Meet the illustrators for Level Up at Your Library

  • Jason Chin

    Caldecott medalist Jason Chin is the author and illustrator of many acclaimed books, including Grand Canyon, Redwoods, and Your Place in the Universe. In 2022 he was awarded the Caldecott Medal for Watercress by Andrea Wang. He has also received a Caldecott Honor, Sibert Honor, and the NCTE Orbis Pictus award for Grand Canyon. While researching his books, he’s gone swimming with sharks, explored lava fields, and camped with scorpions at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Jason loves making art, learning about science, and getting outside to hike, bike, ski, and explore. Jason now lives with his family in Vermont.

    https://jasonchin.net/

    Check out iREAD's interview with Jason Chin, featured in the September 2023 issue of the ILA Reporter. 

  • Zoe Persico

    Zoe Persico is an illustrator with a love for the wild, the wondrous, and the whimsical. She illustrated Greta and the Giants, You Be Mommy, and more. When she’s not working, she enjoys hiking, playing board games, imagining in tabletop RPGs, hunting for good finds at the thrift store, and petting her dog, Zombie.

    https://www.zoepersico.com/

  • James Stanley

    James Stanley is a freelance storyboard artist/comic artist and illustrator who has worked with prolific animation studios such as JM Animation (Seoul, South Korea), known for their work on TV series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Heat Guy J, and Black Dynamite. They are currently working as the Business Operations Manager at Bit Egg Inc. in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

  • Holly Bradly

    Holly Bradly is an artist and graphic designer from the Greater Chicago area. She’s inspired by music, bold colors, strong lines, and the imagination. When she’s not at work or creating digital art on her iPad, she enjoys taking workout classes at the gym, rollerblading outside, walking in forest preserves, watching anything animated, and spending time with her cat Chester.

    Her work can be found at https://www.instagram.com/hollybradly_illustration/.

  • Patrick Girouard

    Patrick Girouard is the illustrator of numerous children's books, among them Halloween by Alice K. Flanagan, More or Less a Mess! by Sheila Keenan, and Yikes—Lice! by Donna Caffey. Girouard's illustrations for Halloween were described by School Library Journal reviewer Betsy Barnett as eye catching and effective in enhancing the nonfiction text through the artist's use of "bold colors and black outlines." Carolyn Phelan, writing in Booklist, stated that, "with clean lines and clear colors, the illustrations add to the fun" of More or Less a Mess!, as a young girl attempts to clean up her bedroom by piling all the clutter on top of her bed under the bedspread. Although Yikes—Lice! was described by Phelan as "a book library patrons hope they will never need," the critic added that Girouard puts a whimsical spin on a still-commonplace childhood trauma by portraying head lice as "dressed animals having cookouts (and plenty of little cooties) in a person's hair."

    For more information: http://www.pgirouard.com/Patrick_Girouard_Illustration/welcome.html