Hi! I'm pj lyons, lifelong story-crafter and artist.

My earliest memories are of sitting at my little round table, red-handled glue pot in front of me, scissors in hand, construction paper everywhere. And while I cut and pasted, I told stories to my stuffed animals.

I have a B.A. from Bucknell University with a Spanish major and English minor. I would have liked to have majored in English or art, but I was trying to be practical. Once I hit the working world I discovered practically the only thing I was good at was working with words and images!

I got a job as a graphic artist, starting with keylining and paste-up, then teaching myself typesetting, computer, and design. In 1989, while reading a Tomi dePaola book, I had an epiphany: my whole life, my talents and passions, had been leading me to be a children's book author and illustrator.

In 1993 I added an art major from Calvin College to my existing B.A.

2004 Kregel published my first book, The Wonderful World that God Made, a rhyming retelling of the biblical creation story.

In 2005 I earned an M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College.