Joe Cepeda

“Joe Cepeda endows each of his illustrations with the sparkle that lurks in every child’s eye. His presentations to schools carry on his theme with wit and eloquence. Students are fascinated with his ability to trans- form a sheet of paper into a gateway for imagination. I would highly recommend Joe Cepeda for school visits. His preparation demonstrates the strong correlation for the process of writing and illustrating of a book.”

Sandra Yoon, Kern Reading Association

Joe Cepeda received his BFA in Illustration from California State University, Long Beach He is the illustrator of award-winning picture books such as What a Truly Cool World (Scholastic), Nappy Hair (Knopf), Mice and Beans (Scholastic) including The Swing (Arthur A. Levine Books), which he wrote as well as illustrated. Mr. Cepeda has illustrated books written by numerous notable authors including Gary Soto, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Arnold Adoff, Monica Brown, Julius Lester and Toni Morrison. He’s also illustrated book jackets for several titles, including Esperanza Rising and Newberry Medal winner, Merci Suarez Changes Gears. Mr. Cepeda received an ALA 2002 Pura Belpre’ Honor Award and the Recognition of Merit Award for 2000 from the George G. Stone Center for Children’s Books. Joe was awarded a Capstone Fellowship for 2016. In addition to his illustrative work, Mr. Cepeda is sought after as a public speaker to schools and other groups. He is the president of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles. He lives in Southern California.