Bio

Eileen Christelow is an award-winning author/illustrator who produces humorous, bright, and energetic picture books. Whether she is illustrating her own stories or those of other authors, her animal characters from cats and dogs to alligators and penguins are charming and expressive. Christelow's career as a picture-book creator developed from her interests in architecture and photography.

“When my daughter was fourteen months old, I decided that I wanted to write and illustrate picture books for young children. For several years my daughter and I researched the problem together, taking weekly trips to the library and reading at naptime and bedtime. I found the picture book format a fascinating and frustrating challenge. I learned about pacing and I learned to keep my text spare. I also found that the years I'd spent as a photographer, trying to capture one photo that would tell an entire story, were invaluable to the process of creating stories with pens and pencils.” One of the results of her efforts was a large collection of children's books, which helped her daughter to read and write.