Author Archives - Page 10 of 25 - Hudson Childrens Book Festival

Collins, Leroy

I grew up Hudson NY. I graduated from Hudson High in 1995. I was the new york state rushing leader while attending Hudson. I attended Dean junior college, Alfred st college and the University of Louisville. I played football at each school. I also have an Associate, Bachelor, and Masters degrees. I live in Fulton NY and currently I am married with 3 boys. This true story follows a young man’s journey as he battles back from injuries sustained in a tragic automobile accident. From the vantage point of his wheelchair an NFL game on TV inspires him to dream the impossible.

3 Fun Facts

1. I was in a terrible car accident
2. I grew up in Hudson
3. I played football in the NFL

Demas, Corinne

Corinne Demas is the award-winning author of thirty-eight books, including numerous picture books (The Perfect Tree, Saying Goodbye to Lulu, The Littlest Matryoshka, The Disappearing Island,, novels (The Road Towards Home), and a memoir (Eleven Stories High, Growing Up in Stuyvesant Town). She is the co-author, with Artemis Roehrig, of The Grumpy Pirate, Are Pirates Polite?, Do Doodlebugs Doodle? Amazing Insect Facts, Does a Fiddler Crab Fiddle?, and Do Jellyfish Like Peanut Butter? Amazing Sea Creature Facts. She is a professor Emerita of English at Mount Holyoke College and lives in Western Massachusetts and on Cape Cod. www.corinnedemas.com

Awards
Two National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship, ASPCA Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award (Saying Goodbye to Lulu), Finalist, Massachusetts Book Award, (The Disappearing Island), California Reading Association Silver Eureka Award (Do Doodlebugs Doodle? Amazing Insect Facts) Best Fiction for Young Adults nomination Young Adult Services Association , ALA, MassBook Awards “Must Read” YA list, Society of School Librarians International Book Awards Honor Book (Everything I Was), Selected for “Books for the Teen Age” by The New York Public Library (If Ever I Return) Selected by the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education (starred )“Best Children’s Books for the Year” (The Disappearing Island) and The Boy Who was Generous with Salt), Wyoming Library Association’s Buckaroo Book Award Winner, Best Book Award Gold Seal from the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio (Saying Goodbye to Lulu

3 Fun Facts

1. I have two miniature donkeys
2. Two of my picture books have a character name Nina.
3. I once found a note in a bottle that had washed up on the beach.

Roehrig, Artemis

Artemis Roehrig is the author (with co-author Corinne Demas) of three nonfiction picture books with Cornell Lab/Persnickety Press: Do Doodlebugs Doodle? Amazing Insect Facts, Does A Fiddler Crab Fiddle?, Do Jellyfish Like Peanut Butter? Amazing Sea Creature Facts and two rhyming picture books with Scholastic: Are Pirates Polite? and The Grumpy Pirate (out in June). Artemis is also the author for Storey Publishing’s Tattoos That Teach series. When she isn’t busy with her two kids or finishing her YA manuscript, she works with invasive insects for the Department of Environmental Conservation at UMass Amherst. www.artemisroehrig.com

California Reading Association Silver Eureka Award for Do Doodlebugs Doodle? Amazing Insect Facts

3 Fun Facts

1. I have four pet tarantulas.
2. I have been playing the violin since I was four and a half.
3. I didn’t go on an airplane until I was 18.

Ignatow, Amy

Amy Ignatow is the author and illustrator of The Popularity Papers, The Odds Trilogy, and she is the author of Jedi Academy: The Christina Starspeeder stories, The Cutest Thing Ever, and Symphony For a Broken Orchestra. Her first series, The Popularity Papers, is currently being adapted for television. Amy lives in Philadelphia with her family.

