Amelia Edwards

Amy Ehrlich

Author of the teen novel Joyride and the picture books Baby Dragon and The Girl Who Wanted to Dance.

Max Eilenberg

The author of the critically acclaimed Beauty and the Beast, illustrated by Angela Barrett, and Cinderella, illustrated by Niamh Sharkey.

David Elliott

As well as being an author David is also a professor at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire.,By his own admission, David Elliott was "very peripatetic" in his youth, but after living in the Philippines, Palau, Israel, Mexico, Libya, and more recently Boston, Massachusetts, and Columbus, Ohio, the children's book author finally settled in the countryside. "Neither my wife nor I had lived in the country before," he explains. "And the many required adjustments perplexed and sometimes dismayed us (they still do!)." For the talented writer and professor however, inspiration has come along with the challenges of rural living. "Six months or so after we had begun to settle into our 180-year-old house, I found myself waking up, night after night, at just past 4:00 AM. It took a few nights, but I discovered the culprit--my neighbor's rooster," the author says. "At first I wanted to strangle that bird, but on the sixth or seventh night, I began to appreciate him. He's simply following his nature, I thought. There was a great comfort in that." And it's thanks to that bird that readers can enjoy David Elliott's latest work, AND HERE'S TO YOU, an exuberant ode to joy illustrated by Randy Cecil. "One night, in that hypnogogic state between sleep and consciousness, I woke up with these worlds floating through my head: 'Here's to the birds! The Feather People! Birds! Here's to the whooo ones. The cock-adoodle-doo ones.' I knew I was onto something then." EVANGELINE MUDD AND THE GOLDEN-HAIRED APES OF THE IKKINASTI JUNGLE, a middle-grade novel that takes readers on a wild adventure from a cozy New England bungalow to the dangers of the jungle, also came out of an experience in the countryside. In fact, the story of the tale's inception is an adventure all its own. "Friends of our family were expecting their third child," David Elliott explains. "They were strolling on an old logging road in the middle of the New Hampshire woods and a few minutes later, their daughter, Hallie, was born right there. This happened just at the time I was beginning Evangeline. I wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but once she decided to be born outside, just like Hallie, the book began to take shape. Surely, I remember thinking, strange things are bound to happen to a girl who decides to take her first breath in the open air, without doctors and far away from the regulated atmosphere of hospitals." And now fans can follow Evangeline's exploits through her second novel: EVANGELINE MUDD AND THE GREAT MINK ESCAPADE. David Elliott is also the author of THE TRANSMOGRIFICATION OF ROSCOE WIZZLE, a Book Sense 76 Selection, as well as THE COOL CRAZY CRICKETS. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife and son and their bearded collie, Psyche.

