Bill Thomson

Bill Thomson is a children’s book author and illustrator best known for the wordless picture book Chalk, as well as Fossil and The Typewriter. He has also illustrated several text-based children’s books, including Karate Hour, Baseball Hour, Soccer Hour, and Building With Dad, all written by Carol Nevius. Thomson’s highly realistic acrylic and colored-pencil artwork has received numerous honors, including the Connecticut Book Award for Children’s Illustrator and state children’s choice awards in Kentucky and Ohio, among others.

Born in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1963, Thomson earned a B.F.A. in Illustration from Syracuse University, graduating cum laude, and later completed an M.F.A. in Illustration at the University of Hartford. He has created advertising, editorial, and book illustrations across the United States and is a Professor of Illustration at the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford, where he also serves as a thesis advisor in the MFA in Illustration program. Thomson lives in Southington, Connecticut with his wife, Diann, and their three sons, Billy, Nik, and Ethan.