75 Authors/Illustrators Everyone Should Know


This list was originally compiled by Bernice E. Cullinan, noted reading specialist, for READ ACROSS AMERICA, the reading initiative celebrating the 75th anniversary of National Children's Book Week. The list is meant to introduce children, and the adults who care for them, to newer books in the field of children's literature.

Well-known classics—such as Beatrix Potter's The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon, and E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, for example—have not been included, as they are reasonably well-known, enduring masterpieces that every child should know. If you've not yet introduced your child to them, start today!

PRESCHOOL - KINDERGARTEN


ERIC CARLE - Large creepy crawlers cut from paper of vivid colors always create a happy surprise.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Grouchy Ladybug

DONALD CREWS - Realistic objects familiar to young children appear in bold graphic images artfully designed.
Freight Train
Truck

LOIS EHLERT - Stunning shapes and strong colors capture exciting views in a child's mind.
Color Zoo
Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On

ERIC HILL - Lift the flaps to play hide and seek games with Spot the dog who disappears under rugs or behind closet doors.
Where's Spot
Spot Goes to the Farm

TANA HOBAN - A photographer captures fresh visions of the world through the lens of her camera.
Exactly The Opposite
All About Where

BILL MARTIN, JR. - Simple sentences and natural rhythmic language patterns (melodies) ring out in the stories that help beginning readers learn how to read.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (with John Archambault)

HELEN OXENBURY - Scraggly children bounce playfully and then clamber onto the comfortable laps of well-padded adults.
Monkey See, Monkey Do
The Shopping Trip

ROSEMARY WELLS - Max, an impish rabbit child, has a mind of his own when big sister Ruby tries to boss him around.
Max's Breakfast
Max's Dragon Shirt

GRADES 1 TO 3 (PRIMARY)


STAN AND JAN BERENSTAIN - A prolific team captures the rhythms of children's language in engaging stories.
The Berenstain Bears & The Honey Tree
The Berenstain Bears Are A Family

JAN BRETT - A meticulous artist weaves subplots and intricate details into creative borders to extend the meaning carried in the central pictures.
The Mitten
Annie and the Wild Animals

MARC BROWN - Marc Brown presents a warm, witty and sometimes poignant look at facing a bully, losing a tooth, or accepting a new baby sister.
Arthur's Baby
Play Rhythm

MARCIA BROWN - Marcia Brown adapts the art style (woodcuts, intricate cut paper, flamboyant cartoon, delicate watercolor) to enrich the special meaning of each story.
Once A Mouse
Three Billy Goats Gruff

ANTHONY BROWNE - His startling images and subtle messages in art and story make us see the world in a new way.
The Piggybook
Gorilla

JOANNA COLE - Superb informational books present straight facts in photo essays or combine facts with riotous humor in the Magic School Bus books.
Magic School Bus Lost in The Solar System
My Puppy Is Born

BARBARA COONEY - Gentle stories and beautiful art touch the heart and leave deep thoughts to ponder. New England scenes are especially provocative.
Miss Rumphius
Ox Cart Man (D. Hall)

TOMIE DEPAOLA - Tomie tells wonderful Irish and Italian family stories using strong black line and folk-art style.
The Art Lesson
Strega Nona

LEO AND DIANE DILLON - Both artists work on the same piece of art often characterized by an opulent, iridescent quality.
Aida (Leontyne Price)
Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears (V. Aardema)

ELOISE GREENFIELD - Poet and storyteller captures the language and melodies and strong African-American family images in her poetry and prose.
Honey I Love
Nathaniel Talking

TRINA SCHART HYMAN - Meticulous art and extensive research enable Hyman to portray Arthurian England authentically or childhood memories vividly.
Little Red Riding Hood
Saint George and The Dragon (M. Hodges)

WILLIAM JOYCE - Broad humor in comically expressive animals and playful language make Joyce's books fun to read aloud or alone.
Bentley and Egg
Dinosaur Bob

STEVEN KELLOGG - A heap of comic-strip detail spills from Kellogg's splashy, riotous, color-filled pages and causes children to pore over them.
Pinkerton, Behave
Paul Bunyan

LEO LIONNI - Deeper meanings permeate Lionni's stories more than the elegant, sophisticated collage and design art might suggest.
Frederick
Swimmy

