Beth Krommes

Biography

I have loved art since my early childhood in Emmaus, PA. I earned a BFA in painting from Syracuse University and an MAT in art education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Before turning to editorial illustration in 1989, I taught art in a public school, managed a fine handcraft shop, and art directed a computer magazine. I've been a children's book illustrator since my first book, Grandmother Winter, came out in 1999. I'm still amazed and humbled that in 2009 my sixth book, The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson, won the Caldecott Medal.

I'm proud to have recently earned an AAS degree in Textile/Surface Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. It is my hope to license designs for fabric, wallpaper, and more — as well as to continue illustrating for children.

My husband and I live in Peterborough, NH, where we raised our two daughters. My mission is to create art that is joyful in spirit, universal in nature, and that is accessible and affordable to others.

To learn more, please read my interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast — a blog about books.