Peter Brown (illustrator)

For other people of that name, see Peter Brown (disambiguation).

Peter Brown is an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books. He won a Caldecott Honor in 2013 for his illustration of Creepy Carrots!^[1][2]

Peter Brown
Brown at the 2014 National Book Festival
Born	Hopewell, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Illustrator, writer
Nationality	American
Education	Art Center College of Design
Genre	Children's picture books
Notable works	The Curious Garden (2009) Children Make Terrible Pets (2010) Creepy Carrots! (2012) The Wild Robot (2016)
Website
www.peterbrownstudio.com

Biography

Brown was raised in Hopewell, (New Jersey) and studied illustration at ArtCenter College of Design. After graduating, he moved to New York City in 2002 to be closer to the publishing industry. He was working on animated TV shows when he signed a book deal to write and illustrate his first picture book, Flight of the Dodo.^[3]

Brown quickly wrote his second and third books, and his career as an author and illustrator of children’s books was under way. Since then Brown has written and illustrated many books for children and earned numerous honors, including a Caldecott Honor, a Horn Book Award, two E.B. White Awards, two E.B. White Honors, a Children’s Choice Award for Illustrator of the Year, two Irma Black Honors, a Golden Kite Award, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award and multiple New York Times bestsellers that include the novels The Wild Robot, The Wild Robot Escapes, and The Wild Robot Protects.^[3] An animated film based on The Wild Robot was released in 2024.

Awards and honors

As writer and illustrator

Four of Brown's books are Junior Library Guild books: You Will Be My Friend! (2011),^[4] My Teacher Is a Monster! (2014),^[5] The Wild Robot (2016),^[6] and The Wild Robot Escapes (2018),^[7]

Six of Brown's books have landed on the New York Times bestseller list: Children Make Terrible Pets, The Curious Garden, The Wild Robot,^[8] Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, You Will Be My Friend!, and The Wild Robot Escapes. The Wild Robot, Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, and My Teacher is a Monster! are also IndieBound bestsellers. The Wild Robot Escapes is also a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller.^[9]

In 2009, The Curious Garden was named one of the best children's books of the year by Publishers Weekly.^[10]

In 2010, The New York Times named Children Make Terrible Pets one of the best illustrated children's books of the year.^[11]

In 2014, My Teacher is a Monster! was named one of the best children's books of the year by Publishers Weekly.^[12]

In 2016, The Wild Robot was named one of the best children's books of the year by Kirkus Reviews,^[8] the New York Public Library, Publishers Weekly,^[13] and Shelf Awareness.^[14]

In 2019, The Wild Robot Escapes was named one of the best children's books of the year by Amazon, Entertainment Weekly, the New York Public Library, and School Library Journal.

The same year, Booklist included The Wild Robot on their "50 Best Middle-Grade Novels of the 21st Century" list.^[15]

Awards for books Brown wrote and illustrated

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
2009	The Curious Garden	Cybils Award for Fiction Picture Book	Finalist	[16]
		NAIBA Books of the Year for Picture Book	Winner	[17]
2010		ALSC Notable Children's Books	Selection	[18][19]
		Children's Choice Book Award: Illustrator of the Year	Winner	[20][21]
		E. B. White Read Aloud Award for Picture Book	Winner	[22][23]
2011		Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video	Winner	[24][25]
	Children Make Terrible Pets	E. B. White Read Aloud Award for Picture Book	Winner	[22][26]
		Irma Black Award	Honor	[27]
		NAIBA Books of the Year for Picture Book	Winner	[28]
2012	You Will Be My Friend!	Irma Black Award	Winner	[27]
	Children Make Terrible Pets	ALSC Notable Children's Videos	Selection	[29]
		Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video	Winner	[30][31]
2013	Mr. Tiger Goes Wild	ALSC Notable Children's Books	Selection	[32]
		Cybils Award for Fiction Picture Book	Winner	[33][34]
		Wanda Gag Read Aloud	Honor	[35]
2014		Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Picture Book	Winner	[36][37][38]
		Bull-Bransom Award	Winner	[39]
		E. B. White Read Aloud Award for Picture Book	Honor	[40]
		Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration	Winner	[41][42][43][44]
		NAIBA Books of the Year for Picture Book	Winner	[45]
2016	The Wild Robot	Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth	Selection	[46]
		Goodreads Choice Award for Best Middle Grade & Children's	Nominee	[47]
2017		ALSC Notable Children's Books	Selection	[48]
		Charlotte Huck Award	Honor	[49]
2019	The Wild Robot Escapes	ORCA Award for Upper Elementary	Winner	[7]
		Nene Award	Runner-Up	[7]
2021	Fred Gets Dressed	Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth	Selection	[50]

As illustrator

Four of the books Brown has illustrated are Junior Library Guild selections: Kaline Klattermaster’s Tree House (2008),^[51] Creepy Carrots! (2012),^[52] Creepy Pair of Underwear! (2017),^[53] and Creepy Crayon! (2022).^[54]

Creepy Carrots!,^[55] Creepy Pair of Underwear,^[56] and Creepy Crayon!^[57] are New York Times bestselling books. Creepy Carrots! is also an IndieBound bestseller.^[55]

In 2017, Amazon, the Los Angeles Public Library, and Kirkus Reviews named Creepy Pair of Underwear one of the best children's books of the year.^[53][56]

In 2022, Kirkus Reviews named Creepy Crayon! one of the best children's books of the year.^[57]

Awards for books Brown illustrated only

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
2012	Creepy Carrots!	Cybils Award for Fiction Picture Book	Finalist	[58]
2013		ALSC Notable Children's Books	Selection	[59]
		Caldecott Medal	Honor	[55][60]
		Crystal Kite Member Choice Award: Midwest	Winner	[61]
		E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Picture Book	Honor	[62]
2017	Creepy Pair of Underwear!	Cybils Award for Fiction Picture Book	Finalist	[63]

Publications

As writer and illustrator

• Flight of the Dodo (2005)
• Chowder (2006)
• The Fabulous Bouncing Chowder (2007)
• The Curious Garden (2009)
• Children Make Terrible Pets (2010)
• You Will Be My Friend! (2011)
• Mr. Tiger Goes Wild (2013)
• My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.) (2014)
• The Wild Robot (2016)
• The Wild Robot Escapes (2017)
• Fred Gets Dressed (2021)
• The Wild Robot Protects (2023)
• The Wild Robot on the Island (2025)

As illustrator

• Barkbelly (2006) by Cat Weatherill
• Snowbone (2007) by Cat Weatherill
• Kaline Klattermaster’s Tree House (2008) by Haven Kimmel
• The Purple Kangaroo (2009) by Michael Ian Black
• Creepy Carrots! (2012) by Aaron Reynolds
• Creepy Pair of Underwear! (2017) by Aaron Reynolds
• Creepy Crayon! (2022) by Aaron Reynolds