ARNOLD LOBEL - Delicate and decorative art on attractively designed pages invites thoughtful probing.
Frog and Toad Are Friends
Fables

JAMES MARSHALL - Cartoon-like drawings of unique characters present unexpected humor and spoofs. A pair of hippos, a substitute teacher, and a lovable prankster guarantee laugh-out-loud joy.
The Cut-Ups Crack Up
George and Martha

ROBERT MCCLOSKEY - Superb, classic works that convey the importance of small but significant moments in a child's life.
Blueberries For Sal
Make Way for Ducklings

EMILY MCCULLY - She creates wordless books in cartoon style and elaborate stories with Impressionist-style art.
Mirette On The High Wire
School

JERRY PINKNEY - He paints from live models, often African-Americans, in a realistic style using full-color art and well-crafted scenes.
The Talking Eggs (R. San Souci)
Mirandy And Brother Wind (P. McKissack)

JAMES E. RANSOME - Talented young African-American artist portrays characters realistically in historical or contemporary scenes.
Uncle Jed's Barbershop (M.K. Mitchell)
How Many Stars In The Sky? (L. Hort)

MAURICE SENDAK - A superb artist whose books invite rereading and whose illustrations beg for repeated viewing.
Where The Wild Things Are
The Nutshell Library

DR. SEUSS (THEODOR S. GEISEL) - Creative genius whose spontaneous art and lilting lines sing children into reading on their own.
The Cat In The Hat
Horton Hears A Who

CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG - Van Allsburg gets you to think. He presents something that seems predictable but catches you by surprise when he turns it on end.
Jumanji
The Polar Express

VERA B. WILLIAMS - She conveys the simple strength of multicultural families who share love and unity.
A Chair For My Mother
"More, More, More," Said The Baby

JANE YOLEN - Enchanting storyteller and poet holds a moment in time to capture past, present, or future in word songs.
Owl Moon
Street Rhymes Around The World

ED YOUNG - Sophisticated simplicity describes the art he uses to retell Asian-American folklore.
Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story From China
Seven Blind Mice

CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW - Gentle stories play on the heartstrings and cause children to think about their world and relationships in a new way.
William's Doll
Mr. Rabbit And The Lovely Present

GRADES 3 TO 6 (INTERMEDIATE)


ARNOLD ADOFF - Poet and anthologist who celebrates the multicultural nature of our world.
Eats: Poems
Sports Pages

MITSUMASA ANNO - Japanese illustrator of international renown who plays with mathematics in exquisite paintings.
Anno's Counting Book
Anno's Journey

NATALIE BABBITT - A superb fantasy writer who grapples with universal concerns in poetic prose.
Tuck Everlasting
The Eyes of the Amaryllis

JUDY BLUME - Popular writer for pre-teens who captures in realistic language concerns about growing up.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Fudge-A-Mania

ASHLEY BRYAN - Artist, poet, and storyteller who lets the melodies of spirituals ring through his retellings of folk stories.
The Dancing Granny
Beat The Story Drum, Pum Pum

BETSY BYARS - Her novels capture both the humor and pathos of children facing problems as they grow up.
The Pinballs
The Cybil War

BEVERLY CLEARY - Children's natural language and basic concerns ring true and with humor in her early chapter books.
Henry Huggins
Ramona Quimby, Age 8

PAM CONRAD - Engaging writer who captures strong images and vivid themes in historical and contemporary scenes.
Prairie Songs
My Daniel

RUSSELL FREEDMAN - Impeccable research and intriguing writing draws interest to topics he treats in biographies and informational books.
The Wright Brothers
Lincoln: A Photobiography

JEAN FRITZ - This superb writer of historical fiction and biography became fascinated with American heroes when she was a child growing up in China with missionary parents.
And Then What Happened Paul Revere?
Homesick: My Own Journey

JEAN CRAIGHEAD GEORGE - The author grew up in a family of naturalists and her ecological concerns permeate both the novels and informational books she writes.
Julie Of The Wolves
My Side Of The Mountain

LEE BENNETT HOPKINS - Poet and anthologist whose generous spirit and enthusiasm for poetry inspires children and adults.
Dinosaurs
Good Books, Good Times

