Born on October 26th, David LaRochelle is both a writer and an illustrator. A fourth-grade teacher for quite a few years, David has been an author, illustrator, and popular school visitor for more than 15 years. His work appears frequently in the Cricket family of magazines for children. He illustrated Donna Erickson's books of activities based on her popular PBS show, "Donna's Day." His first book, The Christmas Guest, was published in 1988. His newest picture book, The Best Pet of All, was published in 2004 to fond acclaim. Child Magazine and Booksense both named it to their Best Books lists. His first young adult novel, Absolutely, Positively Not ... was published in 2005 to great reviews. in the spring of 2006, The End, illustrated by Richard Egielski, debuted as one of the only, or perhaps the only, picture books with a story told backward. Finally, for this multi-talented artist, it's only fitting that someone born so close to Halloween is notable as a pumpkin-carver: his work has appeared nationally on ABC's "Good Morning, America" and "Rebecca's Garden."

Read more about David on his web page by clicking here.