Robbie Behr - Click to see all titles by this author.

Robbi Behr's illustrious career began in second grade, when she borrowed Draw 50 Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals from the public library (the YouTube of 1983) in her hometown of Chestertown, Maryland. Robbi drew a passable triceratops, signed her name, and handed it to her beloved art teacher Ms. Chauvenet, who made the bold move to frame and display it on her desk. The ensuing rush of glory was enough to fuel Robbi through many years of doodling, a skill honed in the margins of notebooks and sometimes on the cuffs of her hip 90s baggy jeans.

After several years of art-related jobs, including gallery assistant, traveling children ‘s photographer, and t-shirt printer at a 90s dot com startup, Robbi discovered the challenges and joys (and did she mention challenges?) of collaborating with her future husband, writer Matthew Swanson. Together they spent a decade self-publishing “odd, commercially non-viable picture books for adults” before getting a foot in the door in commercial children ‘s publishing. They have recently created the Cookie Chronicles series, The Real McCoys Trilogy, and the picture books Babies Ruin Everything, Sunrise Summer, and Everywhere, Wonder.

Somewhere along the way Robbi had four children, whom she will be tormenting throughout the 2022-23 school year by forcing them to live and travel the country in a tiny school bus while she and Matthew give presentations at 52 Title I schools and give away 25,000 books as part of their Busload of Books Tour.

Check out Robbie Behr’s original artwork on the front of this calendar.