Amy Healey
author-illustrator
I made my first books as a Montessori kid in Philadelphia. My teacher’s father had died and she had us repurpose his memorial booklets into picture books—contact paper to hide the cover’s inscription and yarn to sew the pages into the spine. Color, clip, glue, stitch—I was hooked.
As an adult, I helped others make stories, as the writers’ researcher at Saturday Night Live, as an assistant to several film writer/directors, and as the executive producer on lovejones and Hedwig and the Angry Inch for New Line Cinema. After hanging with the “cool kids” in the NY film biz, I decided I wanted to hang out with the coolest kids. I got my masters in early childhood education and moved to Rhode Island, where I taught Montessori by day and studied at RISD at night.
I now write and illustrate picture books full time. Working mostly traditionally, I create my papers by mono printing and painting with acrylics, gouache, watercolor, pencil, and ink. I also love to incorporate fabric and my own photography into my illustrations. I believe in creating picture books that let children imagine, question, and empathize.
I am an active member of SCBWI. As a substitute teacher, I am continually energized by the wonder and chatter of curious young minds.
Color-clip-gluing away in Providence, RI, I live a bird-nerd life empty nesting with my husband, a barky Chihuahua mix named Buttercup, and scraps of paper everywhere. (she/her)