Ed Young author page

Ed Young biography

Ed Young was a Chinese-born American author and illustrator of children’s picture books. He studied architecture in the United States before changing his focus to art, and his book illustration used materials and methods including cut paper, collage, pastel, ink, photographs and found materials.

Young illustrated more than 100 books for children, including titles he also wrote or retold. His books include Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China, Seven Blind Mice, Cat and Rat: The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac, Voices of the Heart, I, Doko: The Tale of a Basket, The House Baba Built: An Artist’s Childhood in China and Cat from Hunger Mountain.

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China was published by Philomel Books in 1989. Young translated and illustrated the story, which presents a Chinese version of “Little Red Riding Hood” through three sisters who meet a wolf while their mother is away.

Young illustrated Jane Yolen’s The Emperor and the Kite, published in 1967. He also wrote and illustrated Seven Blind Mice, a picture book based on the fable of the blind men and the elephant.

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China received the 1990 Randolph Caldecott Medal, and The Emperor and the Kite and Seven Blind Mice were named Caldecott Honor Books.