About the author and the illustrator
Deb Gangemi
Deb has been listening to, reading or telling stories all her life. From her youngest years being regaled by her Grandpa with stories about Debbie the whale who loved chocolate ice cream to sitting at the old metal kitchen table with her Grandma who launched into a story beginning with the phrase “Lo and behold”; from moments sitting side by side with her Dad as he drew constellations on a scrap of wood, telling her stories about his days navigating by the stars while in the Merchant Marines to other moments cuddled up next to her Mom, listening to her read poetry aloud with funny made up accents and dramatic pauses, Deb has loved to hang onto words while weaving pictures in her head about the story as it unfolded. She has relished going to faraway places and having grand adventures simply by opening the pages of a book.
​
Throughout her career as a physical therapist, stories continued to live in Deb’s heart and mind. Writing her first book has been a very satisfying activity and having it illustrated by her son has been one of the highlights of her role as Mama to him. She hopes her stories bring joy, laughter and the creation of warm memories for all who read them!
​
When Deb isn’t telling stories or writing books, she enjoys gardening, cooking, going for long walks and sharing life and laughter with her family and friends. She lives in a cottage on a hill in a community surrounded by a forest, the perfect location for her imagination to soar and for stories to be born.
Anthony Gangemi
Anthony has been a storyteller since he was a very little boy. What began as frequent trips to libraries and local bookstores with his Mom for armfuls of books to take home led him to the bigger world of creating stories with paint, clay, videography and finally digital drawing in the specialized world of comic book art. He sees stories in the world around him and brings them to life via poetry and illustration.
​
He graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design with a major in sequential arts. While he was pursuing his chosen career as a comic book artist and writing and illustrating graphic novels, he accepted the challenge to illustrate his Mom’s first picture book, based on a bedtime game they played every night when he was a little boy. With a series about a little white mouse already taking shape, he knows this first picture book collaboration will not be the last
picture book project of this new team.
​
Anthony hopes his art encourages people to pursue creative challenges, share stories, dream big and see the world as being filled with possibilities and wonder.
​
When he isn’t busy drawing or writing, Anthony enjoys listening to all types of music, hanging out with friends, visiting railroad museums and sitting around the backyard firepit with his family, making s’mores and sharing conversation and laughter.
​