Author

John Lewis Steptoe, creator of award-winning picture books for children, was born in Brooklyn on September 14, 1950 and was raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of that borough. He began drawing as a young child and received his formal art training at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan. He was a student in the HARYOU-ACT Art Program and instructed by the highly recognized African American oil painter, Norman Lewis. He continued his studies at the Vermont Academy, where he was instructed by sculptor John Torres, and by William Majors, a painter acclaimed by the Museum of Modem Art for his etchings and printmaking.His work first came to national attention in 1969 when his first book, STEVIE, appeared in its entirety in Life magazine, hailed as "a new kind of book for black children." Mr. Steptoe, who had begun work on Stevie at the age of 16, w20-year career, Mr. Steptoe illustrated 15 more picture books, ten of which he also wrote as then 18 years old, Mr. Steptoe's work deals with aspects of the African American experience.John Steptoe died on August 28, 1989 at Saint Luke's Hospital in Manhattan, following a long illness. He was 38 years old and lived in Brooklyn. Mr. Steptoe was among the handful of African American artists who have made a career in children's books.