One potato, two potato, three potato, four…. I'm the number two potato in my family, so I'll go next. I am pictured here with my three brothers. I was ten at the time, the age I decided to become an illustrator and author. I have always loved books—not just reading them, but acting them out. My friends and I became spies after reading Harriet the Spy. We camped out in the empty lot behind my best friend's house one summer and "lived off the land" just like the main character in My Side of the Mountain.
My whole life I have looked for ways to make books. I studied calligraphy, bookbinding, letterpress and all other kinds of printmaking. I "published" small editions of hand-printed artist books. Finally after studying design and illustration at Pratt Institute, I began to work in children's book publishing. Since 1986 I have been designing and art directing books for different publishers. My first opportunity to illustrate came with the publication of Juan Bobo and the Pig: A Puerto Rican Folktale Retold by Felix Pitre (Lodestar, 1993). I have since illustrated many other titles including Elizabeti's Doll, Mama Elizabeti, and Elizabeti's School all by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen. I am now really excited to be moving into another phase. My first book as author and illustrator will publish with Lee and Low Books in fall 09. Visit me at christyhale.com to see some of my work.
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