JOHANNA HURWITZ - Well-meaning but naive characters make simple mistakes and display child-like humor in short novels children read on their own.
Class Clown
The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein

MYRA COHN LIVINGSTON - A first-rate poet and anthologist who established high standards of excellence in word and image.
I Like You If You Like Me
Celebration

LOIS LOWRY - Subtle humor or tender pathos permeate Lowry's stories of adolescents who grow up in suburbia or a war-torn city.
Number The Stars
Anastasia Has The Answers

DAVID MACAULAY - A spirited artist helps us to see stories, time, and the way things work in new ways.
The Way Things Work
Black And White

PATRICIA MCKISSACK - Wonderful African-American storyteller who spins a yarn with drama and pizzazz. She also writes excellent informational books with husband Fredrick McKissack.
Flossie And The Fox
Sojourner Truth: Ain't I A Woman

PATRICIA MAC LACHLAN - Captures strong human emotions as she weaves historical or contemporary stories.
Sarah, Plain And Tall
Skylark

ANN MARTIN - Popular series writer who conveys the real feelings and tribulations of 10-12 year-old girls.
The Babysitters Club
Babysitter's Little Sister

JACK PRELUTSKY - Popular and prolific versifier and anthologist who writes and compiles humorous collections.
The Dragons Are Singing Tonight
Something Big Has Been Here

CYNTHIA RYLANT - Everything she writes sounds like poetry because the melody of her sentences ring in the ear.
When I Was Young In The Mountains
Missing May

SEYMOUR SIMON - An excellent informational science writer states what we know, what is theory, and how information changes.
Autumn Across America
Mars

LANE SMITH/JON SCIESZKA - Children get a kick out of the way this team spoofs fairy tales and the art of book-making.
The True Story of The Three Little Pigs!
The Stinky Cheese Man & Other Fairly Stupid Tales

WILLIAM STEIG - His sophisticated stories have several layers of meaning that delight adults who read to children.
Doctor DeSoto
Abel's Island


GRADES 6 TO 8 (OLDER READERS)


LLOYD ALEXANDER - A skilled fantasy writer who touches our deepest sense of characters and moral order.
The Cat Who Wished To Be A Man
The Black Cauldron

AVI - His characters face issues of personal integrity as they grow up in historical or contemporary settings.
Nothing But The Truth
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

SUSAN COOPER - Fantasy writer whose characters face the eternal struggle between darkness and light, between good and evil.
The Dark Is Rising
The Grey King

ROBERT CORMIER - Teenage characters face realities and choices -- not always happy or hopeful ones.
The Chocolate War
I Am The Cheese

PAULA FOX - She captures strong emotions and vivid images in superb understated and taut writing.
Monkey Island
One-Eyed Cat

VIRGINIA HAMILTON - Graphic writer who weaves superb plots and vivid characters into realistic, fanciful, folkloric, and historical settings.
M.C. Higgins, The Great
The People Could Fly

MADELEINE L'ENGLE - She probes the theme that everything in our universe is connected and that all things, even the tiniest microbes, matter.
A Wrinkle In Time
Ring Of Endless Light

WALTER DEAN MYERS - He portrays an authentic view of African-Americans in gripping novels and sound informational books.
Fallen Angels
Now is Your Time: The African-American Struggle For Freedom

KATHERINE PATERSON - A perceptive writer whose characters and dramatic themes live on in our memories.
Bridge to Terabithia
Lyddie

RICHARD PECK - Time spent in schools talking with teenagers helps capture the tone, language, and concerns reflected in the gripping, authentic dialogue that permeates Peck's work.
Father Figure
Are You In The House Alone?

GARY SOTO - He draws upon his Mexican-American heritage to create vignettes in poetry and prose.
A Fire In My Hands
Living Up The Street

MILDRED TAYLOR - One of the first African-American authors to win major awards writes about the experience of rural Mississippi in the 1930s.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Let The Circle Be Unbroken

CYNTHIA VOIGT - An impressive novelist who addresses thoughtful topics through realistic, fantasy, and historical stories.
Homecoming
Dicey's Song

LAURENCE YEP - He probes his heritage for universal themes of growing up in an Asian-American family.
Dragonwings
Star Fisher


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