Michael Paraskevas (born 1961) is an American illustrator, cartoonist, and animation producer best known for co-creating along with his mother

Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...

in the Canadian animated children's television series '' Maggie and the Ferocious Beast''. The show was based on the 1996 book ''The Ferocious Beast with the Polka-Dot Hide'' and its sequels, all of which were also created by the Paraskevases. Together, they authored 20 children's books. and created three animated series: ''Maggie and the Ferocious Beast'', ''

Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse ''Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse'' (also known as ''Edouard et Martin'' for the French dub in Quebec) is a children's animated television series co-produced by Nelvana and Hong Guang Animation for Teletoon and PBS Kids. It tells the stories of a youn ...

'', and ''

The Kids from Room 402 ''The Kids from Room 402'' is an animated series produced by CinéGroupe and Saban Entertainment that premiered on October 9, 1999 on the Fox Family Channel in the USA, and on August 29, 2000 on Teletoon in Canada. It consists of 52 half-hour epi ...

''. They also produced and created ''

The Tangerine Bear ''The Tangerine Bear'' is a 48-minute animated film for children released on November 11, 2000. It was directed by Bert Ring, and is based on the 1997 book of the same name by Betty Paraskevas and Michael Paraskevas. The voice cast includes famou ...

'' as a direct-to-video Christmas special. Michael Paraskevas's illustration work has appeared in magazines all over the world, including ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'', '' Town & Country'', '' Esquire'', ''

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 ...

'', and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''.

Biography

Paraskevas graduated from the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

(SVA) in 1984. Studying illustration and journalism, he received his MFA from SVA in 1986."About,"
Michael Paraskevas official website. Accessed Dec. 3, 2019. The Paraskevas strip ''Junior Kroll'' ran weekly for ten years in ''

Dan's Papers ''Dan's Papers'' is a free weekly lifestyle publication in the Hamptons, Long Island, New York, USA, founded by Dan Rattiner.The first of the papers that would later collectively come to be known as ''Dan's Papers'' was the ''Montauk Pioneer'', ...

'' in Bridgehampton and New York. ''Junior Kroll'' also ran as a monthly feature for five years in

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

' '' Hemispheres'' magazine. Paraskevas's ''Green Monkeys'' is currently running in ''Dan's Papers'' as a weekly comic strip and is soon to be syndicated. Until her death in 2010, Betty and Michael owned and operate The Paraskevas Gallery in Westhampton Beach.

Bibliography

: ''With Betty Paraskevas, unless otherwise noted'' *''On the Edge of the Sea'' (Dial Books, 1992) *''Junior Kroll'' (HMH Books for Young Readers, 1993) *''Shamlanders'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1993) *''The Strawberry Dog'' (Dial Books, 1993) *''Junior Kroll and Company'' (Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994) *''A Very Kroll Christmas'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1994) *''Gracie Graves and the Kids from Room 402'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1995) *''Cecil Bunions and the Midnight Train'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1996) *''The Ferocious Beast with the Polka-Dot Hide'' (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1996) *''The Tangerine Bear'' (Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1997) *''Hoppy and Joe'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1999) *''Maggie and the Ferocious Beast: The Big Scare'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1999) *''The Big Carrot: A Maggie and the Ferocious Beast Book'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2000) *''On the Day the Tall Ships Sailed'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2000) * (solo) ''L.A. Times'' (Paraskevas Gallery, 2001) *''Nibbles O'Hare'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2001) *''Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse'' (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2001) *''The Green Monkeys'' (Paraskevas Gallery, 2002) * ''The Green Monkeys in the Hamptons'' (Paraskevas Gallery, 2012) * (solo) ''The Green Monkeys' Daily Comics: The Daily Adventures of Spider and Flytrap'' (Kindle Edition, 2014) * (solo) ''Mr. Moon'' (Crown Books for Young Readers, 2016) * (solo) ''The Green Monkeys Making America Green Again'' (Kindle Edition, 2017)

Animation

Television series

* '' Maggie and the Ferocious Beast'' (Nelvana and Nickelodeon) — co-creator, writer, producer *''

'' (Nelvana and PBS) — co-creator, producer *''

'' (CineGroupé and Fox Family Channel) — co-creator, producer

Television specials

*''

'' (Hyperion and ABC) - writer, creator, producers

Currently in development

*''Jerolemon Street'' *''Junior Kroll'' (Paraskevas Studios) * ''Green Monkeys'' (Paraskevas Studios) *''Peter Pepper Pet Spectacular'' *''Hoppy and Joe'' (Paraskevas Studios) * ''Leo Spats Ratcatcher'' (Paraskevas Studios) *''Taffy Saltwater''

References

External links

*
''Green Monkeys'' siteToonarific interview with Michael Paraskevas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paraskevas, Michael 1961 births Living people American short story writers American animators American cartoonists American children's book illustrators School of Visual Arts alumni