Angela DiTerlizzi

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Angela DiTerlizzi is a natural at writing children’s books. In fact, you might be surprised to hear that she did not start her career as a children’s book author! Before she became a writer, Angela channeled her artistry into doing make-up for television personalities, musicians, and even a former U.S. president. Fortunately for us, Angela loves trying new things.

In the 1990s, Angela lived in Brooklyn as a makeup artist with her husband, children’s book author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi. In 2002, Angela and Tony moved to Amherst. Angela published her first book, Say What?, in 2013 with illustrator Joey Chou. Say What? was one of ten books featured in that year’s Cheerios “Spoonfuls of Stories” program, a project that gives away millions of bilingual children’s books for free. Angela’s second book, Some Bugs, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel, came out one year later and was one of Buzzfeed’s Best Picture Books of 2014. Even Eric Carle - the author who wrote about that very hungry caterpillar we all know and love - said the book was “A delightful combination of pictures and words that will captivate readers.” Some Bugs encourages children to explore the big world of bugs that live right outside our doors!

Exploration and trying new things is a big theme in Angela’s work. In 2020, Angela published a book called The Magical Yet with illustrator Lorena Alvarez that inspires kids to keep trying new things, even when it’s really hard. During the pandemic, Angela co-wrote a book with Tony called A Very Cranky Book, about a book that does not want to be read. The story tackles feeling cranky, how to handle feeling cranky, and reminds children that even when they’re cranky, they’re still loved.

Angela lives in Amherst with Tony and their daughter Sophia. You can visit Angela’s website here.