The Men Behind the Frog

Jonathan London started writing poetry in his late teens. Although he received a Masters Degree in Social Sciences and never formally studied literature or creative writing, he began to consider himself a "writer" about the time he graduated from college. After college he became a dancer in a modern dance company and worked at numerous low-paying jobs as a laborer or counselor.

However, during this twenty-year period, London continued to write. He wrote poems and short stories for adults, earning next to nothing despite being published in many literary magazines. "It wasn't until I had kids of my own that I became a writer for children," he explains. "It all started with telling them stories when they were very young. I wrote down one of these stories, and it became The Owl Who Became the Moon, my first picture book sale (though it was my fourth to appear in print). Now I am finally making a living as a writer. A dream come true!"

Born a "Navy brat" in Brooklyn, New York, Jonathan was raised on Naval stations throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Today he lives with his wife, Maureen, and their two sons, Aaron and Sean, in rural Northern California where they like to backpack in the summer, play in the snow in winter-and dance all year around.

Frank Remkiewicz’s illustrations can be seen in a wide range of places—from greeting cards to advertising work to scores of children’s books. He grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, and graduated with honors from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in children’s book illustration. However, he found the field hard to break into and ended up working in commercial art. He designed over one thousand greeting cards for clients such as Norcross and Gibson, and even created the ever-popular Barnum’s Animal Crackers box for Nabisco.

It wasn’t until the mid-1980s that Frank really broke into children’s books. He attended a conference in California that featured Maurice Sendak and had the opportunity to meet some of the staff of Viking Children’s book. One month later Frank had his first Horrible Harry book to illustrate, and from that moment on he has focused solely on children’s books. In 1992 he illustrated the first Froggy book, Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London, and it was such a success that the series continues to grow. Frank has illustrated more than sixty children's books to date, and his illustrations are regularly shown in colleges, libraries, art centers, and museums.

Frank and his wife Sylvia live in Sarasota, Florida, with their youngest daughter, Madeleine. They also have two older daughters, Sarah and Jessica, who both live in the San Francisco Bay area. In addition to their three daughters, Frank and Sylvia also share a love of children’s book illustration. Sylvia curates museum shows that often feature the work of children’s book illustrators, and she is currently putting together a retrospective of Frank’s illustrations which is scheduled to open in 2003.