I think in many ways I never really grew up. I’m still a kid on the inside, even while mama of two kids! I like playing and being silly, and I feel lucky that I get to spend my time with people who enjoy the same things.
Books intended for children are distilled, and I’ve always appreciated their simplicity and interdependence of words and images.
This is Pip (aka Pippi, Pippilotta Love Dog, Snurpy Dog), who’s part of our family. She’s sweet but tough too, and she loves to wrestle.
I followed this love to children’s publisher Tricycle Press/Random House, where I met John, then to nonprofit publisher Heyday, where I edited books for all ages. In the meantime, I’ve always played around with writing and drawing and storytelling of all kinds, and now I help people craft stories across media, including film.
This is Willis, known elsewhere as Shadow and probably by countless other names—a mysterious solitary figure who lives on his own but joins us for the occasional meal.
My family and I live on unceded Karkin Ohlone land in what is now also known as Martinez, California. We frequent our little library and enjoy getting to know our neighbors. In addition to our human ones, there’s also a family of raccoons, a hive of honeybees, and four knobby old locust trees that rain white petals in the springtime.
I go by the pronouns she/her and they/them.