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Informationen zum Autor The reason I'm a children's book author/illustrator today is that I have a lot of determination. I practiced drawing and revised my stories over and over because I wanted nothing more than to do what I'm doing now--writing and illustrating children's books. I always knew I'd become an artist and studied art in college in Texas. After graduating from college, I became an Art Director at a graphic design firm. I moved from Texas to New York to work in children's publishing. I got a job as Associate Art Director in children's books at Scholastic, where I designed books and enjoyed working with editors and illustrators. This was excellent experience. I illustrated my first children's book in 1992 and soon began illustrating full time. I had always written stories, but I began completing manuscripts and mailing them out to publishers in the early 1990's. In 1996, I sold my first two manuscripts -- Boo Who? (Scholastic) and Pen Pals (Grosset & Dunlap) -- both published in 1997. Now I write and illustrate full time. It is a great job. When I think of a idea, I write it down so that whenever I finish one story I'll have a bunch of ideas waiting that I can begin working on next. I especially love reading and writing funny stories, weird stories, and animal stories. Books I've written and illustrated include: Cinderdog and the Wicked Stepcat Albert Whitman , 2001 (ages 4-8, picture book) Abby Cadabra, Super Speller , Grosset & Dunlap, 2000 (ages 6-8, easy reader) How to Find Lost Treasure in All Fifty States and Canada, Too Aladdin, 2000 (ages 8-12, NF) The Haunted States of America Aladdin, 2001 (ages 8-12, NF) Vincent Van Gogh: Sunflowers and Swirly Stars , 2001 Grosset & Dunlap (ages 6-9, NF) Happy Monster Day! Scholastic,1999 Pen Pals Grosset & Dunlap, 1997 (ages 6-8, easy reader) Ivy Green, Cootie Queen Troll , 1998 (ages 7-9) Red, Yellow, Green What Do Signs Mean? Scholastic, 1998 (ages 4-8) Boo Who? A Spooky Lift-the-Flap Book Scholastic, 1997 (ages 1-6) Eek-A-Boo! A Spooky Lift-the-Flap Book Scholastic, 2000 (ages 1-6) Books I've written include: I Have A Weird Brother Who Digested A Fly , Albert Whitman, 1999 (picture book) Light the Candles, A Hanukkah Lift the Flap Book , Puffin, 2000 The Garden That We Grew Viking/Puffin, 2001(ages 4-7, easy reader) The Pizza That We Made Viking/Puffin, 2001(ages 4-7, easy reader) Scat Cats! Viking/Puffin, 2001(ages 4-7, easy reader) Backwards Day , Scholastic, 2000 Why Do Dogs Bark? Puffin, 2001(ages 6-8, easy reader) Why Do Cats Meow? Puffin, 2001(ages 6-8, easy reader) The Spooky Sleepover , Grosset & Dunlap, 1999 (ages 6-8, easy reader) Pajama Party Grosset & Dunlap, 1998 (ages 4-7, easy reader) Space Dogs on Planet K-9 Troll, 1998 (ages 7-10) Books I've illustrated include: Breakout at the Bug Lab Dial, 2001(ages 6-8, easy reader) Hector's Hiccups Random House, 1999 Shadows Everywhere Scholastic, 1999 Hot Cha-Cha! Winslow Press No Fair! Scholastic, Hello Math The 100th Day of School Scholastic Ten Little Ballerinas Grosset & Dunlap I Love You Mom Troll I Love You Dad Troll My First Book of Sign Language Troll Answers to questions people sometimes ask me: 1. Where do you get your ideas? I get ideas many different ways. Sometimes, ideas just pop into my head. I also listen to and watch the people around me for ideas. I read to get ideas. I daydream to get ideas. When I get an idea, I write it down in an idea notebook, so I won't forget it. I think ideas are the easy part of writing. I get lots of ideas for books all the time. Developing them into a book with a beginning, mid...
