Hi! I’m Allison Fleischman. I am an author-illustrator who loves to entertain kids and their grown-ups with memorable characters and heaps of humor. I live in Bellevue, Washington with my husband, our four kids, our fluffy, orange cat, and two goldfish.
Though I create most of my illustrations digitally, I usually start in a good old-fashioned sketchbook with a pencil or pen and ink. Some of my favorite illustrators include Quentin Blake, E.H. Shepard, and Mo Willems. If you look, you may find some of their influence in my work.
When creating a picture book, I take the movie I see in my head and break it down into the writing and thumbnail (tiny, very rough) sketches. I then revise my story many times before making a book dummy (a mock up that has text and sketches in the book format). I improve my craft by immersing myself in the kidlit community. I have two amazing critique groups and am an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and Storyteller Academy.
Things I love:
Roller skating with my kids
Hippos, manatees, and siamangs
Baby animals
Swimming in the Puget Sound (Brrrr!)
A cup of coffee with a Mallomar
My husband’s homemade ice cream cake
Popcorn!
Beach combing
Traveling to new places
Laughing with my family
Talking about books with my friends
Speaking of Books, here are just a few I love:
Picture Books
The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros
Tove and the Island with No Address by Lauren Soloy
Quackers by Liz Wong
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Found by Salina Yoon
Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper and Kenard Pak
Mel Fell by Corey R. Tabor
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems
This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin
Comics and Graphic Novels
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Cranky Chicken by Katherine Battersby
Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter
Novels
The Many Assassinations of Samir, Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri
City Spies by James Ponti
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Matilda by Roald Dahl
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Track Series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu) by Jason Reynolds
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech
Tumble and Blue by Cassie Beasley
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Allison Fleischman Books 