Bio

“Photography has been my main passion since I was seventeen.  And I always loved children's books. I decided I'd like to put the two together and illustrate books with my photo-collage style.  Color, patterns, words, and signs make me zing with pleasure.  The power of language is breathtaking.  My favorite books are the Thesaurus and Dictionary. What great discoveries we make about others and ourselves by listening to the words we all use.

Books that send me deep into my own thoughts, those that inspire, those that make me laugh, and the ones that never let me go become my favorites.  When I am working on my own books, I especially love the times when I make myself laugh!

When I have time, I love to travel, roaming near and far, in local towns and in exotic, far-away lands.”

Jane Wattenberg is the best-selling author/artist of the accordion-style board books Mrs. Mustard's Baby Faces and Mrs. Mustard's Beastly Babies. She has also illustrated many distinguished book jackets including Make Lemonade.  In Spring 2000, Scholastic Press published Henny-Penny, her debut picture book.  It is a hip-hopping, eye-popping adaptation of the classic story that caused the New York Times Book Review to squawk “YOWZA!”  Publishers Weekly raved in a starred review, “this fine feathered picture book ROCKS!”

Her second title with Scholastic Press with Never Cry Woof! A Dog-U-Drama will be published in Spring 2005.  Using the her trademark photo-compositions, Jane gives a sly retelling of an Aesop's fable that is filled with waggish puns, sublime rhyme, and rockin' rhythm.

Jane Wattenberg lives in San Francisco with her husband, three sons, chickens, and a dog.