I started drawing when I was two, though I was too young to remember myself. After years of drawing superheroes, ninjas, and barbarians, I took art lessons from children's author/illustrator Robert J. Blake and learned a whole lot about drawing, design, and storytelling. At the Art Student's League of New York, I studied life drawing with Michael Burban and oil painting with Harvey Dinnerstein. I then went on to Rutgers College and earned a BA in English.

 

I've worked with many publishers, including Henry Holt & Co., HarperCollins, Time Inc., Scholastic, Harcourt, Sterling, Marshall Cavendish (now Amazon), Grosset & Dunlap, Hooked on Phonics, Sky Pony Press, and Cobblestone Publishing. I've illustrated picture books, chapter books, workbooks, magazine spots, flash cards, and even a couple of mazes.

 

I'm also a writer and editor. I've created and written numerous series for an ESL website and app, along with early readers, magazine pieces, and educational workbooks. I've written two picture books. One of them, Tornado Slim and the Magic Cowboy Hat (Two Lions, 2012) won a Storytelling award from Western Writers of America.

 

I live in New Jersey with my wonderful, preschool-owning wife, our two kids, a dog, and three cats. If I'm not in my studio, I'm probably running in the woods.