David Ellwand

Photographer, artist and top fashion designer for the Fairie world.,David Ellwand says he has long been intrigued by folklore and tales of the little people. "I've been to a lot of places where folklorists say that fairies have been sighted," he notes. "Nowadays anything supernatural might be purported to be a UFO, but in Victorian times it would be considered to be a fairie, or a will-o'-the-wisp, or whatever. It's really quite fascinating." Now add to this fascination a painstaking attention to detail and an imagination in permanent overdrive, and you'll have some sense of what inspired FAIRIE-ALITY: THE FASHION COLLECTION FROM THE HOUSE OF ELLWAND. "I've worked as a photographer for more than fifteen years and spent a lot of my time photographing flowers," David Ellwand recalls. "One day, after working with some calla lilies, I left them out without any water. They started to dry naturally, and I noticed how one of them resembled a small silk shirt. I then started to bend and shape the flowers and model them into items of clothing suggested by their organic shapes." The resulting "fairie clothes," fashioned as playthings for David Ellwand's then three-year-old daughter, caught the eye of a visiting editor from Candlewick Press. Before long an exquisitely designed, tongue-in-cheek catalog of fashions for fairies was in full flight. David Ellwand says that his biggest challenge in hand-crafting designs from flowers, feathers, leaves, grass, shells, and other natural materials is "trying to handle the delicate materials without messing them up." Through meticulous experimentation, he learned that feathers have a natural flex that creates a perfect loop, flower petals have a natural curl, and lilies especially, when half-dried, can be worked into all sorts of shapes. He also discovered that his diminutive creations need to be photographed instantly before they begin to fade and wither. Reproduced in breathtaking detail, the 150 fashions David Ellwand showcases in FAIRIE-ALITY--dresses, coats, trousers, hats, underthings, and shoes--have grabbed the attention of such fashion moguls as shoe designer Stuart Weitzman, who commissioned eight almost-human-sized "fairie" shoes for a window display making the round of his boutiques. In the singular world of David Ellwand, flowers have taken on a life of their own. Of the enchanting CINDERLILY: A FLORAL FAIRY TALE, written by Christine Tagg, he says, "This book is the realization of a vision I had about five years ago, informed by many years of photographing flowers, the continuing use of natural materials in my work, and the marvels of modern computer technology. All the poses are based on actual ballet and gymnastic moves--Cinderlily's jumps are based on the great Olga Korbut!" Most recently, David Ellwand has turned his camera lens from the delicate beauty of flowers to another natural wonder: the marvelous individuality of babies. Every day in the world, more than 350,000 babies are born. That's 14,500 per hour, 245 per minute, 4 per second . . . and each one is unique. And never is that miracle portrayed more stunningly than in the luminous photographs of David Ellwand -- an infant gazing intently with balled-up fists; tiny toes and fingers as delicate as flowers; a medley of babies' faces, close up and radiantly expressive. Interspersed with quotes that will resonate with grown-up readers, BABY UNIQUE is sure to fascinate the youngest of listeners, who will see themselves reflected in its enchanting images. On the other end of the spectrum, he previously collaborated with Christine Tagg on METAL MUTZ!, a pop-up book of clever dog sculptures he first constructed out of household objects and pieces of scrap metal and then photographed. David Ellwand began his career in photography at the age of eighteen and uses a variety of formats and techniques in his books: black-and-white photographs, collage with hand-tinting, and full-color photography of handmade objects. He is also a mouse trainer, sculptor, and highly skilled self-taught computer artist. He lives with his wife and daughter in a village in West Sussex, England.

Michael Emberley

Coming from a family of children's authors Michael has a deep love for cycling and values his "nothing time".,Michael Emberley When Michael Emberley was growing up in Massachusetts, his father, who is also an illustrator, would have him draw whatever he was looking at for just two minutes every day-no more, no less. This daily exercise taught the young artist's eye to see, and it taught him to draw freely without criticizing himself. Carrying on the family tradition of encouragement, Michael Emberley now tells children, "I never started out drawing any better than you. I just never stopped drawing." For he firmly believes that anyone can learn to draw: "The trick is repetitive practice and the belief that it is possible." It's clear that Michael Emberley's belief is very strong. Today he is the acclaimed illustrator of many books, among them Candlewick's award-winning books by Robie H. Harris, including HAPPY BIRTH DAY!, about the birth and first day of a baby's life; HI NEW BABY!, about how it feels to be the big brother or big sister of a new baby; IT'S SO AMAZING, about reproduction; and IT'S PERFECTLY NORMAL, a refreshing and honest book about changing bodies, growing up, sex, and sexual health. And Michael Emberley still continues to train his eye to see. For HAPPY BIRTH DAY! he attended two births before starting the illustrations. "After carpeting my studio with hundreds of sketches in my struggle to capture the complex emotions of the young girl in this book, I think I finally know what must have been going on in my sister's mind on the day I was born," he says of that experience. Michael Emberley competes in bicycle marathons, as do his father and sister (also an author and illustrator). Sometimes father and son are asked to sign each other's books. Is there a touch of intergenerational competition? "My dad is very talented and I respect his legacy," Michael says. Then he adds jokingly, "But he's not beyond my reach."

