of the summer on a lake in Quebec.http://acebauer.com, http://acebauer.livejournal.com, http://writeupouralley.com. |
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Eric Berlin Eric Berlin is the author of The Puzzling World of Winston Breen and The Potato Chip Puzzles. A third Winston Breen novel, The Puzzler's Mansion, will be out in 2012. His books can be found on many state reading lists. Eric is a member of the National Puzzlers' League, and lives in Milford, CT, with his wife and children. |
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Doe Boyle Since her graduation from Fairfield University with a BA in English, Doe Boyle has worked in many areas of magazine, book, and newspaper publishing. Editor of children’s fiction and adult nonfiction with special interests in natural and cultural history, outdoor recreation, travel, regional folklore, and memoir, she is also the author of the travel guides Fun with the Family/Connecticut and Guide to the Connecticut Shore, published by the Globe Pequot Press. She is also the author of eleven children’s picture books about endangered species and conservation issues, published by Soundprints in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and the National Wildlife Federation. A freelance writer of educational materials for clients such as the National Park Service, Ms. Boyle is frequently found in the classroom as a Master Teaching Artist selected by the Connecticut Office of the Arts. Her specialty is teaching elementary schoolchildren to write from the heart of their own experiences. |
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Jon Buller and Susan Schade Jon Buller has written, co-written, and/or illustrated over fifty books for kids. Most of them have been done in partnership with his wife, Susan Schade. Susan does more of the writing, and Jon does more of the artwork, but they both do some of each. This year the French translation of Travels of Thelonious, the first book in their Fog Mound Trilogy, won the Tam-Tam Prize in France for the best novel of 2011 for kids eight and up. They live in Lyme. www.bullersooz.com |
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P.W. Catanese P.W. Catanese is the author of eight fantasy-adventure novels (published by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster) for readers age nine and up. He has over a half-million books in print, plus audio books and foreign translations for his new trilogy, The Books of Umber. A crisp style, fast pacing, interesting characters and vivid descriptions have made him a favorite with everyone from reluctant readers to teachers to adults seeking a thrilling escape. In its starred review, Publisher's Weekly said “Catanese dazzles in the first of the planned Books of Umber...Catanese packs a lot into the book: rich characterizations, well-choreographed action sequences and genuinely surprising twists at the end. An auspicious start to the series.” VOYA called The Thief and the Beanstalk "a rollicking adventure meshed with complex characters and an intriguing spin on a familiar tale..." www.pwcatanese.com, www.facebook.com/pwcatanese. |
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Leslie Connor Leslie Connor writes books for children of all ages. Her work spans the genres from picture books to young adult novels, from historical fiction to contemporary themes. Her award winning titles include a picture book, Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel, and young adult novels, Waiting for Normal and Crunch. Leslie says her writing days begin not at her desk, but on the hiking trails near her home. “I start to put my head into the story I’ll be working on that day and the details rise while I march through the ferns. When I get home, I pour a pot of tea, sit down and begin.” Leslie’s advice to writers is: write what you can’t ignore! (Chances are good that others will be interested too.) Leslie lives in a little house in the big Connecticut woods with her husband and three children (who drive cars and leave home a lot) and three of the best, rescued “writing dogs” in the world. Leslie likes gardening (but ended up with too many cherry tomatoes this year), baking artisan pizzas (with cherry tomatoes on top), and creating all sorts of art from all sorts of things (including cherry tomatoes). http://leslieconnor.com/. |
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Jerry Davis A producer of animated movies, Jerry Davis has worked with a lot of big Hollywood stars: a woolly mammoth, a sloth, and a sabre-toothed tiger (ICE AGE), robots (ROBOTS, IRON GIANT), chimps (SPACE CHIMPS), and even talking toys (TOY STORY). Now he’s written his first picture book, LITTLE CHICKEN’S BIG DAY, and gets to work with a new little star, Little Chicken. http://authors.simonandschuster.biz/Jerry-Davis |
