KATE BERUBE
Kate Berube (Bear uh bee) grew up in a cow-filled Connecticut town where she dreamed of being an artist. She earned her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and spent a semester studying in Paris. Like many artists, though, her career trajectory wasn't a straight line – along the way she was a nanny, a tax preparer, a scenic painter, a decorative painter, and a bookseller (at celebrated Powell’s Books). Portland is where she now makes her home with husband Mark and their two children.
In 2013, Kate was featured on the blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, in an ‘Up-and-Coming Illustrator’ post, which led to her representation by Lori Kilkelly during Lori’s time at Rodeen Literary Management. Publishers Weekly subsequently named Kate a spring 2016 ‘Flying Start’ and she now has an entire shelf of picture books to her credit, which can be seen at the bottom of the page. Her work has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, and has been on multiple ‘best book’ lists, including Chicago Public Library, SLJ, and All the Wonders.
Kate's authorial debut, Hannah and Sugar, inspired by their beloved dog, Sugar (seen here), who has since passed away, was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, was a CCBC Charlotte Zolotow ‘Highly Recommended Title’, a Parent’s Choice ’16, shortlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize, and won both the Marion Vannett Ridgway Award and the Oregon Book Award for Children's Literature. The Summer Nick Taught His Cats to Read was a CLEL Bell Award winner. The Sandcastle that Lola Built and Mae’s First Day of School were both reviewed in the New York Times. Mae’s First Day of School was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award for Children’s Literature and received a Council of Teachers of English Oregon Spirit Book Award Honor.
