D Archives - Hudson Childrens Book Festival

Dyckman, Ame

Ame Dyckman is the goofy l’il award-winning picture book/board book author of BOY + BOT; TEA PARTY RULES; WOLFIE THE BUNNY; HORRIBLE BEAR!; YOU DON’T WANT A UNICORN!; READ THE BOOK, LEMMINGS!; MISUNDERSTOOD SHARK; MISUNDERSTOOD SHARK: FRIENDS DON’T EAT FRIENDS; DANDY; the WEE BEASTIES board book series (HUGGY THE PYTHON HUGS TOO HARD; ROARY THE LION ROARS TOO LOUD; TOUCHY THE OCTOPUS TOUCHES EVERYTHING); and Ame’s latest picture book, THAT’S LIFE! Come by and say, “HI!” www.amedyckman.com

New York Times Bestseller
Amazon Best Book of the Month
Kids’ Indie Next List
Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award
Junior Library Guild Selection
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Selection
Parents Magazine Best Fictional Picture Book
Bank Street College Best Children’s Book
Etc.

3 Fun Facts

1. I change my hair color more frequently than some people change their socks. (And don’t lend your shoes to those people. EW!)
2. When I was a kid, a moose chased me. So now I guess I’m “It.” I love chatting with readers but if THAT moose shows up at our Festival, I’m gonna hafta go chase it.
3. One year, I came in last place in our neighborhood’s BBQ Ribs Cook-Off and everybody laughed at me. So for the entire next year, I practiced cooking ribs like crazy. “What’s for breakfast?” “Ribs.” And that year, I won first place!
(This is the personality you’re dealing with here, folks!)

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.

McCarthy, Deirdre

McCarthy, Deirdre

Deirdre McCarthy has earned a Master of Science in Education, with distinction. In addition, she has earned a certification, Certified Financial Education Instructor, through the National Educator’s Council. Currently, Deirdre is a teacher in the Hudson Junior High School. In addition, she has a financial literacy company for children, Counting with Common Cents. In her free time, Deirdre loves spending time with her family and dog. www.countingwithcommoncents.com

3 Fun Facts

1. In sixth grade, I modeled for a book cover that Diane de Groat created.
2. I am a teacher in the Hudson City School District.
3. I love spending my free time with my family and dog.

Durst, Sarah Beth

Durst, Sarah Beth

Sarah Beth Durst is the award-winning author of eleven fantasy novels for kids, teens, and adults, including Drink Slay Love, the basis for the upcoming TV movie of the same name, airing on Lifetime in 2017. Her next book for kids, Journey Across the Hidden Islands, comes out in April 2017 from HMH/Clarion Books, and her first picture book, Roar and Sparkles Go to School, comes out in June 2017 from Running Press Kids. Sarah lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband, her children, and her ill-mannered cat. For more information, visit her at sarahbethdurst.com. www.sarahbethdurst.com

3 Fun Facts

1. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was 10 years old. (Before that, I wanted to be Wonder Woman.)
2. I love pizza, hot chocolate, and Raisinets
3. I’m afraid of skunks and Frisbees

Donnelly, Jennifer

Jennifer Donnelly is an award-winning, bestselling author who writes for middle-graders, young adults and grown-ups. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, daughter and their two chiweenies. www.jenniferdonnelly.com

3 Fun Facts

1. Halloween in my favorite holiday.
2. Vultures are my favorite birds.
3. Bats are my favorite animals.

Dee, Barbara

Dee, Barbara

Barbara Dee is the award-winning author of fourteen middle grade novels published by Simon & Schuster, including Unstuck, Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet, Violets Are Blue, My Life in the Fish Tank, Maybe He Just Likes You, Star-Crossed and Halfway Normal. Her books have been named to many best-of lists, including the Washington Post’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, the ALA Notable Children’s Books, the ALA Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, the ALA Rainbow List Top Ten, and SLJ’s Best Books of the Year. She lives in Chappaqua, NY. www.BarbaraDeeBooks.com.

