Kevin Henkes was born in 1960 in Racine, Wisconsin, and during his childhood often visited the local art museum—the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts. Henkes was greatly inspired by these visits and by reading his favorite books. As a young child, he pored over books and was intrigued by their authors and illustrators but says, “I never imagined that one day I would be one myself.”
Kevin Henkes is the author of Junonia, Sun & Spoon, Bird Lake Moon, and the Newbery Honor Books The Year of Billy Miller and Olive's Ocean. He also writes and illustrates picture books, and among his many titles are the national bestsellers Little White Rabbit, My Garden, Old Bear, A Good Day, and Kitten's First Full Moon, for which he was awarded the Caldecott Medal. Henkes is also the creator of a series of books starring mouse characters, including the Penny books for beginning readers, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Chrysanthemum, and Owen, for which he was awarded a Caldecott Honor.
He lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.
