Aaron Becker (born 1974) is an

American writer American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. He is best known for his wordless children's book '' Journey'', which received positive reviews in the ''New York Times'' and the ''Wall Street Journal'' and a

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

in 2014. ''Quest'', the second book in Becker's Journey trilogy, was among a small group of children's books praised by

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

(NPR) in anticipation of the announcement of the 2015 Caldecott Award nominees. Sam Juliano, in his popular ''Wonders in the Dark'' blog, also remarked on ''Quests likelihood of Caldecott attention. The final book of the trilogy, ''Return'', was released in August 2016. Among the many publications reviewing the book were the ''Financial Times'' on 19 August 2016 and the ''New York Times'' on 26 August 2016. Becker published "A Stone for Sascha" in May 2018. The book was reviewed by the ''New York Times Book Review'', ''Kirkus Reviews'', ''Publishers Weekly'', ''The Boston Globe'', et al. Prior to his children's book work, Becker illustrated scenes in children's

animated films Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

, including ''

The Polar Express ''The Polar Express'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1985. The book is now widely considered to be a classic Christmas story for young children. It was praised for its detai ...

'' (2004), ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

'' (2006), '' Monster House'' (2006), ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English Epic poetry, epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translations of Beo ...

'', and '' A Christmas Carol''.

Biography

Becker was born and raised in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He attended Baltimore City College High School. He graduated from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it beca ...

in 1996, and currently lives and works in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (although the county seat ...

Published works

*''Journey'' Trilogy (Candlewick Press) **Book 1: '' Journey'' (August 2013) **Book 2: ''Quest'' (August 2014) **Book 3: ''Return'' (August 2016) *''A Stone for Sascha'' (May 2018)

References

External links

Storybreathing - Aaron Becker's official site

Slideshow of Polar Express artwork

Animatic developed for title sequence of Polar Express

Official release trailer for Journey

The Making of Journey

Official release trailer for Quest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Aaron Living people American children's writers American children's book illustrators Artists from Baltimore Writers from Baltimore 1974 births Pomona College alumni Writers from Amherst, Massachusetts Artists from Massachusetts