Young Adult and Children’s Authors/Illustrators Biographical Information

Ann and John Hassett have created several picture books, including The Three Silly Girls Grubb, Cat Up a Tree, which won the Young Hoosier Book Award 2000, and Can't Catch Me. They live in a farmhouse on the coast of Maine.

Brian Lies, author/illustrator of the New York Times children's bestseller Bats at the Beach, has illustrated many children's books, including the Children's Choice Award book Finklehopper Frog. His work can be seen in magazines and galleries around the country.

Alice Mead, who lives in Portland, Maine, has written 17 books for children. She says she “specializes in telling stories about real kids who have real conflicts.” She has portrayed children in all kinds of situations, from those like Azad (the protagonist of her new book Dawn and Dusk), living in war-torn countries to kids coping with selfishness and jealousy. Mead portrays how children bravely confront conflict and how they manage to find joy in life despite the difficulties they face.

Scott Nash has illustrated many children’s books including Besty Who Cried Wolf by Gail Carson Levine and all six Stanley Lambchop chapter books by Jeff Brown. He is a graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art and has been recognized by the Academy for the Arts and Sciences (EMMY award), Broadcast Designers Association, American Institute of Graphic Arts, and How and Print magazines for his work.

Lynn Plourdeis the author of seventeen picture books including her newest: Dino Pets and A Mountain of Mittens. Her earlier books include Wild Child, Book Fair Day, and Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud.

Laura Rankin has written and illustrated several picture books, including The Wriggly, Wriggly Baby, The Handmade Alphabet, which won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, and Fluffy and Baron. She enjoys living by and exploring the Maine coast.

Allen Sockabasin is the author of Thanks to the Animals. A Passamaquoddy storyteller and musician, Sockabasin has written and preformed many stories and songs of his people. He has served as a tribal governor, council member, and health educator. This is his first children’s book.

The Maine Squeeze Accordion Ensemble plays foot tapping, hand-clapping music from around the world. Members include Peter Blackstone, Janine Blatt, Nancy 3. Hoffman, Sally Trice, and Barb Truez. They perform throughout Maine to bring you music that makes you smile.

Ruth Swain is the author of three nonfiction picture books: Bedtime!, Hairdo: What We Do and Did to Our Hair, and How Sweet It Is (And Was): The History Of Candy. A history of underwear is coming in 2008.

Melissa Sweet has been illustrating books for over 30 years and has illustrated over 40 children’s books. She attended Endicott College and the Kansas City Art Institute. Her honors include the Lupine Award Honor (Carmine: A Little More Red), the 2005 Golden Kite Award (Baby Bears Chairs), and appearing on the New York Public Library’s Best Books for 2004 list (The Boy who Drew Birds).

Matt Tavares is the author and illustrator of three picture books —Zachary's Ball, Oliver's Game , and Mudball —and the illustrator of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Zachary’s Ball, a classic picture book about a boy's baseball fantasies coming true, began as Matt Tavares's senior art thesis at Bates College in Maine. The subject was a natural choice for the author and illustrator, who had spent his childhood growing up in Boston as a Red Sox fan and always wanted to be a baseball player.  Tavares lives in Ogunquit, Maine, with his wife and daughter.

Sarah L. Thomson, a former editor, writes for children and young adults. She has written novels (The Secret of the Rose, The Manny), nonfiction (Amazing Tigers!), poetry (Imagine a Night), and picture books (Stars and Stripes).

Lea Wait's historical novels for children aged 7 and up, Stopping to Home, Seaward Born, Wintering Well and Finest Kind are set in 19 th-century Maine. She also writes the Shadows Antique Print mystery series for adults.

Bill Wise, a lifelong sports fan, had heard stories about Louis Sockalexis for years while growing up in Maine. After further research, Wise was inspired to write about Sockalexis’s great courage and passion for baseball in Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer. Wise is an eighth-grade teacher and a member of the National Education Association. He and his family live in Gorham, Maine. This is his first picture book.