Famous and award-winning illustrators abound in the Vocabulary and Phonics Kits. Below, in alphabetical order, is information about just a few of them.

Tiphanie Beeke loves puppet making and travelling. She has worked as an artist on humanitarian missions in Kenya and Romania, has been Artist-in-Residence at the Ottawa School of Art, Canada, and worked in Switzerland. But Tiphanie also enjoys walking on the beaches of Norfolk, where she grew up. For the moment, Tiphanie lives in London with her husband.

Joe Cepeda first studied to be an engineer and only later went back to college to study art. His illustrations have appeared in a number of publications and his work has been accepted by the Society of Illustrators for several shows. Joe's vibrant palette and richly textured oil paintings are unmistakable, and can be appreciated in several of his award-winning picture books, such as What a Truly Cool World, published by Scholastic, and Nappy Hair, published by Knopf.

Elisa Kleven, like all authors and illustrators, loves to make up characters and build stories around them. To make her very unique illustrations, she combines many media: watercolor, gouache, ink, colored pencils, markers, crayons, and lots and lots of collage.

Mike Lester's breakout best-seller, A Is for Salad, was chosen by several notable lists as a "Best Book" of 2000. His work has been described as stylized, quirky, humorous, and playful in the "Smith and Scieszka" tradition. With his use of bright acrylics and thick black lines, it is also laugh-out-loud irresistible.

David McPhail's career as an award-winning illustrator and author has spanned over 25 years and resulted in well over 70 books for children. His delightful ink-and-watercolor illustrations are often described as reminiscent of the illustrations in books by Beatrix Potter.

Daniel Moreton illustrates his books with computer-generated art that has been described by Booklist as "energetic and full of life." His bold, colorfully patterned work shows a strong sense of graphic design. His book, La Cucaracha Martina: A Caribbean Folktale, won the Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature in 1997.

Lynn Munsinger has created charming illustrations for such best-selling books as Tacky and the Emperor and What Mommies Do Best / What Daddies Do Best. Her comical watercolor-and-ink illustrations are often described as whimsical and animated. The Kirkus Review has hailed them as "wonderfully funny and warm."

Steve Salerno is originally from Vermont and now lives in New York City. His whimsically stylized images appear everywhere in magazines, newspapers, children's books, posters, advertising, corporate publications, food packaging, and on the Web. In the early 1980s his editorial drawings frequented the Op/Ed page of The New York Times. Steven's work has been recognized by Print and Communication Arts.

David Slonim is a renowned artist whose vibrant artwork is displayed throughout the United States. He has won awards from the Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, and the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. One of his illustrated books for children, Moishe's Miracle, was named one of the top ten picture books of the year 2000 by The New York Times.