Frané Lessac

Born in New Jersey, Frané Lessac loves to travel and to work on books based on her worldwide journeys. “I try to portray the people and places of these countries to children in a sensitive, accurate, and educational way.”  Attracted by the beauty of Montserrat, she moved to the small Caribbean island, which inspired My Little Island (HarperCollins), the first of many books written and illustrated by Frané.  This publication won the St. Maarten Children’s Book of the Year in 1984 and in 1985 was a Reading Rainbow Feature Book.

A number of her paintings are part of private collections worldwide and has exhibited her work in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and London. She studied at the New School for Social Research in New York City, the University of Southern California, and Ethnographic Film at UCLA in California.

Frané Lessac is married to children’s author Mark Greenwood, and they have two children, son Luke and daughter Cody. Frané is the Illustrator Liaison for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in West Australia and on the Executive Committee of the Australian Society of Authors.

Other books by Frané include Caribbean Canvas (Macmillan, UK; HarperCollins, USA; Boyds Mill Press USA, 1987) and the 1989 Caribbean Alphabet (Macmillan, UK;  William Morrow, USA;  Letterbox Library, UK).  In 1989 Caribbean Canvas became the Notable Trade Book in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC) USA and in 1990 won the American Institute of Graphic Arts – Book Show Award.  In 1994, Caribbean Alphabet was named Notable Trade Book in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC) USA and made the Book of the Month Club USA.