Katy Perry has cemented her status as a best-selling superstar with the global success of her second studio album, Teenage Dream, which debuted at #1 in 8 countries. All 4 singles released so far ("California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Firework" and "E.T.") have hit #1 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart, making hers just the third album in the 18-year history of the chart to yield a quartet of No. 1s. She also holds the distinction of being only the ninth album in the 52-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart to produce four No. 1s. This follows on the heels of her multi-platinum debut album, One of the Boys, which generated four hit singles: "I Kissed A Girl," "Hot N Cold," "Thinking of You" and "Waking Up In Vegas." She wrapped up 2010 in style with 4 Grammy nominations, including one for "Album of the Year." Katy kicked off 2011 with sold-out shows on the European leg of the California Dreams Tour, and will play sold-out shows in Australia, New Zealand and Japan before heading to North America and beyond.
Emmy Award-nominated Jeff "Swampy" Marsh is creator and executive producer of Disney Channel's animated comedy "Phineas and Ferb" for which he nabbed two Emmy nominations for 'Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics' and 'Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music' in 2008. He also writes songs heard in the series and voices the character of Major Monogram. Over the past 20 years, Marsh has worked for many of the top names in animation, including Hanna Barbera, Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon. He worked for over six seasons on the critically-acclaimed series "The Simpsons," including three episodes that won Emmy Awards. He also worked as a storyboard artist and designer for the Emmy Award-winning series, "King of the Hill," and for four seasons as a writer and director on "Rocko's Modern Life," gaining the show an Environmental Media Award. Additionally, he spearheaded production of several feature films and series for the UK-based BKN New Media Ltd. Marsh returned to the U.S. after six years of working various projects for the BBC, ITV and Carlton TV in the U.K. Born in 1960 in Santa Monica, he now lives and surfs in Venice and has two children and four grandchildren.
As the then youngest-ever winner of American Idol, Jordin Sparks was just seventeen years old when she won the coveted title. In the four years that have followed, Jordin has released two albums on 19 Recordings/Jive Records. Her self-titled debut went platinum, selling over 2 million copies worldwide, with the first three singles going top 5 and the album’s second single, “No Air” selling 4 million digital downloads. Jordin’s second release, 2009’s Battlefield, debuted on the Billboard Album chart at number seven. Sparks has won two BET Awards, one American Music Award, one People’s Choice Award and has been nominated for two MTV Awards and one Grammy. Debuting as Nina Rosario in the Tony award winning musical In The Heights in the Fall of 2010, Sparks spent 12 weeks on Broadway. 2012 is proving to be even more exciting as Sparks makes her feature film debut August 10th as Sparkle in the SONY Pictures film by the same name.
Mo Willems’ work in children’s books, animation, television, theater, and bubble gum card painting has garnered him 3 Caldecott Honors, 2 Geisel Medals, 2 Carnegie Medals, 6 Emmys, a Geisel Honor and multiple bubble gum cards. His most recently published book is "Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator," a portrait of the relationship between a girl and her stuffed alligator told in 6-1/2 stories. Upcoming non-bubble gum card projects include "Ducking Gets a Cookie?!" and a new Elephant and Piggie book, "Listen To My Trumpet!" More information about Mo’s past, present, and future can be gleaned at www.mowillems.com
Holly Black is the bestselling author of contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children. Holly collaborated with her long-time friend, Caldecott award winning artist, Tony DiTerlizzi, to create the bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles. The first two books, The Field Guide and The Seeing Stone were released together in 2003 by Simon & Schuster, with the next three, Lucinda's Secret (2003), The Ironwood Tree (2004) and The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004), following in rapid succession. The Wrath of Mulgarath climbed to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. To date, the books have been translated into 32 languages. There are three more chapter books in the Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles series,The Nixie's Song (2007), A Giant Problem (2008) and The Wyrm King (2009). The Spiderwick Chronicles were adapted into a film by Paramount Pictures in conjunction with Nickelodeon Films. Her first collection of short fiction, Poison Eaters and Other Stories, came out in 2010 from Small Bear Press. Holly lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo.
Dragons, space monsters, goblins and insects: the characters that inhabit storyteller Tony DiTerlizzi’s world haven’t changed since he was a kid growing up in South Florida. In 2003, DiTerlizzi met an up-and-coming writer named Holly Black. A fellow fantasy and folklore lover, the two became fast friends and Tony showed her sketches he was working on for a field guide to fantastic creatures. Black began helping him, and the two created the chapter book series “The Spiderwick Chronicles”. “The Spiderwick Chronicles” series was loved by children and adults alike, and was published in over 30 countries, selling over 7 million copies in the US alone. Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies released a live action adaptation of “The Spiderwick Chronicles” in 2008. In 2008, “Kenny and The Dragon,” which tells the story of a young, bookish rabbit who becomes friends with a happy-go-lucky drake, was another New York Times bestseller. He followed Kenny by teaming up with his wife, Angela, on a silly series of young picture books, “Adventure of Meno”. In fall 2010, The Search for Wondla was released and was an immediate New York Times bestseller, and was quickly optioned by Paramount for a feature film. The book went on to receive both stellar reviews and was embraced by the media as it was a Today Show Al Roker Book Club selection.
Brian is Crayola's Digital Design Creative Director. He is the tech savvy creative behind Crayola’s latest online innovations Lights, Camera, Color! and Story Studio which made the 50-year-old Crayola 64 Box a top tech toy of 2010. From turning photos into coloring pages, to making kids the hero of their own Spider-Man comics, Brian has been making sure the world’s most colorful company keeps up with the tech-filled lives of today’s children. "Being creative is such an important part of kids' lives now and in the future, and I am fortunate to help keep creative activities relevant and fun for kids".
Jack Martin has worked in public libraries since his mom volunteered him to work at his local library in Cornelia, Georgia at the age of thirteen. Since then, he's worked in libraries up and down the east coast from Athens, Georgia to Providence, Rhode Island to his current position of Assistant Director for Public Programs and Lifelong Learning for Children, Teens and Families at The New York Public Library. He's co-author of several books and articles on serving teens in libraries, and is an adjunct professor at Pratt Institute's School of Information and Library Science. Jack lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with his husband and two nutty cats.