Cathy Camper (born in 1956, in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

) is an Arab-American artist, librarian and author of books for children and teens. She wrote ''Bugs Before Time'', illustrated by Steve Kirk, and the graphic novel series ''Lowriders in Space'', illustrated by Raúl the Third. She has also exhibited

seed art Crop art is an environmental art practice using plants and seeds in the landscape to create statements, marks and/or images. Agnes Denes, Matthew Moore (artist), Dennis Oppenheim and Stan Herd are practitioners of Crop art. Some works of Land ar ...

, entering work in the Minnesota State Fair's Crop Art show starting in 1989. Her portrait of

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

was featured in ''Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People'' by Amy Sedaris. After receiving a degree in

library sciences Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

, Camper worked as a librarian at the

Minneapolis Public Library The Minneapolis Public Library (MPL) was a library system that served the residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. It was founded in 1885 with the establishment of the Minneapolis Library Board by an amendment to the Minneapolis ...

until 2005, at which point she moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

Awards and honors

Two of Camper's books are Junior Library Guild selections: ''Lowriders in Space'' (2015) and ''Ten Ways to Hear Snow'' (2021). ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' named ''Lowriders in Space'' one of the best middle grade books of 2014, and '' The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books'' named it one of the best graphic novels of 2015.

Publications

Standalone books

* ''Bugs Before Time: Prehistoric Insects and Their Relatives'', illustrated by Steve Kirk (2002,

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...

, ) * ''Ten Ways to Hear Snow'', illustrated by Kenard Pak (2020, Kokila, ) * ''Arab Arab All Year Long!'', illustrated by Sawsan Chalabi (2022, Candlewick Press, )

''Lowriders in Space'' series

The ''Lowriders in Space'' series is illustrated by Raúl the Third and published by

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children. The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. ...

. # ''Lowriders in Space'' (2014, ) # ''Lowriders to the Center of the Earth'' (2016, ) # ''Lowriders Blast from the Past'' (2018, ) # Lowriders to the Rescue (202, )

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camper, Cathy Living people American children's writers Writers from Portland, Oregon Artists from Portland, Oregon American women children's writers American women artists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women 1956 births