Etienne Delessert was born in 1941 in Switzerland, and now lives in Lakeville, Connecticut, with his wife Rita Marshall and their son Adrien.

For more than thirty years this self-taught artist has been translating his-and the world's-ideas, passions, fantasies and nightmares into the visual language of books, magazine illustrations, posters, animated films, paintings and sculptures. He reaches both children and adults with his imaginary creatures and landscapes, juxtaposing the familiar with the fantastic to clarify this world and create new and lasting universes.

Delessert has illustrated more than eighty books, some translated in 14 languages, with millions of copies sold worldwide. From his groundbreaking The Endless Party, created in the 60's, along with his influential collaborations with Eugene Ionesco (Contes 1, 2, 3, 4) in French, and Jean Piaget (How The Mouse...), to his more recent award-winning A Long Long Song, Ashes Ashes, Dance!, The Seven Dwarfs, Who Killed Cock Robin?, Humpty Dumpty, Big and Bad, Full Color, Moon Theater and Spartacus the Spider. He is considered as one of the fathers of modern children's picture books.

Twice he was honored by the Premio Grafico of the Bologna World Children's Book Fair. His illustrations have appeared in leading magazines and newspapers such as The Atlantic Monthly, Le Monde and The New York Times. His animated films include the adventures of the endearing Yok-Yok and creations for Sesame Street.

He is the recipient of thirteen gold and twelve silver medals of the American Society of Illustrators as well as the 1996 Hamilton King Award, and recently a finalist for the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Throughout his career Delessert's work has won acclaim around the world. In 1975 his one-man retrospective hung at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, in the Louvre. A second retrospective, originated in 1991 by the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, travelled to Switzerland, France, Canada and five american cities, before coming to the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. And another retrospective was initiated in 1997 by the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. It then went to France before coming to New York at the School of Visual Arts Museum. Most recently, a large exhibition was presented at the Centre de l'Illustration in Moulins, France; it will come to the NCCIL in Abilene, Texas, before travelling for 2 years across the USA.