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Stacy DeKeyser Stacy DeKeyser is an acclaimed author of books for kids and teens. She received an artist’s fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism for her work in children’s literature, and her novel Jump the Cracks was selected by Missouri middle-schoolers for a Truman Readers’ Award. Her newest midgrade novel, The Brixen Witch, is coming in 2012 from Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry Books. Stacy lives in Simsbury with her husband and two sons. Visit her website at www.stacydekeyser.com. |
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Frank W. Dormer So one time Frank’s fixing breakfast for his kids, when he sees a bunch of socks lying out on the lawn. “You mangy kids better pick up those socks or Socksquatch will get them!” Yeah, I know. Pretty weird, huh? Pretty soon that statement turned into the first picture book Frank wrote and illustrated. He’s illustrated a lot of other books, but none of them have socks in them. He has another book coming out soon about a pen that doesn’t listen, but THAT’S another story. www.frankwdormer.com |
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Kathleen Duble Kathleen Benner Duble had sixteen car accidents before she was twenty-one. Being an at-home writer keeps her from hitting the road (or anyone else)! She is the author of eight books for children, including The Sacrifice, a Jefferson Cup Noteworthy Book, Hearts Of Iron, an IRA Teacher’s Choice, Bravo Zulu, Samantha!, an Agatha Award nominee and a Massachusetts Book Award Honor Book and The Story Of The Samson, a NCSS Notable Trade Book. Her newest book about the Tenth Mountain Division, Phantoms In The Snow, was just released this spring from Scholastic. Kathleen loves digging for great historical stories and encouraging students and lovers of books to look for great stories right in their own backyard! |
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Deborah Freedman Deborah Freedman was an architect once, but now she loves to build worlds in books. She is the author and illustrator of the picture books, Scribble, published by Knopf in 2007, and Blue Chicken, Viking 2011. She lives with her family in New Haven, CT. You can learn more about Deborah and her work at www.deborahfreedman.net. |
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Patricia Hubbell Patricia Hubbell is the author of more than twenty rhymed picture books for the very young as well as ten collections of her poems for children. Her books have received many awards, including an Oppenheim Toy Group Gold Medal, and are included in a number of "best books of the year" lists. A Grass Green Gallop was a finalist for the SequoyahOklahoma Children's Book Award, and Black All Around! was a finalist for the Connecticut Center for the Book Children's Book Award as well as being one of ten finalists for the national Crown Gallery Award. Her most recent books --Shaggy Dogs, Waggy Dogs and Horses: Trotting! Prancing! Racing! --came out this month. Pat is a graduate of UConn where she studied English and agriculture. She is a native of Easton where she lives in a house in the woods, gardens in the shade, reads, writes, paints, and happily recalls the numerous horses and dogs she has owned over the years, and the books she has written since her first came out in 1963. http://www.kidspoet.com/. |
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Alan Katz Alan Katz is the author of many highly acclaimed children's books, including nine Silly Dilly Songbooks such as Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs, Where Did They Hide My Presents? and Are You Quite Polite? His picture books include Don't Say That Word!, The Flim-Flam Fairies and Stalling, and among his poetry books are OOPS! and the excitingly imminent release of Poems I Wrote When No One Was Looking. Alan has also been a six-time Emmy-nominated writer for TV series including The Rosie O'Donnell Show, animated series Taz-Mania, Disney's Raw Toonage and Goof Troop, the Grammy Awards and Tony Awards, various Nickelodeon shows, and a lot of network specials and game shows. He has also created of comic books, trading card sets, web videos, TV commercials and hundreds of other special projects for kids and their parents. |
