Shanda (rhymes with panda) McCloskey knew she wanted to be an artist since 3rd grade when she won an honorable mention in an art contest at school (see art below). Shanda wasn’t a big reader, but she enjoyed picture books because they told stories partly with words and partly with pictures.
After college and teaching art to high schoolers, Shanda decided to pursue children’s book illustration. It took a decade to get her footing, but now Shanda is a full-time illustrator (and author too)!
Shanda lives in Ball Ground, Georgia with her husband, daughters, and dog. Her award-winning STEM-friendly picture books (DOLL-E 1.0 and T-BONE THE DRONE) have taken her to wonderful people and places!
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Fun Facts about Shanda:
- Shanda loved drawing since she can remember, and she knew she wanted to be an artist of some sort when she grew up. She started off as an art teacher and then honed in on being a book illustrator. Becoming an author too was kind of a surprise!
- In 4th grade Shanda made personalized rings from pipe cleaners, sequins, hot glue, and colorful uncooked alphabet pasta (which spelled out each recipient’s first name) and sold them to her classmates for 25 cents each! It was glorious until she sold one to her friend, Allison, whose mom was the teacher. Shanda got in trouble for running a business at school and had to shut it down.
- In elementary school (maybe 3rd grade), Shanda started The Dazzlin’ Club with her cousin, Audrey. The club had its own self-inking stamp, so it was pretty official. They wanted to adopt a whale, but never had enough money. However, they did produce a newsletter for the 12 or so members, thus the need for the stamp.
- 1994 newspaper ARTICLE about my art when I was twelve years old
- A cool INTERVIEW about my experience as an author/illustrator
- Another cool INTERVIEW from a young, aspiring writer
- Illustrator process and career INTERVIEW
- Shanda drew these mermaids in 3rd grade, and won an honorable mention for it in a contest:
