I also spent time outside painting

watercolors en plein aire here in

France or while on the road elsewhere.

​I was born in Springfield, Ohio and moved to Connecticut with my family when I was 13 years old. While in high school I created comic books lampooning my teachers, selling them to my classmates for a nickel a piece (Some of my teachers didn't like it!).

 

Since 1978, I've illustrated and/or written over 130 books for children and collected a number of honors including a Reuben Award for Book Illustration from the National Cartoonists Society, New York Times Children's Books Best Sellers, the New York Public Library's Best 100 Books of 2000, and a 2009 California Young Readers medal. I enjoy painting, playing guitar (I'm not very good, cooking (and eating!) and hangng out in my local cafe in Provence, France.