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Jana Laiz Jana Laiz has been writing for as long as she can remember. She is the author of the triple award-winning novel, Weeping Under This Same Moon, Elephants of the Tsunami (written to raise money for tsunami relief), and the co-author of A Free Woman On God's Earth, The True Story of Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman, The Slave Who Won Her Freedom. Fascinated by other cultures, Jana studied anthropology and Chinese language at university. She is a teacher, a writer, an editor, a photographer, a mom, an animal lover and keeper of pets, and a dreamer. She is passionate about our beautiful planet and endeavors to make a difference in the world and to work with others who feel the same. Her novel, The Twelfth Stone, a Celtic American faerie tale adventure, romance, environmental novel for young adults, is hot off the press! She lives in a 200-year-old farmhouse in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. www.janalaiz.com. |
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Janet Lawler Janet Lawler's critically acclaimed children's books include Tyrannoclaus (HarperCollins), If Kisses Were Color (Dial), A Father's Song (Sterling), A Mother's Song (Sterling), and A Mama Bug's Love (Little Simon). Janet's love of family and nature inspires much of her writing. Her family shares their home in Connecticut with a dog, a lizard, and assorted wildlife visiting the backyard. Please get to know Janet and read about upcoming books at www.JanetLawler.com. |
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Ann Haywood Leal Ann Haywood Leal comes from a long line of musicians, artists, and teachers. Since she's never been able to carry a tune, she was always given plenty of writing supplies and allowed to use the sharp scissors. Eventually, she put those writing supplies to good use and wrote her first novel, Also Known as Harper (Henry Holt May '09). Ann is an elementary teacher and lives in Connecticut with her husband, Andy; her daughter, Holly; her cat, Pepper; and is a train and a subway away from her daughter, Jessica. Her second novel, A Finders-Keepers Place, was released in October 2010 (Henry Holt).www.annhaywoodleal.com, www.twitter.com/AnnHaywoodLeal, www.annhaywoodleal.blogspot.com |
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Sarah Darer Littman Sarah Darer Littman, writer, mother, and unpaid chauffeur, is a living example of the cliche, "Life Begins at 40." After spending much of her adult life doing things she didn't really plan to, including such diverse occupations as financial analyst and farmer's wife, she at long last found her true calling as a writer. Her first novel, Confessions of a Closet Catholic, won the 2006 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Older Readers. Her novel Life, After was a 2011 Sydney Taylor Honor Book and won 1st prize for YA fiction in the CT Press Club annual awards. She is also the author of Purge, named one of Bank Street College of Education’s 2010 Best Books of the Year and Want to go Private? In addition to writing for teens, Sarah is an award-winning columnist for Hearst Newspapers (CT) and CTNewsJunkie.com. Sarah lives in Cos Cob, CT with her family. Visit her online at http://sarahdarerlittman.com, http://wanttogoprivate.com and on twitter @sarahdarerlitt. |
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Michaela MacColl I grew up in upstate New York. After I graduated Vassar College, I came home for about an hour, then moved to Connecticut for graduate school at Yale University. […] I was always fascinated by stories of how famous people grew up to be that way. My first novel Prisoners in the Palace (Chronicle October 2010) explores the year before Princess Victoria becomes Queen. Victoria led a restricted and sheltered life. The adults around her were plotting to take advantage of the young queen's inexperience and youth. This story asks the question, what if Victoria were not completely alone? What if she had a friend? What if Victoria was not as powerless as she seemed? My second book will be published by Chronicle in the Fall of 2011. Beryl Above Africa is a rollicking ride through the childhood of Beryl Markham the aviator. Beryl and her father were among the first settlers in the highlands above colonial British East Africa. She was raised by the tribe who worked for her father and she learned how to hunt lion before she could write. Beryl was caught between two worlds: a life of a warrior or that of a proper young English lady. Beryl Above Africa is the story of how she resolves this dilemma and grows up to become a world-class pilot who is the first to cross the Atlantic solo going from Great Britain to North America. from: www.michaelamaccoll.com. |
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Amanda Marrone Amanda lives in Connecticut with her husband, Joe, two kids, two cats, a crayfish, hissing cockroaches, Griffin, a havanese dog who can say "Hello" and "I love you" and their newest addition, Penny, a five pound rescue dog. Amanda loves reading, going to Broadway shows, creepy crawly things, hiking, annoying her husband with show tunes, and is thinking about getting another tattoo. She is still scared of the dark. Amanda has four books for teens, Uninvited, Revealers, Devoured, and Slayed and a middle grade series, The Magic Repair Shop Books. from: www.amandamarrone.com |
