Sam McBratney

The award-winning author of the multi-million selling picture book phenomenon Guess How Much I Love You.,The response to this book just takes my breath away, says Sam McBratney of his award-winning bestseller, GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, illustrated endearingly by Anita Jeram. "I was talking to my agent about the text after I completed it, and she said, 'Sam, this book can do nothing but good.' I didn't really understand what she meant at the time, but now I know that she was thinking about the opportunities this book would create for wee ones and big ones to come together for a few precious moments." Recently, Sam McBratney teamed up again with Anita Jeram to create another classic opportunity for parents and children to share the pleasures of reading together. "People often ask authors where their ideas come from, and often authors say they don't know," he says of YOU'RE ALL MY FAVORITES, the comforting story of three little bears who learn there's plenty of love to go around. "But I do know about this one. Once upon a time, my wife and I had three small children--two boys and a girl, just like in the story. And when they were young, we used to tell them a story very like YOU'RE ALL MY FAVORITES." The Northern Ireland native started writing children's books when he was a teacher in his thirties, with the aim of helping out students who had trouble reading. But he continued writing for a more-personal reason: "the act of imagining simply makes me feel good," he says. The fifty-seventh book of Sam McBratney's career, and his first book with Candlewick Press, was the much-loved GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, which has sold an astonishing 15 million copies worldwide, and is available in 37 languages. "This is not the sort of thing you expect when most of your books have been remaindered," the author admits. "But, as the frog trapped in the milk discovered, if you keep going, sometimes you find yourself walking on cream cheese." Where does Sam McBratney get his inspiration? "I told my children stories when they were young," he says, "so when I write I try to think of what they would have liked." But there may be another source guiding his writing as well. The author's father--who worked as a type compositor with the BELFAST TELEGRAPH, and whose favorite books were westerns--is the person Sam McBratney credits for giving him his love of the English language. "Most of my picture books--GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, JUST ONE!, and JUST YOU AND ME--explore the relationship between a big one and a wee one," the author notes. "The big one is not called the father in the stories, but that's what he is. Although my dad died before I became a writer, the father in my stories has a voice and a presence that he would have recognized and understood." In addition to authoring many books for children, Sam McBratney has also written radio plays for adults and a prize-winning collection of short stories. He received a degree in history and political science from Trinity College, Dublin, and worked for many years as a teacher. Married, with three grown children, Sam McBratney lives in Northern Ireland.

Karen McCombie

The best-selling author of the Ally's World series and past writer for teen magazines J17 and Sugar.

Megan McDonald

Author of the best-selling series about Judy Moody, the girl with a mood for every occasion!,Sometimes I think I AM Judy Moody, says Megan McDonald, author of the wildly popular JUDY MOODY series, the Stink books, and The Sisters Club trilogy. "I'm certainly moody, like she is. Judy has a strong voice and always speaks up for herself. I like that." For Megan McDonald, being able to speak up for herself wasn't always easy. She grew up in a house full of books, as the youngest of five sisters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father, an ironworker, was known to his coworkers as "Little Johnny the Storyteller." Every evening, the McDonalds gathered around the large, round dinner table to talk and tell stories, but Megan McDonald was barely able to get a word in edgewise. "I'm told I began to stutter," she says, leading her mother to give her a copy of Harriet the Spy and a small spiral notebook, so she could begin "writing things down" ala the young reporter Harriet. To date, Megan McDonald has penned over 60 books for children and young readers, including the critically acclaimed Judy Moody series. These hilarious books have won numerous awards, ranging from a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and an International Reading Association Children's Choice to the first-ever Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award. "Judy has taken on a life of her own," the author notes, with millions of Judy Moody books in print worldwide. The feisty third-grader is highly popular with boys AND girls, making for an enthusiastic base of fans who are among Megan McDonald's strongest incentives to keep writing the adventures of Judy Moody and her little brother Stink, along with a bottomless well of ideas inspired by growing up with four older sisters. And -- by popular demand -- Judy Moody's little brother, Stink, gets his chance to shine in his own adventures! Megan McDonald says, "Once, while I was visiting a class full of Judy Moody readers, the kids, many with spiked hair à la Judy's little brother, chanted, 'Stink! Stink! Stink! Stink! Stink!' as I entered the room. In that moment, I knew that Stink had to have a book all his own." Now, giant jawbreakers, smelly sneakers, stinky corpse flowers, and 101 runaway guinea pigs join Mouse, Jaws, Toady, mood rings, an ABC gum collection, and operating on a zucchini in the everyday antics of Judy Moody's world. Recently, Megan McDonald has recalled some of her own childhood by writing about the warmth, humor -- and squabbles -- of three spunky sisters in The Sisters Club trilogy, wrapping up with Cloudy With a Chance of Boys. Megan McDonald lives and writes in northern California with her husband, a frequent collaborator.

Abby McDonald

Jill McDougall

Katharine McEwen

Illustrator of Allan Ahlberg's award-winning Gaskitt adventures.

Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

Dave McKean

Dave McKean is an award-winning artist whose distinctive illustrations have graced several children's books including The Savage.,As a child, I loved drawing, playing the piano and watching science fiction films. My father also played piano and would draw cartoon characters for me. I've always been determined to make the most of his genes, and try as many creative things as possible. My mother completely supported everything I tried to do. I made Super8 films with friends, published my own very bad comics and played in school and semi-professional bands throughout my school years. I live in Kent with my wife Clare, and two children Yolanda and Liam. While still at art school I started working professionally as an illustrator. I've always loved music and wanted to design CD covers and a couple of comic-book fans at record labels gave me my first professional work in this area. I've now done over 100 CD packages. In 1996 I decided I wanted to make a film and wrote two shorts, the Week Before and N[eon]. I shot them in my barn with no budget and a tiny crew, and slowly completed them while learning how to edit and make special effects. I'm still very happy with them. I've realized a few things over the last 20 years: That I'm a slow learner, preferring to make my own mistakes rather than take professional advice. That I'm stubborn. That I love comics, and hope to make another couple of comic novels before I'm 50. That I don't have skin thick enough to survive in the film industry. If I can make films my own way, I'll continue to try. That I love to learn new things, and that I'm easily bored. That I'm very lucky to have lived through the quantum jump from analog to digital technology, I appreciate the strengths of both. That spending all your time doing things you love, is a great life to aim for.

David McKee