Way back in 'Once Upon a Time' time, there was a little girl of only three who found a box of crayons and wished to be an artist. She used many surfaces as a canvas, such as white walls and the sides of the kitchen stove. This drove her young parents crazy and they quickly purchased a pad of paper for her. They sent her off to school where she met a wonderful teacher who was also an artist. This teacher would leave a lasting effect on her for years to come. Vanessa knew that she wanted to be an artist just like her teacher.

Vanessa is now living her dream of being a freelance illustrator. She is a self taught artist and has attended both F.I.T and SVA of New York where she studied fashion and children's book illustration. Vanessa is the illustrator of the new book series released by Scholastic, Ruby and The Booker Boys. Her first author/illustrated book, Let Freedom Sing, was published by Blue Apple Books in 2009.

Vanessa describes herself as a retro girl and it shows up in her illustrations. She is a big fan of illustrators such as Ezra Jack Keats, Ludwig Bemelmans, Fiep Westendorp, Mary Blair and Bill Brown, to name a few. Vanessa hopes that when people look at her work, it will make them smile and feel happy in some way, or even reclaim a bit of their childhood.

Vanessa Newton lives in East Orange, NJ with her husband of 14 years, their 7 year old daughter, and a very fat cat named Kirby who thinks he is dog.

Drum City (Tricycle Press)

Don't Let Aunt Mabel Bless the Table (Blue Apple Books)

Presenting...Tallulah (Simon and Schuster)

Let Freedom Sing (Blue Apple Books)

Ruby and the Booker Boys: The Slumber Party Payback (Scholastic)

Ruby and the Booker Boys: Trivia Queen, Third Grade Supreme (Scholastic)

Ruby and the Booker Boys: Brand New School, Brave New Ruby (Scholastic)