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Barbara McClintock Perhaps I'm a soul reincarnate from the 19th Century, or I just have a fascination with history and period costume; my books dwell in a past world. I've been amply rewarded for my obsession with an older time - Animal Fables from Aesop, The Fantastic Drawings of Danielle, Dahlia, The Gingerbread Man, Cinderella, and Adèle & Simon are just a few of my books based in a long-ago time that have won prestigious awards and garnered glowing, sometimes rhapsodic reviews. There is some movement into more contemporary settings for my books. Mary and the Mouse, The Mouse and Mary takes place in the 1950s-1960s, and the 1990s - quite an invigorating departure for me! Inspiration for my stories comes from my childhood, family and friends. My photographer father created a life-long love and fascination with cameras and picture making. My son Larson has provided inspiration for many of my books – The Battle of Luke and Longnose came of his childhood interest in swords and swashbuckling. As a young adult, his curious mind has led him to a love of China, Mandarin, and Chinese culture and history, and in turn has inspired me in Adele & Simon's next book, set in 1908 China. And my mother's love-since-childhood of Robert Louis Stevenson's poetry culminated in my illustrating A Child’s Garden of Verses for her. In 2005, the illustrator David Johnson and I moved to a Georgian-style brick house built in 1815 in rural Connecticut. My studio looks out over the ever-expanding rose garden cultivated by David. I 'travel' in time and imagination, to China, France, and my own back yard for inspiration and settings for my books, but am only a few steps away from the coffee pot in my kitchen. from: http://barbaramcclintockbooks.com |
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Caissie St.Onge Caissie St.Onge loves to write all kinds of things! Her main job is as a television comedy writer (Emmy nominated, even) and she’s worked for The Late Show with David Letterman, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, and VH1’s Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins, The Grammy Awards, The Tony Awards and The International Emmy Awards. She even wrote an episode of Nick Jr’s The Wonder Pets! Caissie has co-authored two books, The United Jokes of America and Maternity the Musical, with her pal, Alan Katz. Her debut Young Adult novel, Jane Jones: Worst. Vampire. Ever. was released by Random House/Ember in 2011. When she’s not writing (sketches, songs, emails, grocery lists!) she can’t get enough of hanging out with her husband Matt Debenham (an award-winning author) and her two sons, Eli and Lincoln. What a bunch of really good eggs! They all live together in Connecticut, in a little red house that is full of animals and books and laughing.www.CaisBook.com |
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Nancy Tafuri Nancy Tafuri is probably best known as the creator of Have You Seen My Duckling?, a 1985 Caldecott Honor Book described by Parent’s Choice as “beautifully precise yet emotionally affecting.” Trained as a graphic designer, Tafuri has authored more than 45 books over 30 years for the very young. Tafuri was born in Brooklyn, New York. For the first ten years of her life she was an only child and says that this helped her to learn to entertain herself with stories and art. Tafuri entered the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1964. Her first job was as an assistant art director for the publishing firm Simon & Schuster. She left two years later and married Thomas Tafuri, a fellow student at the School of Visual Arts. The Tafuri’s opened their own graphic design studio, in 1971. Their primary product was dust jackets for hardcover books. They opened their business in New York City, but eventually moved their studio and home to Connecticut. At this time, Nancy was able to devote all of her time to writing and illustration. When Tafuri finally found herself illustrating children’s books, either her own or other authors’, she felt she had found her life’s calling and a strong sense of joy from creating them. She loves to take a small portion of the text and create a visual representation that children can grasp and remember. In 1989, when Cristina was born, Nancy began to feel even more strongly motivated to illustrate for children. Her work seemed even more important and more personal. |
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Daniel Waters Daniel Waters is the author of the Generation Dead series. He lives in Connecticut with his family. www.gendead.com, www.mysocalledundeath.com, www.danielwaters.com. |