Author Detail
Tom Lichtenheld
Author Bio
Tom Lichtenheld is a children's book author/illustrator and freelance advertising art director. His advertising work for clients like BMW, Lee Jeans and United Airlines has won virtually every award in advertising.
Tom's venture into children's books began with "Everything I Know About Pirates," published by Simon & Schuster in 2000. It was featured in Newsweek as one of the best children's books of 2000. He has since released "Everything I Know About Monsters," (Simon & Schuster, 2002), and "What Are You So Grumpy About?" (Little, Brown and Company, 2003). Upon its release "...Grumpy" was featured in Child magazine and received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews.
Tom has taught advertising classes at Miami Ad School in Minneapolis and Chicago. He lives in Geneva, Illinois, with his wife and studio manager, Jan Miller. When not working, Tom enjoys bicycling, swimming, and getting other peoples' kids all wound up, then sending them home to their parents.
MY FAVORITE BOOKS
Pagoo by Holling C. Holling/Lucille Webster Holling
My mom read this book to me when I was very young. The images of a little hermit crab scampering across the ocean floor stick with me to this day. Whenever I'm at an aquarium museum I always smile when I see the hermit crabs.
Anything by Dr. Seuss
This seems like an obvious one, but the man really was a genius, if for no other reason than the way he drew trees.
Free Lunch by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh
Somehow, the absurdity in the Mr. Lunch stories makes perfect sense. And it's delightful to see computer-generated art convey such silliness.
Days Like This by Simon James
An anthology of poems about the magical moments of childhood. Accompanied by Simon James' bright, lyrical and perfectly simple watercolors.
Clown by Quentin Blake
Like many artists, I have a special admiration for artists who work in a style that I feel incapable of. Quentin Blake does simple watercolors that appear effortless, but are more accomplished than paintings that take ten times longer to execute.
Laugh-eteria by Douglas Florian
Laugh-out-loud funny poems, and LOTS of 'em!
Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Immature, juvenile, crudely-drawn, and some of the wittiest, funniest stuff out there.
Zoo Do's and Don'ts by Todd Parr
What I love about Mr. Parr is his ability to bring sophisticated humor into limited-vocabulary board books. That, and the fact that he has a line of furniture, makes him cool in my book.
CDB by William Steig
I discovered this book in high school and memorized the whole thing. Unfortunately, it wasn't covered in any of the final exams.
The Araboolies of Liberty Street by Sam Swope/Barry Root
One of the few children's books with a message where the message is invisble, yet powerful. Barry Root paints a glowing, magical world that a reader can dive into.
The Happy Hocky Family by Lane Smith Of all Lane Smith's wonderful books, this is my favorite. It's simple, charming, smart-alecky and wise.
Scrambled States of America Laurie Keller
As in her book "Open Wide" Laurie Keller manages to teach a lesson while making us laugh our butts off. I love her mixed-up collages and fearless puns. She is one kooky lady.
The boy who ate around by Henrik Drescher
I like stories that aren't afraid of going to extremes, like this one about a boy who eats everything in the universe except his dinner.
The day I swapped my dad for two goldfish by Neil Gaiman/Dave McKean
I don't know why this book didn't get much notice in the world of children's books. The story has all he highlights of childhood; envy, sibling rivalry, mistakes and forgiveness. Dave McKean's amazing illustrations are unlike anything else you've seen in a kid's book.
Beetle Boy by Lawrence David/Delphine Durand
A boy wakes up one day to discover he's turned into a beetle, and his parents don't even notice! What kid hasn't had this experience, or one that feels like it? Delphine Durand's paintings of wild-eyed kids and oddly proportioned objects makes me want to live in her world.
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