About Kevin McCloskey

Kevin McCloskey was a professor of illustration at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. He was born in Rahway, New Jersey. When he was little his parents ran a small hotel in Asbury Park, NJ. The beach was his introduction to the natural world.

When he was 20, he took a trip around the world carrying a sketchbook. He sold drawings on the streets of San Francisco. Then he went to college in New York City at The School of Visual Arts.

His drawings have appeared in many newspapers including The Village Voice and The New York Times. He wrote and illustrated a guidebook Walking Around Hoboken about his old hometown in 1986. His 1992 picture book, Mrs. Fitz’s Flamingos, was a selection of the Children’s Book of the Month Club.

He taught at Kutztown University for 30 years. He has a special interest in printmaking and has lectured about Mexican prints at Princeton University and UCLA.

He has lectured about comics for kids at Teachers College, Columbia University and at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival.

He draws in a studio above his garage in the tiny town of Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He loves to travel to conventions and meet other cartoonists. He’s met so many of his favorite artists: Raina Telgemeier, Ivan Brunetti, Maris Wicks, Aron Nils Stenke, Mo Willems, Victoria Jamieson, James Sturm, Judd Winnick, and Frank Viva. All wonderful people!

Kevin McCloskey has visited over 100 elementary schools to share his books. In 2019, he studied at ‘Ant Camp’ at University of Florida for his new book, Ants Don’t Wear Pants!

He married Patricia McCloskey in San Francisco. They have two adult children, Zoe and Daniel. Zoe works is a coder working in experimental tech in San Francisco. She’s also taught game design at San Francisco State University. Daniel is a cartoonist and pedicab driver. His debut graphic novel, Cloud Town, was published by Abrams Comics Arts in 2022. Kirkus Reviews calls Cloud Town “Weirdly and unexpectedly wonderful.“