A Diverse group of award-winning illustrators & authors creating across many industries.
Sarah Dillard

Agent: Lori Nowicki

 

Sarah Dillard studied art at Wheaton College and illustration at Rhode Island School of Design.  Her author illustrated books include the popular Mouse Scouts series, the critically-acclaimed young graphic reader, Extraordinary Warren and its sequel, Extraordinary Warren Saves the Day. Her latest picture book I Wish it Would Snow was on the CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People list for 2019. It’s sequel I Don’t Like Rain will be released in the spring of 2020. Sarah is inspired by the beautiful mountain she lives on, and doesn’t feel a day is complete without a walk in the woods. For further inspiration she dips into her collection of vintage children’s books, including Margaret Wise Brown’s The Little Fur Family, Maurice Sendak’s Nutshell Library, and the Beatrix Potter books. She hopes to create picture books that transport young minds into magical worlds, just as she was as a child. Sarah lives in Vermont with her husband and chocolate lab.

Client List

Penguin Group
Sterling Publishing
Simon & Schuster
Dalmation Publishing Group

Awards / Honors

  • 2021 Junior Library Guild Selection, Blueberry Cake
  • 2017 Bank Street’s Best Children Books of the Year – Mouse Scouts: Camp Out
  • 2015 Kansas State Reading Circle Primary Title,  Extraordinary Warren 
  • 2015 WSRA “Just One More Page!” Pick, Extraordinary Warren
  • 2015 WSRA “Just One More Page!” Pick, Extraordinary Warren Saves the Day
  • 2014 Junior Library Guild Selection, Extraordinary Warren
  • 2010 Gold Award for the National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) Storytelling competition

Reviews

Praise for Mouse Scouts

“Not only do these books manage to be modestly funny while eschewing burps, boogers and earwax, they also project a level of respect for adult authority that is rare in 21st-century children’s literature.”

New York Times
Praise for Mouse Scouts

“Strong characters plus lots of laughs make this a welcome series for new readers, who will look forward to reading about all 16 badges”

Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Mouse Scouts

“Readers won’t have to be scouts to enjoy this agreeable tale of friendship and gardening. ”

Booklist
Praise for Mouse Scouts

“It’s easy to imagine children finishing this book with an increased interest in both gardening and scouting.”

Publisher's Weekly
Praise for First Day at Zoo School

“The text is the perfect combination of narration and word balloons that lets the story be seen from both sides. Dillard successfully mixes traditional spreads with comic book-style panels. Often the characters or their thoughts slip a little outside the frames, adding an extra dimension to the art. ”

School Library Journal
Praise for First Day at Zoo School

“Dillard makes excellent use of comic-book elements like sequential panels and speech balloons in this witty, well-observed story...Dillard keeps the story’s messaging subtle, and her crisp images and candid storytelling capture the give-and-take inherent in many early friendships. ”

Publishers Weekly
Praise for Extraordinary Warren

“A good-humored story that nicely blends picture book, chapter book, and graphic novel elements.”

Publishers Weekly
Praise for Extraordinary Warren

“With colorful illustrations, an engaging plot, and simple text presented in short sentences or graphic novel format, this book will attract readers. Warren and Egg show children the power of reaching for one's dreams and exhibiting moonshot thinking...A wonderful addition.”

School Library Journal
Praise for Perfectly Arugula

“Dillard’s crisp illustrations—in colored pencil, watercolor and gouache—and the book’s design mimic 1950s styles with flair.”

Kirkus Reviews

Featured Portfolio

Authored Books

I Don't Like Rain! (Aladdin Books - March 2020)
I Wish It Would Snow (Simon & Schuster)
Mouse Scouts series (Random House)
First Day at Zoo School (Sleeping Bear Press)
Extraordinary Warren Saves the Day (Simon & Schuster)
Extraordinary Warren (Simon & Schuster)
Warren's World (Aladdin Books)
Perfectly Arugula (Sterling Publishing)

Illustrated Books

Follow the Bunny (Penguin Group)
Tightrope Poppy, the Highwire Pig (Sterling Publishing)
Ten Wishing Stars (Dalmation Publishing Group)