Excuse Me!: a Little Book of Manners

Karen Katz has always been making something: quilts, costumes, prints, sculpture, painting, collage, and book illustrations. While attending the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and Rome, Italy, she became interested in folk art, Indian miniatures, Shaker art, and Mexican art. After graduating, she went on to the Yale Graduate School of Art and Architecture where she fell in love with Chagall, Matisse, and Grandma Moses. Her love of folk art and children’s art has influenced all her children’s books. Before doing children’s books full-time, she created costumes for a magician (Doug Henning), taught college, and illustrated and designed for over 50 publishers. After she and her husband adopted their daughter from Guatemala, she began to devote herself full-time to her love of creating children’s books. She is the author and illustrator of over 45 children’s books and has won numerous awards. Her baby board books have sold over 3 million copies and her multicultural picture books can be found in many schools and libraries. She has created a line of interactive baby toys with Small World Toys. Ms. Katz has lives in Manhattan and upstate New York.