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  • Robert Robert

    Robert Sabuda

    A world renowned pop-up master, creator of the awe-inspiring Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs.,With the ability to hold a crayon came the discovery that I was an artist, says pop-up book master Robert Sabuda. "I spent hours, days and weeks drawing, painting, cutting and gluing. My bedroom was a constant whirlwind of pencil shavings, drippy paint brushes and mounds of paper scraps. My mother's pleas of 'When are you going to CLEAN UP this mess?!' went unanswered." Robert Sabuda says that reading was very important in his family and promoted at every opportunity. His mother had a local dancing school where Robert Sabuda says he, "Tap danced away my spare time and first experienced the art of visual storytelling." At school, Robert Sabuda says his teachers asked him to create their bulletin boards because they knew how much he loved art. "This was the first time I discovered that paper could be used for more than just drawing and painting on," he recalls. "I covered the bulletin boards with cut-paper collages. At home I started to fold and glue paper together to make little model houses. But the best discovery was when I folded together many pieces of paper, stapled them down the middle and created a book. I immediately began making books of all sizes filled with simple stories and happy pictures." Robert Sabuda's passion for books took an unexpected twist after a trip to a new dentist. Scared and nervous, he says he noticed a wicker basket filled with books and he began to look at them while he waited. "I went to the basket and realized right away that these books were special," he says. "I opened the first one and was shocked and delighted when something leapt right off the page. It was a pop-up book! I was so excited, I forgot all about the dentist." Shortly after that, Robert Sabuda says his mother brought home some old manila filing folders from work. He discovered that the folders were perfect for making pop-ups. After spending time examining the numerous pop-up books he was given as presents, he was soon able to make his own simple pop-ups. After graduating from high school, Robert Sabuda left Michigan and headed to New York City to study art at Pratt Institute. While at Pratt, he did an internship at Dial Books for Young Readers. "I learned everything about how a children's book is created, but more importantly I fetched the mail," he says. "I'm sure this may not seem very exciting but it is when the mail you're opening is original artwork from Barbara Cooney, Thomas Locker and James Marshall! I decided then and there that I would be a children's book illustrator." After graduating from Pratt, Robert Sabuda says he went from one children's publishing house to another, showing his work and trying to get an illustrating project. Finally, he began to receive very small jobs illustrating coloring books (based on popular movie characters like Rambo!). Eventually these jobs led to other book projects, and slowly he discovered that he was a children's book illustrator. He began to write his own stories and illustrate those as well. He says, "Picture books were wonderful, but I always hoped that one day I could create a pop-up book, too. So I pulled out my old pop-up books and taught myself how to make even better ones as a grown up." Today, Robert Sabuda works in his studio in New York City, which he shares with his partner, children's book creator Matthew Reinhart. "We love making books," he says. "It's hard work, but the best part is not having to worry about making a mess. When being an artist is your job, you can make as many messes as you want to!" Robert Sabuda is the creator of many breathtaking and best-selling pop-up books, including ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, and most recently the Encyclopedia Prehistorica trilogy: ENCYCLOPEDIA PREHISTORICA: DINOSAURS, ENCYCLOPEDIA PREHISTORICA: SHARKS AND OTHER SEA MONSTERS AND ENCYCLOPEDIA PREHISTORICA: MEGA-BEASTS.
  • Brian Brian

