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Pierr Morgan was named on the way to Virginia Mason Hospital here in Seattle on her birthday, May 2, 1952. Her Mom and Dad were trying to come up with a name for a girl. Inspiration struck as they crossed the University Bridge while rhyming words with “dear” and spied the houseboats below. She grew up with five larger-than-life brothers and sisters in Laurelhurst, on Lake Washington, and yes, she had a dock. She wanted to be a famous poet since she was seven. By nine she knew she was going to be an artist. Her sixth grade teacher read them Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are and she chose her career.

She graduated from Roosevelt High School, and enrolled at the University of Washington in 1970 studying writing and illustration. She returned to art school in 1984, earning a BTA in Painting with Distinction from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

On graduating she took her portfolio to New York for ten days to show to “top ten list” of editors and art directors of publishing houses. From that came Treasures of the Barrier Reef, Adventures Beyond the Solar System, The Turnip, The Bells of Santa Lucia, The Nine Days of Wonder, and Supper for Crow. The Miser on the Mountain was a Seattle venture with Sasquatch Books in 1997. She is finding a synergy in collaborating these days. Carole Lexa Schaefer and Pierr have since created Sometimes Moon-1999, Snow Pumpkin-2000, One Wheel Wobbles-2003, and Who’s There?-2004, with Cornfield Hide and Seek-2003, with friend and colleague, Christine Widman.

It brings Pierr great pleasure to create this art and hopes it pleases you to view it, and perhaps own an original piece, but especially to share the books with a child.

Pierr lives in Langley, Washington, on Whidby Island and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

The Turnip