“What are they doing now?”
That was the popular question around my house and neighborhood.
It was not unusual to see my brother Billy and me dressed up in homemade
costumes – filming Super 8mm dramas – attempting risky stunts in the ravine -
animating GI Joes and weird-looking clay figures – building and performing clunky
puppets – drawing offbeat comics and imitating The Beatles.
Today, life isn’t very different.
Billy is a writer, director, producer and puppeteer for The Muppets.
I’m an author and illustrator of children’s books. My illustration and animation
work also appears on Sesame Street and Between the Lions. In addition, I have
designed characters for The Jim Henson Company.
The best part of our careers is that occasionally we get to work together!
Unfortunately, no one will pay us to imitate The Beatles.
I live outside of Philadelphia, PA with my wife, Leslie and son, Benjamin.
AWARDS:
2007 - Carolyn W. Field Award (PA Library Assoc.) for “Now & Ben.”
HONORS:
2013 - "Neo Leo" chosen for Scholastic Book Club.
2013 - 3,500 copies of Neo Leo bought by First Books to be distributed nationally to children from low-income homes.
2013 - "Timeless Thomas" made it onto NEA 2013 Calendar.
2012 - "Zoola Palooza" included on the 2012-2013 Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award List.
2012 - "Timeless Thomas" awarded a Starred Review from Kirkus.
2012 - "Zoola Palooza” included on 2012 IRA Teacher’s Choice Reading List.
2012 - "Now & Ben" chosen for Scholastic Book Club.
2011 - “Zoola Palooza” chosen among Amazon’s Best Books of the Month for June.
2010 - NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12 list for “Neo Leo.”
2010 - "Dear Deer" named #19 in top 50 books of 2010 by LibraryThing.com
2010 - Teacher's Choice Booklist by the International Reader's Association for "Neo Leo."
2010 - "Neo Leo" included on the list of the 2010 NSTA - CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12
2009 - Children's Book of the Month Club. Alternate Selection for "Neo Leo."
2009 - April Book of the Month by the Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children for "Now & Ben."
2009 - "Neo Leo" included in LA Times Parent Reading Guide
2009 - Scholastic Instructor's Magazine's "First-Rate Biographies" for "Neo Leo."
2008 - "Ben Again!" exhibit at historic Morven House in Princeton, NJ. "Now and Ben" included.
2008 - "Notable Children's Videos" by ALSC (American Library Assoc) for the DVD of "Now & Ben."
2008 - Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts by The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) for "Dear Deer."
2008 - "Dear Deer" chosen for Scholastic Book Club - Lucky Club books.
2007 - CCBC Choices of 2007 "Now & Ben."
2007 - Best Children's Books of the Year list by the Children's Book Committee at the Bank Street College of Education for "Now & Ben."
2007 - Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young Readers by The National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children's Book Council for "Now & Ben."
2007 - Martha Stewart Sirius radio program. "Now & Ben" featured on "Kidstuff" in "Patriotic Books For Kids" segment.
2007 - Mom-Tested Books of the Year in "Parenting" magazine for "Dear Deer."
2007 - Children's Book-of-the-Month Club for "Dear Deer."
2006 - "Now & Ben" was chosen among ten books to be a tie-in to the A&E 13-part series titled “The Revolution.”
2006 - Children's Book-of-the-Month Club for "Now & Ben."
2006 - The New York Times Best Seller list - #3 for "Sheetzucacapoopoo: My Kind of Dog."
2006 - Book Sense Top Ten History Picks About The American Revolution for "Now & Ben."
