Caroline Arnold's Art

Home My Books Portfolio School Visits / Workshops About the Artist Contact Me

About the Artist


Caroline Arnold majored in art at Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, and received her M.A. in Art from the University of Iowa. She is the author of more than 140 books for children. After illustrating a few of her early books, she left the field to work primarily as a writer. Then, in 2004 she resumed her art career using a cut-paper collage technique and specializing in animals.
Caroline Arnold is represented by Andrea Brown of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Books illustrated with art by Caroline Arnold:
Books illustrated with photos by Caroline Arnold:


Short Autobiography

I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with my parents, who were social workers, and my three younger brothers. Most of my summers were spent at Camp Bovey, a small camp in northern Wisconsin, and it was there that I began to develop my love for nature and the out of doors. I went to Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, where I majored in art and also studied English literature. I then went to the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, and received my M.A.in art.

I began writing books for children more than 25 years ago when my own children were small. Because I was trained as an artist, my plan was to write stories that I could illustrate myself, but as it turned out I have instead become primarily a writer. Many of my books are about natural science subjects and lend themselves to being illustrated with color photos. For the majority of these books I have collaborated with Richard Hewett, a professional photographer. With several of my other photographic books I have worked with my husband, Arthur Arnold. In several books I have done my own photography and recently I have been doing some of my own illustrations using a cut paper art technique.

I live in Los Angeles, California with my husband and our pet cats, Rocky and Stella. Our children, Jennifer and Matthew, are grown up. Both of them are married and I now have three grandchildren. (You can find pictures of me and my family in some of my older books.)

Although I mostly write non-fiction books for children, I occasionally write fiction. I have also tried my hand at writing for television and writing the text for interactive CD Roms. I have never written a book for adults although I have written articles for adults about writing for children.

In addition to writing I teach part-time in the Writers' Program at UCLA Extension. I also travel to schools both in California and elsewhere in the country (and occasionally abroad) to talk about my books and what it is like to be a writer and illustrator. I also do writing and illustrating workshops in schools. In my spare time I like to play tennis, to work in my garden, to travel and to spend time with my friends and family.

You can read more about my background in the biographical references listed below.

Meet my family:

Interviews and Biographical Material About Caroline Arnold:
Books archived in the Kerlan Collection:

The Kerlan Collection, the children's literature research collection at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, has manuscripts and related materials for the following books by Caroline Arnold: