Diane Stanley (born December 27, 1943) is an American

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

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 complicate ...

Life and work

Stanley was born in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...

. She earned her bachelor's degree from Trinity University and her M. A. in medical illustration from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

College of Medicine. Stanley is the author and/or illustrator of more than sixty books for children, noted especially for her series of picture book biographies. ''Shaka, King of the Zulus'' was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and ''Leonardo da Vinci'' received the

Orbis Pictus Award The Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children recognizes books which demonstrate excellence in the "writing of nonfiction for children." It is awarded annually by the National Council of Teachers of English to one American book p ...

for Outstanding Nonfiction from the National Council for Teachers of English. Many of her books have been honored as American Library Association Notable Books and she has twice received both the Boston Globe/Hornbook Award and the Society of Children's Book Writers'

Golden Kite Award The Golden Kite Awards are given annually by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, an international children's writing organization, to recognize excellence in children’s literature. The award is a golden medallion showing ...

. She was the recipient of the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for the body of her work. She has three grown children and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband, Peter Vennema.

Books

Biographies and History

*''Alice Waters Cooks Up a Food Revolution'', illustrated by Jessie Hartland, Paula Wiseman Books (2022) *''RESIST: Peaceful Acts That Changed our World'', Neal Porter Books /

Holiday House A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...

(2020) *''Ada Lovelace: Poet of Science'', illustrated by Jessie Hartland, Paula Wiseman Books (2017) *''Bard of Avon: The Story of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

'' (co-author Peter Vennema), Morrow Junior Books (1992) *''

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

: The Man Who Had Great Expectations'' (co-author Peter Vennema), Morrow Junior Books (1993) *''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

'', Morrow Junior Books (1994) *'' Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of England'' (co-author Peter Vennema),

Four Winds Press 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

(1990) *''

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

'', Morrow Junior Books (1998) *''

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

'', Morrow Junior Books (1996) *''

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

'',

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

(2000) *''

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

: The Wonder Child - A Puppet Play in Three Acts'',

(2009) *''

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

'", Four Winds Press (1986) *''

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

: Noble Prince of Islam'', HarperCollins (2002) *''

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona (–24 September 1828), also known as Shaka (the) Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reform ...

: King of the Zulus'' (co-author Peter Vennema), Morrow Junior Books (1988) *'' The Last Princess'' (as illustrator only; text by Fay Grissom Stanley), Four Winds Press (1991) *''The Time-Traveling Twins: Joining

the Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a seminal American political and mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, during the American Revolution. Initiated by Sons of Liberty activists in Boston in colonial Massachusetts, one of the original Thirteen Colon ...

'' *''The Time-Traveling Twins: Roughing It on the Oregon Trail'' *''The Time-Traveling Twins:

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

on Plymouth Plantation'' *''The True Adventure of Daniel Hall''

Fiction

;Picture books (as illustrator only): *''The Farmer in the Dell'' (public domain) *''Fiddle-I-Fee'' (public domain) *''Half-a-Ball-of-Kenki'' (by

Verna Aardema Verna Norberg Aardema Vugteveen (June 6, 1911 – May 11, 2000), best known by the name Verna Aardema, was an American writer of children's books. In 1960, she published her first set of stories, ''Tales from the Story Hat'', which were very s ...

) *''Little Mouse Nibbling'' (by Tony Johnston) *''Petrosinella, a Neapolitan Rapunzel'' (by

Giambattista Basile Giambattista Basile ( – 23 February 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. His collections include the oldest recorded forms of many well-known (and more obscure) European fairy tales. He is chiefly remembered for writi ...

) *''Onions, Onions'' (by Toni Hormann) *''Sleeping Ugly'' (by

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 400 books, of which the best known is '' The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. H ...

) *''The Man Whose Name Was Not Thomas'' (by M. Jean Craig) *''Robin of Bray'' (by Jean and Claudio Marzollo) *''Beach Party'' (by Joanne Ryder) *''Little Orphant Annie'' (by

James Whitcomb Riley James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...

) *''The Month-Brothers'' (by

Samuil Marshak Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak (alternative spelling: Marchak) (; 4 July 1964) was a Soviet writer of Belarusian Jewish origin, translator and poet who wrote for both children and adults. He translated the sonnets and some other of the works of Willi ...

; translation by Thomas P. Whitney) *''All Wet! All Wet!'' (by James Skofield) ;Picture books (as author only): *''The Good Luck Pencil'' (illustrated by

Bruce Degen Bruce Degen ( ; June 14, 1945 – November 7, 2024) was an American illustrator and writer, known for illustrating ''The Magic School Bus'', a picture book series written by Joanna Cole (author), Joanna Cole. He collaborated with writers Nancy W ...

) *''Siegfried'' (illustrated by John Sandford) *''Moe the Dog in Tropical Paradise'' (illustrated by Elise Primavera) *''Woe is Moe'' (illustrated by Elise Primavera) *''The Gentleman and the Kitchen Maid'' (illustrated by Dennis Nolan) *''Saving Sweetness'' (illustrated by G. Brian Karas) *''Raising Sweetness'' (illustrated by G. Brian Karas) *''The Time-Traveling Twins: Roughing it on the Oregon Trail'' (illustrated by Holly Berry) *''The Time-Traveling Twins: Joining the Boston Tea Party'' (illustrated by Holly Berry) *''The Time-Traveling Twins: Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation'' (illustrated by Holly Berry) ;Picture books (as author and illustrator): *''The Conversation Club'' *''A Country Tale'' *''Birdsong Lullaby'' *''Captain-Whiz-Bang'' *''Fortune'' *''Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter'' *''The Giant and the Beanstalk'' *''Goldie and the Three Bears'' *''The Trouble with Wishes'' ;Novels: *''A Time Apart'' *''The Mysterious Matter of I.M. Fine'' *''The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy'' *''Bella at Midnight'' *''Saving Sky'' *''The Silver Bowl'' *''The Cup and the Crown'' *''The Princess of Cortova'' *''The Chosen Prince'' *''Joplin, Wishing'' *''Second Sleep''

Historical Fiction

*''Elena''

References

External links

*
Diane Stanley
at publisher HarperChildrens.com * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Diane American children's writers American children's book illustrators American women children's book illustrators American women children's writers American medical illustrators 1943 births Living people People from Abilene, Texas Johns Hopkins University alumni American graphic designers American women graphic designers American women biographers American art directors American biographers