Biographies for Press

150-word Biography

Brian Lies was born in Princeton, NJ, and graduated from Brown University in 1985 with a degree in British and American Literature.  He attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for 2.5 years, and created Op/Ed page illustrations for numerous publications, including the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune and Christian Science Monitor.  He illustrated his first children’s book for Houghton Mifflin Company in 1989, and has since illustrated nearly thirty others, including his 2019 Caldecott Honor-winning The Rough Patch, and his New York Times bestselling bat series (Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Library, Bats at the Ballgame and Bats in the Band).  Brian’s work has garnered many publishing awards, and can be found in galleries around the country.  He enjoys visiting elementary schools around the US, talking about writing and illustration.  He and his wife, Laurel, live in Duxbury, MA with their daughter and two cats.

Longer Biography

Acclaimed children’s book author/illustrator Brian Lies was born in Princeton, NJ in 1963, and graduated from Brown University with a degree in British and American Literature.  He attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA) for two and a half years, and then went on to create Op/Ed page illustrations for many magazines and newspapers, including the Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor and Chicago Tribune.  He illustrated his first children's book with Houghton Mifflin Company in 1989 and has since created more than two dozen books, including his 2019 Caldecott Honor-winning picture book The Rough Patch, which has been translated into nine languages and has already garnered several other awards. Before that was Got to Get to Bear’s, a story of friendship in the face of a blizzard. Many readers will be familiar with his New York Times-bestselling bat book series, Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Library, Bats at the Ballgame and Bats in the Band.  He also illustrated the middle-grade novels Malcolm Under the Stars and Malcolm at Midnight (by W.H. Beck).  Brian’s books have been nominated for numerous state awards and have won several, including the Bill Martin, Jr. Award (Kansas).  He has also won many awards for his political illustrations in newspapers and magazines.  His work has been featured on The Martha Stewart Show (she called Bats at the Library "a good thing,"), named as the #3 book of the year by Time/CNN, and read aloud on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday by Scott Simon and Daniel Pinkwater (Bats at the Beach, June 24, 2006). 

Brian nearly stopped reading in the third grade, but was encouraged by his local librarians and rebounded, becoming an avid, lifelong reader.  Partially because of his own experiences, as well as current brain studies which show the importance of reading in social and emotional growth in young people, Brian feels very strongly about the importance of getting them to read.  Brian spends a portion of the school year traveling throughout the United States to work with students and encourage them in their goals.  He lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts with his wife and daughter. . . and two cats.