Authors and Artists
Working with Pleasant St. Press
Shennen Bersani, Illustrator - My Sister, Alicia May
Shennen’s love of art began at the age of four when her grandmother taught her how to draw juicy red apples. She attended The Art Institute of Boston and later began working as a freelance illustrator. Some of her past assignments include illustrating for Johnson & Johnson, judging art exhibits and participating as a sidewalk artist for The Discovery Channel’s Walking with Dinosaurs campaign. Her teaching credits include Drawing from Dramatic Perspectives at the
Norman Rockwell
Museum, advanced photography and colored pencil classes and workshops. Today, she enjoys traveling the country speaking to children about her career as an artist and illustrator. Shennen has illustrated over a half dozen picture books and is the mother of four fabulous children. She lives outside of
Boston with her dog, cat and an aquarium of fish. You may visit Shennen online at http://www.shennenbersani.com.
Daryl Enos, Illustrator - Farmer Brown and His Little Red Truck
Daryl has been drawing since he can remember. After studying art at
Boston
Technical
High School; the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston; and Mass College of Art, Daryl joined the Navy. He spent 15 years as an air traffic controller, all the while continuing to hone his art skills. Eventually, he won an award for a comic strip he created for a base newspaper and changed his rate to illustrator draftsman. Since then, Daryl has authored two children's books and designed numerous stickers for the Smilemakers Sticker Company. He lives with his wife and two daughters in southeastern
Massachusetts. You can learn more about Daryl at www.car2ns.com.
Lee Gullens, Illustrator - Off I Go! and Your Tummy's Talking
Art has been a serious hobby for Lee since her childhood. But after graduating college with a bachelor of science degree, she followed her academic path into corporate
America. These days, the self-proclaimed "corporate refugee" follows her heart and has made a business out of her lifelong passion for art. Today she spends much of her time illustrating, painting murals and teaching children's art classes near her home. Lee lives near
Boston with her husband, two daughters, two cats, one golden retriever and a fish named Blackie. You can visit Lee on-line at www.abuddingartist.com.
Boots Hensel, Author
- The Zoopendous Surprise
Writing was part of Boots' life since her earliest recollection, as evidenced by her winning her first writing contest in her Brownie Troop when she was 8. After that, she continued her early writing career through college, but evenutally graduated with a degree in nursing. After retiring from nursing, she started her own business in creative faux painting and murals. It wasn't until her youngest daughter died from cancer a few years ago that she felt the need to write a story about her daughter's "girls," the real Mary and Ellen. Her daughter was the inspiration for her first children's picture book,
The Zoopendous Surprise
. This endeavor has rekindled Boots' love of writing and brought her full circle. She lives in
Florida with her husband and her own zoo; two dogs, two cats and a crazy cockatiel. She feels blessed to have her oldest daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren living close by. Visit and learn more about Boots at
http://www.bootshensel.com.
Anne Jewett, Illustrator - The Warmest Place of All
Creativity was Anne's closest childhood companion. As an adult, she enjoys illustrating for children because it brings together everything she loves: art, storytelling and making memories. Continuous exploration of her craft lends a fresh, dynamic appreal to her work. She is also a picture book writer, and an active member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Anne studied illustration at the
Columbus
College of Art & Design. She lives in
Central Florida with her husband, two children, and a studio cat named Mel. Meet Mel and see more of Anne's work at
www.annejewett.com
.
Nancy Tupper Ling, Author -
My Sister, Alicia May
Nancy
is a winner of the prestigious Writer's Digest Grand Prize and the Pat Parnell Poetry Award. She draws her inspiration from the multicultural background of her family and the interwoven fabric of familial culture. Her work has been published in Baby Blessings (Harmony Books, 2002). She is the author of Laughter in My Tent: A Woman's Search for Family and is the founder of
Fine Line Poets
, an organization through which many workshops and readings are held. She resides in
Walpole,
Massachusetts with her husband, Vincent, and their two daughters. Read more about
Nancy at
http://www.finelinepoets.com
.
Jennifer E. Morris, Illustrator -
If A Monkey Jumps Onto Your School Bus and On A Dark, Dark Night
Jennifer is an award-winning designer and illustrator. She has held many jobs over the years including grocery store clerk, cook's assistant, and computer programmer, but getting paid to draw monkeys and elephants is by far the coolest job she's ever had. She has a graduate degree in computer science and spent seven years working as a Unix programmer, so it only seems fitting that the computer is her artistic medium of choice. Her fun, colorful illustrations can be seen everywhere from children's publications to Mylar birthday baloons. Jennifer lives in the hills of central
Massachusetts with her husband, two children, one cat, two goldfish, and a sizeable
school of
Sea Monkeys. You can read more about Jennifer at
www.jemorris.com.
