To date, David has illustrated over 40 picture books. At an average of 40 pages per book, that makes around 1,840 illustrations, though someone ought to check that math.
David Small and Sarah Stewart make their home in an 1833 manor house on a bend of the St. Joseph River in southwest Michigan. David’s studio is an 1890 farmhouse also overlooking the river, just a short walk from home.
David Small was born and raised in Detroit. In school he became known as “the kid who could draw good,” but David never considered a career in art because it was so easy for him. At 21, after many years of writing plays, David took the advice of a friend who informed him that the doodles he made on the telephone pad were better than anything he had ever written. He switched his major to Art and never looked back. After getting his MFA at the Yale Graduate School of Art, David taught art for many years on the college level, ran a film series, and made satirical sketches for campus newspapers.
Approaching tenure, he wrote and illustrated a picture book, Eulalie and the Hopping Head, which he took to New York, pounding the pavements and collecting rejections for a month in the dead of winter. Eulalie was published in 1981. Although tenure at the college did not follow, many more picture books did, as well as extensive work for national magazines and newspapers. His drawings appeared regularly in The New Yorker and The New York Times.
A learn-as-you-go illustrator, David’s books have been translated into several languages, made into animated films and musicals, and have won many of the top awards accorded to illustration, including the 1997 Caldecott Honor and The Christopher Medal for The Gardener written by his wife, Sarah Stewart, and the 2001 Caldecott Medal for So, You Want To Be President? by Judith St. George. “At the Caldecott ceremony in San Francisco,” said David, “facing that veritable sea of smiling faces — of librarians, of friends in publishing, of my family and other well-wishers — I was so overcome that I lost my voice and croaked my way through the speech. Having been turned from a frog into a prince by the American Library Association, before their eyes that night, I turned back into a frog.”
Recognition for David's books include The Caldecott Medal (So You Want To Be President?, 2001), The Caldecott Honor (The Gardener, 1998), National Book Award Finalist (Stitches, 2009 and The Underneath, 2008), Christopher Award (That Book Woman, 2009 and The Gardener, 1998), ABBY Award Honor Book (The Gardener, 1997 and The Library, 1995), The New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year (The Library, 1995), and a Featured Selection for more than 10 years on Reading Rainbow (Imogene's Antlers, 1985).
Sarah Stewart grew up in Texas and studied Latin and philosophy at an unfortunate number of colleges and universities. She has held the position of teacher, speechwriter, and ombudsman, among other, less notable, jobs.
All of her books have been illustrated by David Small (her husband) and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. They include: The Money Tree, The Library, The Gardener (a Caldecott Honor Book), The Journey, and The Friend. Sarah and David have many more collaborations planned. She has reviewed children's books for The New York Times, has edited copy for The Texas Observer, and occasionally has a poem published in an obscure journal. In November 2007 Sarah received the Michigan Author's Award, the state's highest honor that the librarian's association may grant to an author.