Joan Elizabeth Goodman is an author, illustrator, and fine artist based in New York City.

My career as a children’s book author began with my love of reading.  I didn’t plan on being a writer.  I wanted to be an artist and pursued that goal, studying art at Pratt Institute and L’Accademia di Belli Arte in Rome.  After graduation I worked as a greeting card artist at Hallmark Cards.  I returned to New York to illustrate books. That led to writing my own stories. I began to explore the longer format of novels.  By the time Songs from Home was published, I was hooked on writing as well as illustrating. Since then, in addition to picture books, I’ve written historical fiction, biographies, and even picture books that others have illustrated.

 I’ve found that creating a book, whether it’s a picture book or a YA novel, is a voyage of discovery. Often, I get to the end of a draft before understanding the underlying issues of my story. In the YA novel, PARADISE, I set out to tell the story of survival on a tiny island in the gulf of the St. Lawrence river, and ultimately wrote about the power of transcendent love. The epiphanies of writing keep me writing. I can’t wait to see what will happen next, and what it all means. 

 One of my favorite fan letters was from a Seattle mom commemorating the 365th bedtime reading of my picture book, GOOD NIGHT, PIPPIN. It tells a series of improbable adventures featuring Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and baby Pippin. But the loving family’s sharing of a bedtime ritual is the underlying tale in PIPPIN, and I’m glad that the Seattle mom and her son made my book their ritual.