Elise Primavera

Primavera has stated that she gets her best ideas while taking showers. She wrote the book Auntie Claus in 1999, after one such "shower session." According to The New York Times, her illustrations in that book "brim with fantastic energy" and, in fact, were of such quality that dioramas based upon the illustrations appeared in the window of the flagship Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Manhattan. In 2005, Primavera was chosen to create the art for the White House's Holiday Program. Her first novel-length work, The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls, was released in 2006, and in recent years, she has been very prolific, releasing two books in the Fred and Anthony series in 2007, with two more set to be released in 2008. She is also working on another book about the Gumm Street Girls.

Basil and Maggie, c. 1983, Lippincott Ralph's Frozen Tale, c. 1991, Putnam The Three Dots, c. 1993, Putnam Plantpet, c. 1994, Putnam and Gosset Group. Auntie Claus, c. 1999, Silver Whistle/Harcourt Brace. Tatie Noël, c. 2001, Milan. Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas, c. 2002, Silver Whistle/Harcourt. The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls, c. 2006, Harper Collins Fred and Anthony Escape from the Netherworld, (As Esile Arevamirp), c. 2007, Hyperion. Fred and Anthony Meet the Super-de-Germ-O Zombie, (As Esile Arevamirp), c. 2007, Hyperion. Fred & Anthony Meet the Heinie Goblins from the Black Lagoon, (As Esile Arevamirp), c. 2008, Hyperion. Fred & Anthony's Horrible, Hideous Back-to-School Thriller, (As Esile Arevamirp)

While Primavera displayed an interest in art from a very young age, she has said in Talking With Artists, "I can't say I ever really dreamed I'd grow up to be an artist." Instead, she had focused from a young age on becoming an Olympic horseback rider. During college, she turned her artistic talents to fashion illustration, but she realized quickly that beginning a career in this field was very difficult. After college, she gave up this pursuit, and decided to become an artist. Her first published work appeared in 1981, with the release of The Mermaid's Cape and The Snug Little House, which she illustrated. Her first work as an author, Basil and Maggie, was published in 1983.

The Mermaid's Cape, by Margaret K. Wetterer, c. 1981, Atheneum. The Snug Little House, by Eils Moorehouse Lewis, c. 1981, Atheneum. The Giant's Apprentice, by Margaret K. Wetterer, c. 1982, Atheneum. Surprise in the Mountains, by Natalie Savage Carlson, c. 1983, Harper & Row. Uncle George Washington and Harriet's Guitar, by Miriam Anne Bourne, c. 1983, Coward McCann. The Bollo Caper, by Art Buchwald, c. 1983, Putnam. Grandma's House, by Elaine Moore, c. 1985, Lothrop Lee & Shepard Books. Make Way for Sam Houston, by Jean Fritz, c. 1986, Putnam. Hobie Hanson, You're Weird, by Jamie Gilson, c. 1987, Pocket Books. Christina Katerina and the Time She Quit Her Family, by Patricia Lee Gaugh, c. 1987, Putnam. Best Witches: Poems for Halloween, by Jane Yolen, c. 1988, Putnam. Double Dog Dare, by Jamie Gilson, c. 1988, Pocket Books. Grandma's Promise, by Elaine Moore, c. 1988, Lothrop Lee & Shepard Books. Christina Katerina and the Great Bear Train, by Patricia Lee Gaugh, c. 1990, Putnam. Moe the Dog in Tropical Paradise, by Diane Stanley, c. 1992, Putnam. Santa and Alex, by Delis Ephron, c. 1993, Little Brown & Company. Woe is Moe, by Diane Stanley, c. 1995, Putnam. Jack, Skinny Bones, and the Golden Pancakes, by M.C. Helldorfer, c. 1996, Viking. Wowo, the Radio Dog, by Kevin McCloskey, c. 1996, William Morrow & Company. Moonlight Kite, by Helen Elizabeth Buckley, c. 1997, Lothrop Lee & Shepard Books. Raising Dragons, by Jerdine Nolen, c. 1998, Silver Whistle. Hewitt Anderson's Big Life, by Jerdine Nolen, c. 2001, Harcourt Children's Books.

Elise Primavera (Born 19 May 1955) is an American author and illustrator of children's novels. She arrived on the literary scene in 1981 as an illustrator for Atheneum, Putnam, and other publishing houses. Over the course of the last three decades, she has been a prolific illustrator and has written and illustrated several well-received books of her own.