Jonathan Emmett

Author of the best-selling picture book Bringing Down the Moon and its long-awaited sequel, No Place Like Home.,About Me I was born in Leicestershire in 1965, the son of a rig-fitter and a primary school teacher. I was fascinated with books from an early age. As a small boy, I reorganized the box room of our house into a library of my parents' books. However, instead of ordering the books by subject or author, they were organized by size and color, which made more sense to me at the time. I remember visiting my local library as a toddler and the picture books that I borrowed then, including WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak, THE CAT IN THE HAT by Dr Seuss and HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON by Crockett Johnson, have had a great influence on the picture books that I now write. However, the author that had the biggest influence on my childhood was Roald Dahl. It was while I was at college studying architecture, that I first began to develop my skills as a writer and illustrator. I was in a band for a short time - it was a pretty crummy band. We never even played a gig. We just fooled around pretending to rehearse. But, because I was the only one that couldn't play an instrument, I had to sing (I am using the word 'sing' very loosely here) and this meant that I also had to write lyrics. I enjoyed this and kept on writing long after the band had become no more than an embarrassing memory. After leaving college, I worked as an architect for several years, before pursuing a full-time career in children's books. I live in Nottingham, with my wife Rachel and my children Max and Laura. About My Work The first Mole book, BRINGING DOWN THE MOON, started life as a story about a man trying to build a tower to the moon, but the story didn't work very well until I hit upon the idea of making the main character a mole. A mole lives underground and might never have come across the moon before. And moles are short-sighted, so they would have difficulty judging distance. There are now four Mole books. I think one of the reasons readers like Mole so much is that he is so determined - even when he's trying to do something that's impossible! In addition to writing picture books, I also write and paper-engineer pop-up books. Three Things You Didn't Know About Me 1 - I was given a prize for growing "the most beautiful sunflower" at primary school. 2 - I once waddled through the town square of Sienna in Italy disguised as ET. 3 - I am 100% bio-degradable.

Smokewood Entertainment

Timothy Basil Ering

Illustrator of the Newbery Medal-winning The Tale of Despereaux, written by Kate DiCamillo, and author-illustrator of The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone and Necks Out for Adventure.,I always think of illustration as a form of acting, says Timothy Basil Ering. "Each time I approach a project I need to become the character I'm depicting. And then I have to choose the appropriate medium that will allow me to speak in that voice." Anyone who knows Tim Ering would agree that he himself is a character, as inimitable as any he might portray. Before landing at the Art Center College of Design, in Pasadena, California, the author-illustrator-to-be indulged his longtime love of the sea as a boatswainsmate aboard the USS KITTY HAWK, sailing to points as far afield as Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Sri Lanka, and Africa. And since finishing art school--where he discovered influences as far removed as Michelangelo and Dr. Seuss--the artist has approached his work with a spirit of adventure and originality that reflect his singular approach to life. Tim Ering's first picture book with Candlewick had its beginnings in a silly string of words he thought up to amuse himself as he meandered to favorite fishing spots on Cape Cod. Years later, at an urban garden created by schoolchildren in Pasadena, he began sketching a scarecrow. "I knew at that moment," he says, "that FROG BELLY RAT BONE had found a home." And so sprung up the tale of a boy who finds strange, specklike treasures, and the unforgettable creature who watches over them while they grow. With its surreal artwork full of subtle tones, bursts of color, fantastical figures, and a quirky, hand-lettered text, Tim Ering's picture book debut exudes all the whimsy of an inspired imagination. That imagination was put to a very different challenge with 33 SNOWFISH, a novel by Adam Rapp for which Tim Ering created not only the haunting cover image, but also interior drawings that represent notebook sketches of a troubled teenage character. "Whenever you receive a manuscript, you have to get into character," he says. "In this case, I also had to imagine how this character would draw, and how his drawing might change or shrink on the page according to his changing state of mind." Tim Ering steers his range in yet another direction to explore a more classical style--with a contemporary flair--in THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX: BEING THE STORY OF A MOUSE, A PRINCESS, SOME SOUP, AND A SPOOL OF THREAD, a much-anticipated new work of fiction by Newbery Honor author Kate DiCamillo. Says the illustrator, "My mother may have been a mouse in her past life, as I watched her save and help so many mice in our house while I was growing up. The illustrations I've done of Despereaux Tilling are, in a way, my tribute to her." Tim Ering's artwork has appeared in books, magazines, theater sets, private murals, and fine art galleries. The invariably paint-splattered artist lives in Massachusetts.