Knock, Knock

The knock-knock joke: a kid classic. So many funny, punny punchlines. It was just screaming for its own book. To do this classic joke justice, we decided to gather fourteen of the best-known and most talented childrenA's book artists to illustrate their favorite punchlines. The results are wacky, zany, and absolutely hilarious.

If you knock on Tomie dePaolaA's door, beware! Is that a girl or a gorilla? WhoA's knocking at Saxton FreymannA's door? Just a couple of talking lettuces. Talking lettuces?! One impatient cow can hardly wait to get through Laurie KellerA's door, and David Small has a surprise waiting for his intruding vampire.

In this collection, youA'll recognize some of your favorite jokes and be surprised by new ones. But one thing is certain: Each time thereA's a knock, youA'll want to answer the door!

Sophie Blackall is a Brooklyn based Australian artist. She has illustrated over twenty books for children, including Ruby's Wish (Chronicle Books, 2003) which won the Ezra Jack Keats Award, Meet Wild Boars (Henry Holt, 2005) which won a BCCB Blue Ribbon Picture Book Award and the Founders Award from the Society of Illustrators, Big Red Lollipop (Viking, 2010) which was a New York Times Top Ten Picture Book for 2010, and the ongoing Ivy and Bean series (Chronicle Books), which has over a million copies in print.
Blackall has collaborated with many notable authors, including Aldous Huxley, Judith Viorst, Jane Yolen and Meg Rosoff.
Her editorial illustrations have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Time, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Town & Country and many others.

Tomie dePaola was born in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1934 to a family of Irish and Italian background. By the time he could hold a pencil, he knew what his life's work would be. His determination to create books for children led to a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and an MFA from the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, California.

Tomie lives in an interesting house in New Hampshire with his four dogs. His studio is in a large renovated 200-year-old barn.

Judith Byron Schachner has been illustrating and writing children's books since 1992 and has given numerous presentations in schools and libraries. Her workshops are designed to be warm and personal with a special regard for the less than stellar student.

David Small grew up in Detroit, studied Art and English at Wayne State University and completed his graduate studies in art at Yale. He went on to teach drawing and printmaking at the college level for fourteen years, during which time his first book Eulalie and The Hopping Head was published. David no longer teaches but has continued illustrating.