Where The Wild Books Are: How Jewish Authors and Illustrators Revolutionized Children’s Picture Books, with Lisa Brown and Dashka Slater

Please register to attend this free in-person program. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy.  

What do Frog and Toad, Curious George, Shrek, and the Wild Things have in common?

They were all written and illustrated by Jews. Join children’s book creators Lisa Brown and Dashka Slater for a conversation about groundbreaking picture book artists like Maurice Sendak, Ezra Jack Keats, and William Steig, and how their backgrounds, whether by design or not, influenced their thoughts about visual art, writing, and childhood.

Lisa Brown is a New York Times bestselling illustrator, author, and cartoonist of more than twenty books. Her award-winning picture books include: The Airport Book, The Hospital Book, The Moving Book, Mummy Cat by Marcus Ewert, and The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming, by Lemony Snicket, and is the creator of the “Baby Be of Use” series of board books for McSweeney’s. Her comics include The Phantom Twin, a graphic novel for young adults, and Long Story Short, a literary comic strip collection. She writes essays and book reviews for The New York Times and other publications, and is senior adjunct faculty at the California College of the Arts. She lives in San Francisco, where she chairs the board of 826 Valencia and drinks too much coffee.

Dashka Slater has been described as a “triple threat” for her success in journalism, adult fiction, and children’s literature. The author of many books of fiction and nonfiction for children, teenagers, and adults, her work has been translated into more than fifteen languages and has sold more than a million copies. Her books for younger children include the beloved Escargot picture book series, the Feylawn Chronicles middle grade fantasy series, and The Antlered Ship, which was named one of the best picture books of the year by Amazon.com. Her New York Times bestselling young-adult true crime narrative, The 57 Bus, has received numerous accolades, including the Stonewall Book Award, and was named to Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time. Her latest nonfiction narrative, Accountable, was the first young adult title to ever receive the prestigious J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize from the Columbia Journalism School and Harvard’s Neiman Foundation for Journalism.

This program is made possible by Anne Germanacos.