Linda Bleck grew up in Northern Illinois on her grandfather’s apple tree farm as the seventh of nine children.  She has fond memories of drawing with her siblings on old blueprint paper that her architect father brought home from his practice and rolled out on the family’s kitchen table. As an older child she helped her mother, a Hallmark freelance artist, paint details in her illustrations. Her parents were important role models, teaching her the fundamentals of hard work, drawing and design. “My mother always stressed how important it was to make your artwork move and have feeling.” Bleck recalls. She spent countless hours playing with her blocks, drawing, and reading the Golden Book series with her brothers and sisters.  Her artistic influences were Winslow Homer and Maxfield Parrish.

After graduating from University of Illinois, where she studied Graphic Design, Linda began a freelance career as an illustrator in New York City creating award winning work for such publications as the New Yorker, Parenting, Child, Time Magazine, New York Times, and many other editorial clients. After her children were born, David and Sarah, Linda began to write and illustrate stories for them. When an editor at Simon and Schuster expressed interest in a character Linda was developing, called “Pepper the Dog”, the editor asked her to expand it into a pop up book.  It was a thrilling moment as she wrote from her heart and brought “Pepper” to children.  The first book in the Pepper series, “Pepper Goes to School” has been honored with a 2006 National Parenting Publication Award.

The Moon Shines Down (Thomas Nelson)

A Children's Treasury of Poems (Sterling Publishers)

The City Kid & The Suburb Kid (Sterling Publishers)

A New Beginning (Dutton)

Pepper's Valentines Day (Simon & Schuster)

Pepper Picks a Pumpkin (Simon & Schuster)

Pepper’s Snow Day (Simon & Schuster)

Pepper Goes to School (Simon & Schuster)

We Gather Together (Dutton Books)
A Collection of Lullabies (Sterling Publishers)

A Collection of Rhymes (Sterling Publishers)

A Collection of Songs (Sterling Publishers)

A Collection of Prayers (Sterling Publishers)