I live and work in Newtown, Connecticut, where my wife and I raised our three sons. I spend my days in my studio working on children's books.
With me in the studio is Coco, our energetic labradoodle. See Me Run, which won a 2012 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor, was inspired by Coco's exploits at the local dog park. Unlike See Me Run, Coco hasn’t dug up any dinosaur bones, which then chase her. When not sleeping, Coco spends her time digging up the lawn and chasing the deer and squirrels out of the yard. Coco again inspired the sequel, See Me Dig, which is now available.
I received a BA from Wesleyan University, where I was a fine art major. While at Wesleyan I did a lot of painting, drawing and printmaking. I also played on the varsity squash team for a few years. I spent my Junior year at the Tyler School of Art in Rome. After Wesleyan, I went on to receive an MFA in graphic design from Yale University.
After Yale, my wife and I moved to New York City. I worked briefly as a graphic designer and then started my illustration career, working mostly in editorial. I did a lot of work for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Harvard Business Review and a number of other publications. I also did some advertising and animation work. Around the time of the birth of my oldest son I began to illustrate children's books, and have been working happily in the field ever since.
When I'm not in the studio I can be found in the yard throwing a ball for Coco, watching my youngest son play soccer for his college team, gardening or working in the yard, or running around a tennis or squash court.
Jennifer Mattson of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency is my new agent for juvenile trade publishing. Jennifer can be reached at jmatt@andreabrownlit.com, or called directly at (773) 344.4175.
I look forward to hearing from you about illustration work, school visits or for any other reason. Please feel free to leave a comment on the guestbook or blog pages. Thanks!
Paul and Coco.
Our sons recently at Real Madrid Stadium.