User:Boomur/Meghan McCarthy (author)

Meghan McCarthy is an American author and illustrator of narrative non-fiction picture books. Her characters are illustrated with large eyes resembling googly eyes, which Publishers Weekly calls her "visual signature".

Early life
McCarthy was born and raised in Clayville, Rhode Island. Her parents were both social workers, although her father briefly studied art and painted as a hobby. McCarthy struggled in school and was tested for ADHD as a child. Later, she studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. After graduating, she moved to New York City, where she worked at a Barnes and Noble to supplement the income from her first book, George Upside Down.

Career
McCarthy began her career writing fiction picture books, but shifted toward narrative non-fiction after noticing that the non-fiction market was less saturated. She has stated that her non-fiction books take at least a year to produce; she describes her process as simultaneously researching the subject and creating the text, then painting the illustrations in acrylic once pagination and sketches are approved. Her non-fiction books have received positive reviews for their application as educational tools, covering topics such as the sled dog Balto and the 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast. These topics are made more accessible to children by the highly stylized illustrations, featuring "cartoonish bug-eyed" characters. McCarthy's book Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum was featured in the Society of Illustrators 2011 exhibition of children's book illustrations.

To celebrate the publication of her book Earmuffs for Everyone, about the inventor of modern earmuffs, Chester Greenwood, McCarthy was a guest at the 2014 Chester Greenwood Day parade in Farmington, Maine. However, McCarthy has stated that she received some pushback from Greenwood's family because the book explains that Greenwood was not the sole inventor of earmuffs; instead he improved on an existing concept.

Works

 * Non-fiction
 * Aliens are Coming! The True Account of the 1938 War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast (2006)
 * Strong Man: The Story of Charles Atlas (2007)
 * City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male (2007)
 * Astronaut Handbook (2008)
 * Seabiscuit the Wonder Horse (2008)
 * Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum (2010)
 * The Incredible Life of Balto (2011)
 * Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton (2013)
 * Earmuffs for Everyone (2014)
 * The Wildest Race Ever: The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon (2016)
 * All That Trash: The Story of the 1987 Garbage Barge and Our Problem with Stuff (2018)


 * Fiction
 * George Upside Down (2003)
 * Show Dog (2004)
 * Steal Back the Mona Lisa! (2006)