Aaron Renier

cartoonist

Aaron Renier learned to contribute his drawings and comics to anything he could. He contributed to school papers, created school papers when the school didn't have a school paper, and making his own mini-comics. He is originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and went to art school in Milwaukee. His first book, *Spiral Bound*, was drawn in Portland, when he was living there. The American Library Association said of *Spiral Bound*, "The characters seem like real children, wholesome without being too sweet, and Renier's art is light and fun, a sort of Babar meets underground comix." Renier then lived in Brooklyn, which is where he drew his most recent book, *The Unsinkable Walker Bean*. He currently lives in Chicago (which he calls "pretty perfect"), where he is working on the next Walker Bean book. He is the recipient of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, and a nominee for best Children's Album in 2005.