Dan Yaccarino
![]() |
Dan Yaccarino (born May 20, 1965) 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.[1] He has been invited to the White House[1] to share his books and participate in the annual Easter festivities.
Television
Animation Magazine hails him as "an American original". He is the creator of the Nick Jr. series Oswald and Willa's Wild Life (Qubo and NBC), 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
- Big Brother Mike
- Bam Bam Bam
- One Hole in the Road
- If I Had a Robot
- Zoom Zoom Zoom! I’m Off to the Moon!
- Good Night, Mr. Night
- An Octopus Followed Me Home
- Five Little Pumpkins
- Little White Dog
- Circle Dogs
- Trashy Town
- Deep in the Jungle
- Blast Off Boy and Blorp: First Day on a Strange New Planet
- Blast Off Boy and Blorp: New Pet
- Blast Off Boy and Blorp: The Big Science Fair
- Come With Me
- Surviving Brick Johnson
- Oswald
- Unlovable
- The Good Little Bad Little Pig
- The Lima Bean Monster
- Dan Yaccarino’s Mother Goose
- Where the Four Winds Blow
- Bittle
- The Birthday Fish
- Every Friday
- Who Will Sing a Lullaby?
- Go Go America
- Little Boy With a Big Horn
- The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau
- Lawn to Lawn
- Cooking With Henry and Ellibelly
- All the Way To America: The Story of A Big Italian Family and A Little Shovel
- The Belly Book
- Boy & Bot
- Kate and Nate Are Running Late
- Doug Unplugged
- Zorgoochi Intergalactic Pizza
- Billy & Goat at the State Fair
- The Happyland series
- Class Pet Squad: Journey to the Center of Town
- I am a Story
- Morris Mole
- Giant Tess
- Smashy Town
References
- ^ a b "about dan". yaccarinostudio.com. Dan Yaccarino. Archived from the original on 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
External links
- Official Website
- 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast Interview with Dan Yaccarino: http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1628