Dan Yaccarino


Dan Yaccarino is an American author, illustrator and animated series producer known for his animated series, children’s books and award-winning imagery.
Growing up in his home in Clifton, NJ, Yaccarino was influenced by a combination of advertising, package design, comic books, vintage animation, toys, and old movies.
“I’m not really inspired by other children’s book authors and illustrators,” Yaccarino was quoted in saying, "as much as people from other fields. I’d much rather meet the director Henry Selick, singer-songwriter Brian Wilson, or the Dalai Lama.”

Children’s literature

Yaccarino has written and illustrated dozens of books for children, most notably Every Friday, The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, Unlovable and the autobiographical, "All the Way To America: The Story of A Big Italian Family and A Little Shovel. He has also illustrated stories written by some of the most prestigious names in children’s literature, including Margaret Wise Brown, Jack Prelutsky, Kevin Henkes, and Naomi Shihab Nye. Yaccarino’s work in children’s literature has garnered many glowing reviews and a worldwide following. He has been invited to the White House to share his books and participate in the annual Easter festivities.''

Television

hails him as "an American original". He is the creator of the Nick Jr. series Oswald and Willa's Wild Life, as well as the character designer behind Nick Jr.'s the Backyardigans.

Illustration

Yaccarino’s illustrations have adorned the pages of such publications as The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Seventeen, American Bookseller, Working Woman
Travel & Leisure, Business Week, Vegetarian Times, Network World, Psychology Today, Texas Monthly, Yoga Journal and New York Magazine. He has created images for a wide variety of corporate projects and advertising campaigns as well, including Cotton Inc, AT&T and Gardenburger. His work is widely received in Japan, and he has worked extensively for clients such as Sony and Nikkei.

Future projects

In addition to his steady output of picture books, Yaccarino is developing several animated series and feature film projects.
Yaccarino stated in his keynote speech at the SCBWI Conference in Los Angeles in 2009 that he was developing a feature film based on one of his books with a major studio.

Partial bibliography