Philomena O'Neill, Illustrator - Little Shrew Caboose
Philomena O'Neill has been illustrating educational material, books, magazines and trade books for children for 17 years. She is often hired for her ability to portray children of all ages and races and animals of all kinds with character and gentle humor. She loves walking, going to the beach, gardening, reading and her illustration work. Philomena was born in
Ireland but grew up in West Africa and
Canada. Currently, she lives in
Seattle,
WA, is married and has four grown children. Philomena took classes at the Ontario College of Art and has been drawing and painting all her life. Visit and learn more about Philomena at www.philomenaoneill.com.
Gary Philips, Illustrator - New Old Shoes
Gary Philips has been a freelance illustrator for 24 years. His early years were spent in the Midwest, before his family moved from
Martinsville,
IN to
Lansdale,
PA. After graduating from
Kutztown
University with a BFA in Communication Design he worked briefly as an art director before branching out on his own. He continues honing is artistic skills by studying classical figure drawing, as well as working with plein air landscape painting; selling them to private and corporate collectors throughout the country.
Gary illustrates for numerous clients in advertising, editorial and children's illustration markets. He received the award for "Verse Page Illustrator of the Year" from Highlights magazine in 2003, and several other awards from Highlights over the years. Gary has many books to his credit, most notably "86 Years, The Legend of the Boston Red Sox" which was voted best cover by attendees at the 2006 New England Book Show. His alma mater invited him back as an adjunct professor where he taught classes in illustration and creative thinking. He loves hiking, being out in nature and drawing wherever he goes.
Gary lives in
Green Lane,
PA with his wife, two daughters, and two Siamese cats. You can read more about
Gary at www.garyphillipsstudio.com.
Licia Rando, Author - The Warmest Place of All
As a former elementary school teacher with a master of education degree, Licia has always enjoyed teaching, reading to, and especially laughing with children. As such, it only seems fitting that she eventually directed her efforts toward writing for children with the hope of touching as many young lives as possible. In addition to writing, Licia volunteers her time in a homeless shelter and a domestic abuse shelter where she loves to play with, teach, and read to the children. She is on the Executive Committee of the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV), an organization whose council members include such notable figures as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall, and Raffi. Currently, Licia lives on a quiet street outside of
Boston,
Massachusetts with her husband, three daughters, and her dog,
Charlotte. You can learn more about Licia at http://www.liciarando.com.
Tina Stolberg, Author – Little Shrew Caboose
Tina has lived and worked in many places, but her love of writing follows her wherever she goes. After graduating with a degree in advertising from the
University
of
Florida
, Tina worked as a booking agent for Wilhelmina Models in
New York City
and later moved to
California
where she worked as a copywriter. Her favorite job by far is motherhood, and it’s what inspired her to write for children. Her first book Moving Day Surprise (Bebop Books) was an emergent reader; Little Shrew Caboose
is her first picture book. Tina lives in
San Rafael
,
California
,
and, along with her writing, works as a library specialist for a middle school and as an extra-hire for county libraries. In her free time, she loves to travel to tropical beaches, go canoeing, ice-skate and watch movies. To learn more about Tina, please visit her at
http://www.tinastolberg.com
.
Debra Wainwright, Author & Illustrator – That Kind of Dog
Accompanied by three terriers (one in angel form) and a cast of chatty picture book characters, Deb writes, illustrates and dreams in Little House Studios. With an MFA in Writing for Children from
Vermont
College
and a BFA in Illustration from Mass College of Art, Deb has been illustrating professionally for 20 years. Her clients have included Rigby Publishing, Rosen Publishing, McGraw Hill, Rutgers University Press and Simon & Schuster, just to name a few. She has won numerous awards for her silverpoint art, taught classes in drawing and greeting card design and facilitated life-drawing workshops. Free time finds her at a potter’s co-op throwing clay vessels on a wheel as well as sculpting. Little House Studios is nestled near Deb’s home in
Massachusetts
, which she shares with her husband, daughter, dogs and a Blue-crowned Conure with a passion for pizzellas
. Read more about Debra at http://www.littlehousestudios.com.
