A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images in picture books are commonly produced in a range of media, such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor, and pencil, among others.
Maurice Bernard Sendak was an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He became widely known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, first published in 1963. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was affected by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Sendak also wrote works such as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, and illustrated many works by other authors including the Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik.
William Steig was an American cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children's books. He was best known for the picture books Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Abel's Island, and Doctor De Soto, he was also the creator of Shrek!, which inspired the film series of the same name. He was the U.S. nominee for both of the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Awards, as a children's book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988.
Ruth Ida Krauss was an American writer of children's books, including The Carrot Seed, and of theatrical poems for adult readers. Many of her books are still in print.
Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short in 1973 ; a 1980 opera; and a live-action 2009 feature-film adaptation. The book had sold over 19 million copies worldwide as of 2009, with 10 million of those being in the United States.
Ann Brashares is an American young adult novelist. She is best known as the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.
The Rosenbach is a Philadelphia museum and library located within two 19th-century townhouses. The historic houses contain the collections and treasures of Philip Rosenbach and his younger brother Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach. The brothers owned the Rosenbach Company, which became the preeminent dealer of rare books, manuscripts and decorative arts during the first half of the 20th century. Dr. Rosenbach in particular was seminal in the rare book world, helping to build libraries such as the Widener Library at Harvard, The Huntington Library and the Folger Shakespeare Library. In 2013, the Rosenbach became a subsidiary of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, but maintains its own board and operates independently of the public library system.
James Edward Marshall was an American illustrator and writer of children's books, probably best known for the George and Martha series of picture books (1972–1988). He illustrated books exclusively as James Marshall; when he created both text and illustrations he sometimes wrote as Edward Marshall. In 2007 the U.S. professional librarians posthumously awarded him the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for "substantial and lasting contribution" to American children's literature.
In the Night Kitchen is a popular children's picture book that was controversial in the US, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, first published in 1970. The book depicts a young boy's dream journey through a surreal baker's kitchen where he assists in the creation of a cake to be ready by the morning. In the Night Kitchen has been described by Sendak as part of a trilogy of books based on psychological development from In the Night Kitchen (toddler) to Where the Wild Things Are (pre-school) to Outside Over There (pre-adolescent). It was a Caldecott Honor recipient in 1971. It was adapted into a five-minute animated short film on January 1, 1987 by Gene Deitch and Weston Woods.
National Ambassador for Young People's Literature is a literary honor presented bi-annually by the Library of Congress to an author or illustrator who is a U.S. citizen and who has made a substantial contribution to young people's literature. The position was established in 2008. More than receiving an award, during their tenure ambassadors help communicate to children about books and reading, so the selection criteria include being an effective communicator, having a dynamic personality and the ability to work with children. The position is modeled on the British Children's Laureate, which was established in 1999. The position is currently sponsored by the Center for the Book and the Children's Book Council. The ambassadorship includes a $15,000 expense stipend. A similar honor is awarded bi-annually by the Poetry Foundation for the Young People's Poet Laureate.
Outside Over There is a picture book for children written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. It concerns a young girl named Ida, who must rescue her baby sister after the child has been stolen by goblins. Outside Over There has been described by Sendak as part of a type of trilogy based on psychological development from In the Night Kitchen (toddler) to Where the Wild Things Are (pre-school) to Outside Over There (pre-adolescent).
Hannah Moskowitz is an American author of young adult and middle grade novels.
From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess is a 2015 children's novel written and illustrated by Meg Cabot and a spinoff of the author's young adult fiction series, The Princess Diaries. The book was released on May 19, 2015 through Feiwel & Friends and follows Olivia, a bi-racial 12-year-old who finds out she is the half-sister of Princess Mia Thermopolis.
Erin Bow, born Erin Noteboom, is an American-born Canadian author.
Ronald L. Smith children's book author. He is the author of Hoodoo (2015), The Mesmerist (2017), Black Panther: The Young Prince (2018), The owls have come to take us away (2019), and Gloom Town (2020). For Hoodoo, Smith won the American Library Association's Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent.
Elana Kuczynski Arnold is a children's and young adult author. Her books include Infandous, A Boy Called Bat and What Girls Are Made Of. What Girls Are Made Of is a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Her novel Damsel was named a Michael L. Printz Award Honor title in 2019.
Chris Appelhans is an American illustrator, production designer and film director born in Idaho but who now lives in Los Angeles. His independent artistic work appears in galleries around the United States. He is known for illustrating two children's books, A Greyhound, A Groundhog and Sparky. He won the Children's Choice Book Award in 2015. He is also the writer and director of the 2021 film Wish Dragon.
Dhonielle Clayton is an American author and chief operating officer of We Need Diverse Books. Her works include The Belles and Tiny Pretty Things, co-authored with Sona Charaipotra.
A Blade So Black is a young adult fantasy novel written by L.L. McKinney and volume 1 of The Nightmare-Verse series. It is a contemporary re-imagining of the Lewis Carroll book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a black teenage girl protagonist. A Blade So Black was released on September 25, 2018 by Imprint/Macmillan.
We Hunt the Flame is a 2019 young adult fantasy novel written by Hafsah Faizal. It is the first book of the Sands of Arawiya duology, followed by We Free the Stars in January 2021.
