Born in Maiden, Massachusetts, artist and illustrator Ed Emberley (b. 1931) studied painting and illustration at the Massachusetts School of Art in Boston, where he met his soon-to-be-wife Barbara. The two married in 1955. After two years in the Army, Emberley completed his formal art training at the Rhode Island School of Design, while Barbara worked as a librarian at Brown University. Their daughter, Rebecca, was born in 1958, and their son, Michael, was born two years later.
Emberley wrote his first book, The Wing on a Flea (1960), for Little, Brown. It was well-received and became an ALA Notable Book and one of the New York Times' ten best illustrated books. He bought thirty copies of The Wing on a Flea and sent them to all the publishers he could find, with a letter asking for a chance to illustrate more books. As a result he received work from Holt, Rinehart and Winston; Doubleday; and Thomas Y. Crowell. During the summer of 1962, Emberley started experimenting with woodcuts. After sending out a mailer of woodcuts of Paul Bunyan and Pinocchio to publishers, in the same fashion as with The Wing on a Flea, and soon began an association with Prentice-Hall as a result, leading to the publishing of The Story of Paul Bunyan (1963) and Yankee Doodle (1965) as well as One Wide River to Cross (1966), a collaboration with his wife. Emberley was the sole runner-up for the Caldecott Medal in 1967 for One Wide River to Cross. The next year, he won the Medal for Drummer Hoff (1967), another collaboration with Barbara. Drummer Hoff was also named to the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list.
Perhaps Emberley's most outstanding quality is his ability to work in many different styles and techniques. For instance, London Bridge is Falling Down (1967), with watercolor illustrations, and Drummer Hoff (1967), with illustrations resembling cut-outs, were both done around the same time, yet look like the work of two different artists. Emberley has written an illustrated around 80 books for children, many of which were first published between the 1960s and 1980s, including his enormously popular "Drawing Book" series. Only 20 or so of Emberley?s books are still in print. Renewed interest in Emberley?s work has come from adults who first encountered his books as children and now are purchasing them for their own children. His two most recent works, Chicken Little (2009) and The Red Hen (2010), are collaborations with his daughter, Rebecca.
Amy Dangelico is a graduate of UNC Asheville with a BA in Literature/Creative Writing. She enjoys playing Scrabble with a bottle glass of wine and any combination of chocolate and peanut butter. When she is not working for The Asheville Daily Planet or serving the best Indian food in town, she can be found hiking with her beau and their dogs. She prefers Bob Dylan to The Beatles almost as much as she prefers going barefoot to wearing heels.
