COME CELEBRATE Scholastic’s 100th Birthday!

Lucille Colandro

Lucille Colandro is the author of the There Was an Old Lady series. She began her career in education as a high school English teacher in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Lucille wrote her first Old Lady book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!, when an editor asked for a Halloween book that wasn’t too scary for little kids. Since then, Lucille has gone on to write more than 15 books in this bestselling series. The rhyming text, silly stories, and hilarious illustrations have made the Old Lady books a kid-favorite series. Lucille enjoys reading and working in New York City.

Ross Burach

Ross Burach is the creator of the riotously funny picture books The Very Impatient Caterpillar, which the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books called “supercharged” in a starred review, and the acclaimed Truck Full of Ducks, as well as the board books I Love My Tutu Too!, Potty All-Star, and Hi-Five Animals!, which was named the Best Board Book of the Year by Parents magazine. Ross’s work can also be seen in the Acorn early reader series Bumble and Bee. Ross lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit him online at rossburach.com.

Andrea Davis Pinkney

Andrea Davis Pinkney is the New York Times–bestselling and award-winning author of many acclaimed books for children and young adults. Andrea is the recipient of numerous awards and citations, including the Coretta Scott King Author Award, four NAACP Image Award nominations, and both the May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award and the Regina Medal for her distinguished contribution to the field of children’s literature.

Andrea has been named one of the “25 Most Influential People in Our Children’s Lives” by Children’s Health magazine, and is among The Network Journal’s “25 Most Influential Black Women in Business.” She has been named one of “50 Over 50 Extraordinary Women” by Good Housekeeping and Woman’s Day magazines.

She has served on the creative teams for several theatrical and audio productions based on works for young people, including those drawn from her acclaimed books Martin Rising: Requiem for a King, The Red Pencil, and Rhythm Ride: A Trip Through the Motown Sound. Additionally, Andrea is the chief librettist for the Houston Grand Opera’s The Snowy Day: An Opera for All, based on the beloved bestselling children’s picture book classic The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

Jerry Pallotta

Jerry Pallotta is the bestselling author of over 90 books, including the nonfiction Who Would Win? series about animal face-offs in the wild. He is also known for the nonfiction alphabet nature series that includes The Icky Bug Alphabet Book, The Butterfly Alphabet Book, The Extinct Alphabet Book, The Skull Alphabet Book, and many others. His titles include picture books about math and science, the natural world, and life near and on the ocean. Many of his stories were inspired by his early years on Peggotty Beach in Scituate, Massachusetts, including Dory Story, Going Lobstering, and Ocean Cousins. He lives in Boston and continues to write and visit schools and education conferences to promote literacy and reading.

Sharon Robinson

Sharon Robinson, daughter of baseball legend and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson, is an acclaimed author as well as an educational consultant for Major League Baseball. Some of her widely praised books about her father include Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America, The Hero Two Doors Down, and Jackie’s Nine: Jackie Robinson’s Values to Live By. Her newest book is Child of the Dream: A Memoir of 1963. Sharon is also the founder of Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life, a baseball-themed national character-education curriculum that helps empower students to overcome obstacles in their lives. Sharon currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. She lives in Florida.

Mike Lowery

Mike Lowery is an illustrator whose work appears in everything from greeting cards to children’s books. He is the creator of the Doodle Adventures series and Everything Awesome About series, and the illustrator of the Gingerbread Man on the Loose and Mac B., Kid Spy series, and more. Find out more at mikelowery.com and on Instagram (@mikelowerystudio). He lives with his wife and two children in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rebecca Elliott

Rebecca Elliott has written and illustrated many children’s books, including the USA Today–bestselling Owl Diaries series, the Unicorn Diaries series, the award-winning picture book Just Because, and Pretty Funny, her first YA novel. She lives with her family and Frida the puppy in Suffolk, England.

Gale Galligan

Gale Galligan is a cartoonist and graduate of New York University and the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her graphic novel adaptations of Ann M. Martin’s The Baby-Sitters Club series have received wide acclaim and soared onto the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. Her comics have appeared in the Game Boss and Transitions anthologies. Kirkus Reviews praised Gale’s The Baby-Sitters Club adaptations and called them “a worthy addition to the series,” and School Library Journal said: “Galligan easily shifts between giggles with friends and more emotional scenes, always retaining the upbeat, earnest tone of the original.”

David Shannon

David Shannon is the internationally acclaimed creator of more than 30 picture books, including No, David!, a Caldecott Honor Book and his second New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year, and four more David picture books. Shannon's bestsellers include A Bad Case of Stripes, Duck on a Bike, and Too Many Toys. His most recent book was the New York Times bestseller Grow Up, David!. He lives in Southern California with his family and Roy, their West Highland White Terrier.