Douglas Florian

Artist and poet Douglas Florian was born and raised in New York City and educated at Queens College and the School of Visual Art. Florian was a cartoonist for the New Yorker before a chance encounter with William Cole’s anthology of children’s verse, OH, THAT'S RIDICULOUS (1977), inspired him to try his hand at illustration.

Florian’s illustrated poetry books for children often incorporate elements of collage, watercolor, and gouache on a surface of primed paper bags. He frequently takes the natural world as his subject, using wordplay, neologisms, rhyme, and humor to engage young readers. Douglas Florian is the creator of dozens of acclaimed picture books. He lives with his family in New York.