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Mercer Mayer

Biography

Mercer Mayer, this year's festival artist, attended the Honolulu Academy of Arts and received additional art training at the Arts Student League in New York City. His first book, A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog (1967) was notable for being a wordless picture book—one that tells its story completely through the use of pictures. He was one of the first illustrators to be credited with using this format. Five more books in this series were to follow including There's a Nightmare in My Closet (1968), which drew on his childhood fears of monsters. His latest book is The Bravest Knight (Dial, 2007). In addition to writing and illustrating his own books, he has collaborated on many projects with other children's authors. He currently lives in Roxbury, Connecticut.

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