Craig McFarland Brown was born,
the son of Jane Louise Brown and Carl Conrad Brown,
in Fairfield, Iowa on September 4, 1947.
He grew up in a rural farming community near Tama, Iowa.
His boyhood days were filled with fishing, baseball, and
swimming and with drawing and painting.
After Craig Brown graduated from high school in 1965 he left
Iowa to attend art school where he became interested in
children's books.
Later, while working in advertising he began to create a
portfolio and in 1988 his first book,
The Talking Bird and the Storypouch,
was published by Harper.
In 2000, the children's museum in Pueblo,
Colorado opened a new children's area where a farm mural he created is
displayed; and, in 2002, his home town of Tama, Iowa honored him with an
open house and book signing. At that time they unveiled the permanent
display of the art work from, In the Spring.
One of his books, Barn Raising, is a story set in an
Amish Community near Kalona, Iowa. Kalona is never mentioned, the
illustrations clearly depict an Amish community in that region. Amish
communities throughout the United State share many commonalities, but
there are variations in traditions, clothing, and their daily life.
Those who read of Amish communities in other localitites will no doubt
note those variations in this book. Barn Raising is a gentle story of
how once community comes together when disasster strikes one family in
their community.
He lives and works in Colorado but frequently visits his grandson in
the Chicago area and he enjoys meeting readers, writers, and aspiring
artists.
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