Dan Yaccarino

Dan Yaccarino is an American author, illustrator, and animated series producer born on May 20, 1965, in Montclair, New Jersey, USA. As a youngster, he was always passionate about art and spent much of his time drawing, writing, and making movies. Advertising, comic books, vintage animation, toys, and old films all appear to have had a lasting impact on him. Yaccarino is a Los Angeles-based Otis College of Art and Design alumnus who also got a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Illustration from Parson School of Design in New York City in 1987. He launched a commercial illustration career immediately after graduating, starting with the New York Times Book Review and swiftly progressing to major newspapers and publications, as well as advertising campaigns.

He has authored and illustrated over 50 books for children. His first work, Big Brother Mike, was published in 1993. The picture book addresses the theme of sibling rivalry and has vivid, retro-style illustrations. Since then, he's written scores of children's books, including Every Friday, Jacques Cousteau's Fantastic Undersea Life, Unlovable, and the autobiographical All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel. His picture book, Oswald, was adapted into an animated series on the Nickelodeon network and is his most well-known work. He was also an illustrator for books written by some of the most reputed authors in children’s literature, such as Margaret Wise Brown, Jack Prelutsky, Kevin Henkes, Naomi Shihab Nye, Robert Burleigh, and Patricia MacLachlan.

His illustrations have appeared in Time Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Travel & Leisure, Business Week, Psychology Today, and New York Magazine. He has worked with clients such as Sony, Nikkei, Cotton Inc., and Gardenburger, and developed graphics for a wide range of business projects and advertising campaigns. He created Emmy winning Willa's Wild Life (Qubo and NBC) and Doug Unplugs (Apple TV). He also worked on the Emmy-winning Nick Jr. show The Backyardigans as a character designer.

His works in animation, children's literature, and his award-winning imagery has earned him high praise and international recognition. In 2002, Yaccarino was one of the honored guests at the White House's annual Easter celebrations. He's also keynoted various children's literary conferences and presented his work at Pixar Studios.