Awards

School Library Journal’s Best Books 2022 and 2021; 2020 ALA Notable Book; 2020 ALA Rise: A Feminist Book List; 2018 ALA Rainbow List Top Ten; Washington Post Best Children’s Books of the 2019; NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People; Bank Street Best Books of the Year (several times); A Mighty Girl’s Best Books of the Year (several times); 2020-21 and 2021-22 Project Lit selections; Goodreads Choice finalist; multiple state book award nominations; multiple starred reviews.

3 Fun Facts

1. I’m scared of roller coasters.
2. My favorite band is Radiohead.
3. My favorite team is the NY Yankees.

Davis, Jacky

Jacky-Davis-and-David-Soman-author-photo

Davis, Jacky

Jacky and David, are the creators of the New York Time’s Best-Selling LADYBUG GIRL series. They live with their two children and rescue dog in Rosendale, NY. www.ladybuggirl.com

3 Fun Facts

1.Our dog, Pico, is a very messy drinker.
2. Ladybug Girl is based on our daughter who is now 16, and Bumblebee Boy is based on our 14 year old son.
3. If you ask David he’ll share his trade secret- of how to draw a tutu.

Devine, Eric

Devine, Eric

Eric Devine is also the author of Look Past, Press, Play, Dare Me, and Tap Out. His work has been listed by YALSA for reluctant readers, a Junior Library Guild selection, and twice a “Best in Sports” for Booklist. He is an English teacher and lives with his family in Waterford, NY. You can find him at ericdevine.org, @eric_devine on Twitter, @ericjohndevine on Instagram, and Eric Devine: Author on Facebook.

Booklist Top 10 Sports Book for 2013; 2013 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers (Tap Out)
Booklist Top 10 Sports Book for 2015; 2015 Junior Library Guild Selection (Press Play)

3 Fun Facts

1. I have three Labrador Retrievers (Yellow, Chocolate, and Black)
2. I am married to my high school sweetheart
3. My grandmother used to read the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales to me as bedtime stories (it explains a lot)

deGroat, Diane

Diane deGroat has been illustrating children’s books since 1972, with over 150 books to her credit. She has also written and illustrated her own stories. Her picture books about Gilbert the opossum include Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink; Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet; and Happy Birthday to You, You Belong in a Zoo. Sixteen additional books are in this series, beloved by anyone who appreciates the humorous trials of everyday school and family life. Her latest book,The Adventures of Robo-Kid is a hybrid comic book/picture book and presents a whole new format and art style for Ms. deGroat to share with her readers. She resides in Amherst, MA. website: www.dianedegroat.com blog: www.thestorybehindthestories.com
Awards
– #1 NY Times Bestseller list
– IRA/CBC Children’s Choice
– ABA Pick of the List
– Time Magazine top ten books
– Oppenheim Toy Portfolio- Platinum Award
– Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Award

3 Fun Facts

1. I love to garden and grow weird things like Mexican Sour Gherkins and Ground Cherries. (Google it.)
2. While mulching my garden recently, I discovered a hornets’ nest in my wood chip pile.
3. Old ladies can run pretty fast when chased by a swarm of bees.

Degen, Bruce

Degen, Bruce

Bruce Degen is the co-creator of The Magic School Bus Series with Joanna Cole.

Bruce Degen is also well known for his own books, such as Jamberry, Daddy Is A Doodlebug, and Sailaway Home, I Gotta Draw, and I Said ‘Bed’ which he wrote and illustrated, and for illustrating series such as Commander Toad in Space, written by Jane Yolen, and the Jesse Bear Series written by Nancy White Carlstrom.

Bruce Degen was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1945. He used to live in Brooklyn, and now he lives in an old farmhouse in Connecticut. You can take the boy out of Brooklyn, but you can never cure that accent.

3 Fun Facts

1. I was the Skelley Champ of Tapscott Street

2. Skelley is a game played on a court that you draw on the sidewalk with white chalk. The playing pieces are made from used bottle caps by melting old pieces of crayola crayons with a candle to weight the piece and to mark your color. You shoot the pieces with your fingers and try to get through all the numbers without landing in the box with the skull.

3. I lie about being the Skelley Champ, the Stoopball Champ, and the Boxball Champ of Tapscott Street. My cousin, David, was much better than me. And he was 2 years younger. And he lived next door.