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Meet Sandra Boynton — the author and illustrator who's helped hippos find their bellybuttons and cows learn how to croon.
With the way her name can set a room screaming you'd think Sandra Boynton was a rock star. To preschoolers and their parents, she's pretty close.
What she is, is a best selling author and illustrator of over thirty children's books about dancing chickens and elephants who wear pajamas and jump rope before going to bed.
Sandra grew up in Philadelphia, the daughter of an English teacher, and her life changed when she first discovered Little Bear.
"The pictures were magical," says Sandra. "It was a book that took you immediately into this world and I just wanted to be able to read it to myself and not just wait to have it read to me."
Inspired by Maurice Sendak, Sandra started drawing herself: hippos, cows, ducks, dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, ewes and gnus.
"Pictures are incredibly important in a book. Because they are what a child is reading — not reading the words. They're hearing the words but they're reading the pictures."
Considering her success, she's obviously hitting just the right note with kids and their parents.
"The Belly Button Book is a great example. I mean, what toddler between 2 and 3 doesn't know where their belly button is and is always exploring and I think she writes things that are relevant to children at a young age," says one parent.
Click here to read about another children's book author and illustrator,
Kate Duke>>
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by Sandra Boynton
