McCully, Emily Arnold: - Emily Arnold McCully was born in Galesburg, Illinois. After college at Brown University, she earned a master's degree at Columbia University in art history. She worked as a freelance illustrator for magazines, advertisements, and book publishers until a radio station commissioned a series of posters showing children playing. The first appeared in subway cars, where it was seen by a children's book editor. It launched a long career, first as an illustrator, then as author/illustrator of picture books. McCully won a Caldecott Medal in 1993. She has two grown sons and one grandson and lives in New York City and Columbia County, New York, where she grows flowers and vegetables. Visit her at EmilyArnoldMcCully.com.