Elisha Cooper is an author/illustrator who has received a Caldecott Honor for Big Cat, Little Cat , and his following book River won the 2020 Robin Smith Picture Book Prize. One of his earlier books, Dance! , was a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year, and Beach won the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal. In 2016 he was awarded a Sendak Fellowship. His essays and sketchbooks have appeared in the sports section of The New York Times . Cooper lives with his wife, daughters, and cats in New York City.