    Brian Sanders

  • Linda Linda

    Linda Sanders

  • Jeffrey Jeffrey

    Jeffrey Sayre

    Illustrator of counting book One Is a Snail, Two Is a Crab.,For husband-and-wife team April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre, working and playing together is natural--both are naturalists who explore and write about the natural world. The pair leads ecotours and has traveled extensively, going to countries as far-flung as Madagascar, The Galapagos Islands, and Ecuador. Jeff Sayre is an accomplished ecologist specializing in native plants and birds, and April Pulley Sayre is an award-winning author of more than 40 natural history books for children. "I try to communicate the excitement I feel about nature and my fascination with what scientists do," says April Pulley Sayre of her work. "Sharing wonder, and often humor, is what my work is all about." Together, April Pulley and Jeff Sayre are co-authors of a delightful book for children, ONE IS A SNAIL, TEN IS A CRAB: A COUNTING BY FEET BOOK. The idea for this mirthful counting book came to the ecology-minded pair when they were brainstorming and laughing together--something they say they love to do often. In ONE IS A SNAIL, TEN IS A CRAB, a bunch of fun-loving crabs, lounging dogs, gleeful insects, and bewildered-looking snails obligingly offer their feet for counting in a number of silly, surprising combinations from one to one hundred. After reading this book, it's not surprising to hear April Pulley Sayre note, "Each year, I seem to have a new favorite animal. My list of 'favorite animals' is getting ridiculously long!" April Pulley and Jeff Sayre have produced science videos and a nature documentary on wetlands, served as on-camera hosts for a pilot series on birdwatching, and co-authored a critically acclaimed book about hummingbirds for adults. In addition, the two speak at schools, botanical gardens, zoos, and nature festivals. When asked for advice for young writers, April Pulley Sayre suggests, "Spend time outdoors. . . . Like me, you'll probably be amazed by what you find living close to home." Jeff Sayre and April Pulley Sayre live in Indiana.
  • Carole-Lexa Carole-Lexa

    Carole Lexa Schaefer

    Author of The Bora Bora Dress and Full Moon Barnyard Dance.,When Carole Lexa Schaefer was growing up, she wanted to be both a poet and a journalist. In an unexpected way, she feels she achieved her ambition. While studying for a master's degree in early childhood education, she once put together a picture book made of photo essays. "The lyrical, every-word-counts genre captivated the poet and journalist in me," Carole Lexa Schaefer recalls--and she's been writing stories for children ever since. Her first book with Candlewick, THE COPPER TIN CUP, traces the origin of a family keepsake that's been handed down for generations. "It was inspired by my connections with my immigrant relatives through stories and songs--invisible heirlooms--to keep handing on," she says. The longtime director of a Seattle preschool that she founded in 1980, Carole Lexa Schaefer often draws on her experience with young children when writing stories. In DOWN IN THE WOODS AT SLEEPYTIME, not one of the baby animals in the woods is ready to go to bed, until Grandma Owl finally finds a way to settle everyone down. The author says she was inspired "by all my friends at Little Friends Preschool who like to play just a little bit longer--even at sleepytime." Luckily, preschool teachers now have some help at nap time: DOWN IN THE WOODS AT SLEEPYTIME, says PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, is a book in which "author and artist make bedtime about as appealing as it gets." With her next books, Carole Lexa Schaefer switches gears from sleepytime to partytime. FULL MOON BARNYARD DANCE is a rousing read-aloud that showcases farm animals dancing as they learn to appreciate their differences. ONE WHEEL WOBBLES, a zany counting book, follows one fun-loving family on Family Parade Day as they roll along on an ever-increasing number of wheels--Gramma on a motorcycle, Sister on a trike, and Grampa on some snazzy skates. Of ONE WHEEL WOBBLES, Carole Lexa Schaefer explains, "I wanted to create a counting book for children with which they could have a rollicking good time." Carole Lexa Schaefer, who has a master's degree in early childhood education from the University of Washington, taught school for ten years in places as varied as Taiwan, Switzerland, and Micronesia, as well as Missouri and Washington. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, the author now lives in Seattle.
  • Sherry Sherry

    Sherry Scharschmidt

    Sherry Scharschmidt is a slightly demented, half-Korean, animal-loving, native Californian. Her early love of books was nearly thwarted when the requisite for a library card was the ability to spell your last name. Luckily the librarian was merciful and let her mother do some coaching and she passed. From elementary school on Sherry was in love with art. Painting, ceramics, collage, silk-screening, welding, she tried it all. She attended U.C. Berkely and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and moved to New York to pursure a career as an art director. She has worked in agencies from New York to Tokyo and, currently. Chicago. In addition to her career in advertising Sherry is a painter. Her works all feature cats or dogs combined with salvaged sign letters to make amusing rebus style paintings. Sherry currently lives in West Chicago, IL with a nice guy and a really old cat.
  • Laura-Amy Laura-Amy

