Margaret Read MacDonald

Margaret Read MacDonald is well known for her lively retellings of folktales. Drawing on her background in folklore (Ph.D. Indiana University Folklore Institute) and her many travels throughout the world, MacDonald searches out unusual tales from the world's folk literature and oral traditions. She has a gift for retelling these stories so they appeal to children and adults alike. Margaret is a prolific writer and performer, having published over 55 books. 

MacDonald teaches storytelling courses for the University of Washington School of Information Science and for Lesley University. As a Children's Librarian for the King County Library System, MacDonald kept finding gaps in her library collection. So she wrote books to fill these needs. On her travels, she collected a number of timeless folktales that she adapted into award winning picture books, resource books and folktale collections from many cultures. She recently received her third Anne Izard Storytelling Award for her resource book: Teaching with Story. Her award-winning LittleFolk picture book, Go to Sleep Gecko was selected by the Prime Minister of Singapore to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of kidsREAD, a program sponsored by the National Library Board to encourage children to read more and to promote good reading habits.  

MacDonald retired from working as a children’s librarian in order to spend more time on the road sharing stories from around the world. Recent trips have found her telling stories in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Spain, and Singapore and of course in Hong Kong where Nathaniel and Jen Whitman, her collaborators for Teaching with Story, live and teach with their daughter. 

Geraldo Valério, Illustrator

Geraldo Valério currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where he enjoys walking along the ocean and observing otters, seals, and herons.

Geraldo Valerio was born in Brazil in 1970. He graduated from the School of Fine Arts, at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. He received a Master of Arts degree from New York University. Geraldo’s bold illustration style has garnered many awards for children’s picture books in Brazil, Portugal, Canada and the United States. He has illustrated three extraordinary LittleFolk picture books with Margaret Read MacDonald for August House including: the internationally acclaimed Go to Sleep Gecko, Conejito, and Surf War! Geraldo currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where he enjoys walking along the ocean and observing otters, seals and herons.