Below are some of the authors and illustrators that will be featured in upcoming volumes of SATA. These include new entries on the swiftly rising stars of the field, as well as completely revised and updated entries (indicated with ∗) on some of the most notable and best-loved creators of books for children.
Patricia Bow ▮ Beginning her career as a librarian, Bow started a second career as a writer while raising her son, and her mystery and fantasy novels are now published in both North America and Germany. Her nonfiction work for younger readers includes Chimpanzee Rescue, which describes chimps and their struggle as an endangered species. More imaginative fare is served up in The Bone Flute, a dark fantasy that recalls the folk tales of Old Europe due to its primitive woodland setting.
∗Joanna Cole ▮ Best known for her "Magic School Bus" books, Cole is also the author of a variety of other works for children, including beginning readers, humorous chapter books, adaptations of folk tales and myths, and science-based nonfiction. The winner of numerous awards, Cole inspires readers to share her diverse interests, which range from the life cycles of animals and insects to favorite playground games. Under the guidance of her fictional alter-ego, the equally curious Miss Frizzle, in her popular series Cole invites readers to board her Magic School Bus, an amazing vehicle through which she introduces them to the fascinating world of science while also spinning an engaging story.
Sylviane A. Diouf ▮ Diouf has lived in France, Senegal, Gabon, Italy, and the United States, and she has worked as a journalist as well as a writer. While much of her writing is scholarly in nature, in her books for children she reveals how the culture and history of Africa are relevant to today's young students. In addition to her other nonfiction books such as Growing up in Crawfish Country: A Cajun Childhood, Diouf's picture book Bintou's Braids focuses on a young girl living in an African village and shows that children around the world share the same desire to grow up quickly.
∗Virginia Kroll ▮ With dozens of picture books and hundreds of articles to her credit, Kroll is a versatile and prolific writer; in fact, she is so prolific that she adopted two pen names to differentiate her work. Often broaching inconventional subjects, books such as Masai and I, Woodhoopoe Willie, and Faraway Drums focus on the lives of African-American children, while in A Carp for Kimiko Kroll introduces readers to a Japanese girl who longs to have the advantages of her older brother on a special children's holiday. Writing under the pseudonym Melrose Cooper, Kroll has also penned inspirational stories of family life and overcoming the effects of illness.
Meghan McCarthy ▮ A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Meghan McCarthy has made her mark on children's literature via her fanciful stories and her unique cartoon-style artwork. The picture books George Upside Down and The Adventures of Patty and the Big Red Bus focus on the power of a child's imagination, while in other books McCarthy brings to light lesser-known aspects of American cultural history through an entertaining text and her characteristic google-eyed characters.
Takayo Noda ▮ Born in Japan, Noda moved to New York City in the late 1980s, and her intricate, colored-paper collage art has since found a perfect home in the picture-book medium. Praised for their multidimensional effect, Noda's illustrations are balanced by her simple evocative poems, and the two elements combine in books that have been praised for their sensitivity and sense of joy. Her best-known work, Dear World, explores the beauty and joy of a child's world, while lush collage gardens spill off the pages of Song of the Flowers, which also features lullabies composed of Noda's short, thoughtful verse.
∗Marjorie Priceman ▮ While she has created art for the texts of numerous other writers since the late 1980s, Priceman is quick to admit that illustrating someone else's story is not nearly as fun as illustrating one's own. Many readers have become fans of her self-authored picture books, which include the cat-authored My Nine Lives: by Clio and Princess Picky. Combining an intelligent, sometimes dry, but always contagious humor with an energetic drawing style, Priceman consistently wins over critics, parents, and readers alike.
∗Darren Shan ▮ Shan is the pseudonymous author of the popular "Saga of Darren Shan," a series of young-adult horror novels. Including The Vampire's Assistant, Tunnels of Blood, and Allies of the Night, the twelve-volume series follows the fictional Shan as he unwittingly becomes a vampire's assistant forced to constantly seek out and battle the most unwholesome among the undead. The imaginative Irish writer is also responsible for the "Demonata" books, which feature Grubbs Grady and his ongoing battle with demonic entities. Armed with a book by Shan, such as Lord Loss, in which Grubbs discovers that his parents have met an unpleasant end at the hands of demons, the most mild-mannered teachers or librarians are sure to win over reluctant readers.
EdNah New Rider Weber ▮ Weber, a member of the Pawnee Nation, recalls her experiences growing up as a Native American during the early 1900s in her autobiographical Rattlesnake Mesa: Stories from a Native American Childhood. Featuring photographs of modern-day reservation life by Richela Renkun, the memoir follows seven-year-old Weber as she has a blissful summer at the Crown Point Indian Reservation in New Mexico before encountering the harsh environment of a government-run Indian boarding school. Despite strict discipline and a measure of adversity, Weber's optimism makes her story a compelling one for modern readers.
Dar Williams ▮ Since releasing her first album, The Honesty Room, in 1993, Williams has become well known as a singer/songwriter and acoustic performer. In 2004, the musician found a new outlet for her storytelling skill, publishing the well-received middle-grade novel Amalee. A sixth grader living with her single dad, Amalee learns about friendship and character when her dad falls ill and the ragtag friends the girl has often found annoying step in to care for the family. In addition to her writing, which includes more books about Amalee, Williams has shared the musical stage with such artists as Sara McLachlan, Pete Seeger, and the Indigo Girls.
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