    Laura Amy Schlitz

    A librarian, professional storyteller, and author of Newbery Award-winning Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!,As a child, I was very lucky. My parents gave me plenty of time to play and dream. Often, I pretended to be someone else; a ballerina, a horse, a mermaid, a spy. My brother and I ruled over a kingdom of stuffed animals - I was 'The Great Laurie', and the national anthem was the 'Grand March' from Aida. I adored fairies and fairy tales. I gathered bread crusts and hid them under the dining-room table - people in fairy tales were often described as "not having a crust to eat", and I was determined to save my family from this fate. I taught myself to sleep in the flying-leap pose, favored by Peter Pan on the cover of my fairy tale book. If Peter dropped by when I was asleep, he would know, from my body position, that I was willing to join him in Neverland (he has yet to turn up, but I still sleep in that position, though I wake with a stiff back). I have made my living as a librarian (I took off a couple of years off, to tour with a children's theatre - it was a gloriously free, and disorganized life, but eventually, I had no money at all). I love the theatre, and wrote my first stage play for a friend, who needed a last-minute script for Beauty and the Beast. It turned out better than anyone expected, and I became a playwright - my plays have been produced in professional theatres all over the country. I love to make things; bread, marionettes, quilts, watercolors, origami animals. My hands get restless if I can't make things. For the past thirteen years, I've worked as a school librarian, and I am so grateful that I work with children - they make me laugh, and their energy reminds me to enjoy life. As a writer, I do a lot of complaining. People often ask why I write, when I hate it so much. I answer, that I write because I am under a curse. I keep meaning to give up writing, but I haven't got around to it yet. I dread sitting down to write, and I have to resort to tricks to get myself to the paper. "One half hour, or one page," I promise myself, "then you can get up and do something you like." I go to the bathroom, take the telephone off the hook, fill my fountain pen, get myself a glass of water, and sit down. Once I sit, my rear end has to stay in place until I've written. I often say that I write with my rear end - it's the ballast that holds me steady while I fight for words.
  • Viviane Viviane

    Viviane Schwarz

    Author of The Adventures of a Nose, described by The Guardian as "a very clever book - and enormous fun.",About Me: I was born in Hannover, Germany, but my family moved to a smaller town almost at once. I somehow worked out how to read when I was four, and by the trick of holding the books upside down I managed to hide that skill for some time, so I got to read some really exciting books before school. School wasn't so exciting, but I managed to read more books under the table secretly. I had trouble staying awake and often fell asleep during exams because I had such adventurous dreams at night. After thirteen years of school, which seemed like a very long time, I really felt like going somewhere else. I decided to go to England because I figured that I'd learned good English from reading lots of American science fiction novels. In England, I learned for the first time that there are other exciting things besides reading books, for example swimming in the sea and running around town with friends looking for things to make art out of (I'd enrolled in an art college). I decided not to go back, and now I live in London which is a bit too far away from the sea but otherwise very nice. I spend my days writing, drawing, making toys and going on exploring missions - well, walks. Sometimes I still read books, too, but only one at a time now. About my work: My favorite thing is to see someone laugh at one of my books. There are a lot of frightening things in the world, and I think my job is to find the happy things curled up in the corners. That can be quite hard work, but then I get to put them to paper and have them printed in a book so they are more easily found again, and that is great fun. I like drawing with brushes and ink and being surprised by what comes out. Sometimes I am not in a mood for surprises, then I draw with a pencil instead and spend ages on it, but to be honest it still never ends up looking quite like I thought it would. I don't think it has to look like I imagined, as long as it says what I mean. I make stuffed toys because I find it hard to draw things I've not touched, and you're not really allowed to handle animals at the zoo, for example. But if I've looked at an animal and also tried to make it out of socks I normally feel confident enough drawing it. Three things you didn't know about me: 1 - I always wear lipstick for difficult work, because it makes me feel more serious. Sometimes I wear it on my nose. 2 - There are eight pet birds flying around in my house. 3 - I don't put my really scary ideas into picture books, instead I write long ghost novels which I keep in a box.
  • Viola-Ann Viola-Ann

    Viola Ann Seddon

    A dollmaker and illustrator who has created three wonderful kits for creating your own ballet theatre.
  • Marcus Marcus

    Marcus Sedgwick