Occupation Illustrator, writer Period 1981–present Name Kevin Henkes | Nationality American Notable awards Caldecott Medal2005 Role Writer | |
Nominations Goodreads Choice Awards Best Picture Books Books Chrysanthemum, Lilly's Purple Plastic Pu, Kitten's First Full Moon, Wemberly worried, Owen Similar People Jan Brett, Kate DiCamillo, Lois Ehlert, Chris Van Allsburg, Cassandra Morris |
Meet kevin henkes
Kevin Henkes (born November 27, 1960) is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. As an illustrator he won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon (2004). Two of his books were Newbery Medal Honor Books, Olive's Ocean in 2004 and The Year of Billy Miller in 2014.
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Meet Penny, by Kevin Henkes
Career
Kevin Henkes (pronounced HANK-us) thought he would be an artist until his junior year of high school, when one of his teachers encouraged him in his writing efforts. He discovered that children's books combined both his literary and artistic interests.

Henkes writes and illustrates children's picture books, many of which feature mice as their main characters. He also writes young-adult fiction. Henkes wrote his first book during his freshman year in college. The book's theme deals with how a child describes the pleasures of occasional solitude. This theme is common in many of Henkes' later books. Henkes, one of five children, says that many of his storylines are inspired by his family and the neighborhood where he grew up in Racine, Wisconsin.

Henkes' first book, All Alone, was published in 1981 by Greenwillow Books. More than 30 books followed, including Chrysanthemum and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. In 1994 Henkes was a runner-up for one of the premier American Library Association children's book awards, the Caldecott Medal for Owen, one of his mouse books. In 2004, he was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal for Olive's Ocean. The next year he won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon, recognizing that as the year's best children's picture book published in the U.S. All of his books to date have been published by Greenwillow Books.
Henkes won the inaugural Phoenix Picture Book Award in 2013 for Owen. The Phoenix Awards from the Children's Literature Association recognize the best books that did not win major awards when they were first published twenty years earlier. In 2014, he received a Newbery Honor for his book, The Year of Billy Miller.
Personal life
Henkes was born in Racine, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He lives in Madison with his wife, artist Laura Dronzek, and their two children William and Clara. He has four siblings.