Steven Kellogg grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut, with a crayon in his hand drawing and telling stories to his younger sister. He loved animals and he loved drawing, two interests that led to his desire to become a "naturalist-illustrator"; a combination he called "the best of all possible worlds." As a child, he wallpapered his room with drawings and fantasized about being invited to join a National Geographic expedition to sketch animals in Africa. He remembers his room as "a crayoned aviary-bestiary." Some of his stories portray animal characters modeled on his sisters' stuffed animals and the ceramic animal figurines that graced a shelf in his family's living room.

His best friend in his early years and the most important influence upon his decision to become an artist was his grandmother, whom he recalls as "much more at ease with children than adults." She spent hours with him...