Lois Ehlert is an author and illustrator of children's books, most having to do with nature. Ehlert won the Caldecott Honor for Color Zoo . She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ehlert grew up painting and sculpting. Even in her early years-she always erased her drawings and was never satisfied. Her favorite art technique was and remains to this day to be cutting and pasting. This method is called collage—the process of cutting out pieces of paper, fabric, or objects and gluing them to a backing. Ehlert was born and raised in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. She claims that she grew-up “in a... home where everyone seemed to be making something.” Her mother was a seamstress who taught her how to sew at 8 years old. Her mother also shared fabric scraps with her, which gave her art exposure early on. Her father had a basement workshop and always had art supplies available, just not the traditional supplies. He had materials like scrap lumber and nails. Ehlert graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a degree in English and Psychology. Then she went to the Layton School of Art. After getting her degree she worked as an apprentice in an art studio delivering illustrations.
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