Christine Davenier

Christine Davenier is the illustrator of many books for children, including the Iris and Walter series by Elissa Haden Guest, The First Thing My Mama Told Me by Susan Marie Swanson, (for which she received a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year Award), Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen by Cari Best, Miss Lina’s Ballerinas by Grace Maccarone, I Love the Rain by Margaret Park Bridges, Mabel Dancing by Amy Hest, the Piper Reed series by Kimberly Willis Holt, Mr. and Mrs. Portly and Their Little Dog, Snack by Sandra Jordan, The Other Dog by Madeleine L’Engle, Has Anyone Seen My Emily Greene by Norma Fox Mazer, Me I Am! by Jack Prelutsky, Full Moon Barnyard Dance by Carole Lexa Schaefer, The First Thing My Mama Told Me by Susan Marie Swanson and Nobody Here But Me by Judith Viorst.

As a young girl growing up in Tours, France, Christine Davenier loved listening to her older sister read fairy tales aloud. But she frequently found herself wondering, What does the princess’s beautiful dress look like? or, How exquisite are her jewels? Christine was left to her own imagination, for the books had few illustrations. So it comes as little surprise that today, Christine embraces her career as an illustrator. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to create the illustrations I dreamed about seeing as a child,” she says.

When Christine was fourteen, she received her first box of watercolor paints, a gift from her grandmother. That was the beginning of many afternoons spent painting together in her grandmother’s garden. “My grandmother was an extraordinary woman,” Christine says. “Even though she worked in an office all her life, she was an artist through and through. She shared everything she knew about color—in painting and in life. Her wisdom and talent still inspire me today.”

Christine lives in Paris, France.