Loren Long will visit Monroe Elementary on April 26th and April 27th. Loren Long is an award-winning illustrator who can be found drawing each day at his house in West Chester, Ohio, where he lives with his wife, Tracy, and their two sons, Griffith and Graham, and their dog, Stella. Loren was born in Joplin, Missouri and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. He graduated from the University of Kentucky and did graduate work at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. He has taught illustration at Northern Kentucky University and guest lectured at Columbus College of Art and Design, and Kendall College of Art. The illustrator has published numerous books for young readers. His first was My Dog, My Hero by Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey, and Laurie Myers. It was published in 2000. In 2003 superstar singer Madonna chose Loren Long to illustrate her story, Mr. Peabody’s Apples, which skyrocketed to # 1 on the Children’s New York Times Best Seller list. Loren won the prestigious Golden Kite Award for best picture book illustration from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators for I Dream of Trains by Angela Johnson and for When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer. The Little Engine That Could was reissued with new illustrations by Loren Long in 2006, and was also # 1 on the Children’s New York Times Best Seller list. His two new books are Wind Flyers by Angela Johnson and The Barnstormers—tales of the travelin’ nine/Game 1 by Phil Bildner.