3 Fun Facts

1. I once played an entire game of Pictionary with Lemony Snicket on my team without knowing who he was
2. I’m excellent at cutting bagels
3. This is not my natural hair color

Silvestro, Annie

Annie Silvestro is a lover of books who can often be found shuffling piles of them around so she has a place to sit or someplace to put her teacup. She is the author of BUTTERFLIES ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, illustrated by Dream Chen, THE CHRISTMAS TREE WHO LOVED TRAINS, illustrated by Paola Zakimi, MICE SKATING, illustrated by Teagan White, BUNNY’S BOOK CLUB and it’s forthcoming sequel, BUNNY’S BOOK CLUB GOES TO SCHOOL, illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss. Annie lives with her family by the beach in New Jersey. Visit Annie online at www.anniesilvestro.com or on Twitter/Instagram @anniesilvestro

3 Fun Facts

1. The library is my happy place.
2. I love to bake, mostly with chocolate.
3. I am terrified of roller coasters

Chima, Cinda Williams

New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima nearly failed first grade because she was always daydreaming instead of listening. By junior high, she got in trouble for writing novels in class. Yet the magic of books took her from first grade failure to first generation college graduate to college professor to best-selling author of the Seven Realms and Heir Chronicles teen fantasy series. In her newest novels, the Shattered Realms series, she indulges her longtime obsession with pirates and dragons. Visit her at www.cindachima.com.

3 Fun Facts

1. Cinda once went hot air ballooning and ended up landing in the middle of the Interstate.
2. Cinda has a fraternal twin. named Linda. But maybe you could’ve guessed that.
3. Cinda was named for a character in a book that her mother was reading before she was born. She’s met several other Cindas named for that same character.

Miller, Rhett

Rhett Miller is a singer-songwriter known for fronting the popular rock band Old 97’s. Between projects with the Old 97’s Miller has released six solo albums, most recently 2018’s The Messenger. In addition to his songwriting, Miller has branched out to write fiction and nonfiction. He has authored short stories, essays and articles that have been featured in Rolling Stone, Bookforum, Sports Illustrated, McSweeney’s, The Atlantic and Salon. When not on tour, Miller resides in New Paltz, New York with his wife and two children.

3 Fun Facts

1. I performed in public for the first time when I was 15 years old, a solo acoustic set at Dallas’ 500 Café.
2. I live on three acres in New York’s Hudson Valley on property that features a swimming pool with a slide as well as a big treehouse.
3. Born in Austin and raised in Dallas, I’m a seventh generation Texan. My kids however are second generation New Yorkers.
4. Bonus fun fact. I can recite the alphabet backwards in under four seconds.

Murray, Diana

Diana Murray loves to sit on her patio writing stories and poems, especially to the sound of passing showers. She is the author of many children’s books, including City Shapes, Grimelda: The Very Messy Witch, Doris the Bookasaurus, Unicorn Day! and more. Her poems have appeared in magazines such as Highlights for Children, and Spider. Diana grew up in New York City and still lives nearby with her firefighter husband, two daughters, and an assortment of pets–all of whom enjoy sunny summer days. www.dianamurray.com

3 Fun Facts

1. My pets include two birds, two lizards, and a new puppy who loves to go on long hikes in the woods.
2. I taught myself to juggle and play ukulele.
3. I have a collection of witch hats.

Smithson, Ryan

Ryan Smithson was a reservist in the Army Corps of Engineers. He spent one year in Iraq and, upon returning, began writing about his experiences there, culminating in his first book, “Ghosts of War,” a memoir of his service. Visit my website.

3 Fun Facts

1. I learned to play the guitar while in the army.
2. My favorite band in Pink Floyd.
3. My dream vacation is Rome, Italy

Perelman, Helen

Helen Perelman is the author of the Candy Fairies series (Simon & Schuster) and enjoys thinking of new adventures in Sugar Valley. She worked in a children’s bookstore, was a children’s book editor, and now writes full-time. She lives in Westchester, NY with her husband and two daughters. www.helenperelman.com

3 Fun Facts

1. I love candy!
2. I am a horrible speller
3. I have twin teen daughters