Aardema, John

John Aardema knew he wanted to illustrate this story when he read the words, "She sailed around a bend and past a giant octopus."

Emma's Rainy Day is Aardema's third children's book. His others are The Blizzard Wizard by Lynn Plourde and There Was an Old Auntie by BeachHouse Publishing. Aardema has been drawing pictures since before he could read. He even went to an academy that only teaches art. They call it The American Academy of Art.

When he isn't building embassies in pretend places for pretend places, Aardema is a freelance illustrator living near Chicago. You can see more of his...