Judith Byron Schachner has been illustrating and writing children's
books since 1992 and has given numerous presentations in schools
and libraries. Her workshops are designed to be warm and personal
with a special regard for the less than stellar student."Kids love
to review my rotten report cards and laugh out loud at a slide show
involving 4 cats and a funeral. Teachers love the 'Seed Box' filled
to the brim with a magical collection of 'Junk' to inspire the
writer in all of us. Everyone loves to watch 'Don Juan Skippito
Bumblito the Great Sword Fighter' come to life with pencil and
paper. By the end of the day we all believe that the stories in our
own lives are worth writing about."
Judith Byron Schachner grew up outside of Boston in the 1950's. Her
early years were not easy- "Growing up we didn't have much money.
My mother was very ill, and to make matters worse, I was extremely
shy. All my teachers complained that 'Judith needs to speak up in
class, Judith needs to improve in arithmetic, and Judith needs to
finish her work on time.' But no one complained about my artwork.
On paper I drew myself a world where mothers were healthy and
teachers were kind. My life was perfection in pencil."
Judith graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1973 with
a BFA in illustration and went straight into the "greeting card
factories, which included a stint at Hallmark. For five years I
designed cute cards, sad cards, funny cards, and wedding cards. I
was not having fun; in fact I never wanted to pick up a paintbrush
again."
Married life changed many things for Judith. One clear advantage
for her was that "for the first time in many years I could step off
the 9 to 5 treadmill and devote all my energy to creating a
portfolio of children's book art. That was until two little baby
girls were born. Then motherhood became my favorite new job. Over
the years I read hundreds of books to my daughters. Inspired by the
art and words I was moved once again to finish my portfolio and
take it on the road to New York. Around the same time I met Donna
Jo Napoli who convinced Dutton Children's Books to let me
illustrate her novel, The Prince of the Pond," published in
1992.
In 1995 Judith wrote and illustrated her first picture book, Willy
and May, and has turned out a number of projects since then. "The
wonderful thing about my job is that one day I can be writing about
history, as I did in Mr. Emerson's Cook. The next day I'm drawing a
wacky old woman for I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie. Or I
can bring to life a beloved pet cat in my book The Grannyman. I
live in a constant state of 3rd grade bliss - making up stories and
drawing pictures. Isn't that what we all did as children?"
Several years ago the great author Lloyd Alexander stood in
Judith's back yard admiring her daughters' Viking ship (as Judith
puts it, that's another story). Working with Lloyd Alexander has
been a dream come true for Judith- "Never in my wildest fantasies
did I ever think that my art would inhabit his world of words."
Listen to a SkippyjonJones audio clip!
"Fans will no doubt want more of the “beeg Chihuahua dude." —Kirkus Reviews
"Fans will no doubt want more of the "beeg Chihuahua dude." -Kirkus Reviews
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