Skip Weinstock, author

Skip Weinstock grew up in White Plains, New York and developed a love for children’s poetry at a young age. His early influences were poets Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Frost, and Langston Hughes. At Vassar College, Skip majored in English and early childhood education. In 1975, he received an M. A. in English from Pennsylvania State University. For thirty two years, Skip was an English teacher at White Plains High School where he taught literature, Creative Writing, and Film. His students enjoyed listening to his funny, often unbelievable stories about his life. He was also popular for his extensive knowledge of riddles. Skip retired from teaching high school in 2014. He currently lives with his beautiful wife and son on a scenic lake in Brewster, New York. He continues to teach writing at several local colleges, in addition to volunteering in a pre-school program for toddlers. In his free time, Skip reads student essays, plays jazz piano, and spends time with his family. The poems in Moon Cleaning were written over a period of forty years. They represent Skip’s enduring love for children and their shining innocence. Skip hopes you enjoy reading them as much as he enjoyed writing them.

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Yura Osborn, Illustrator

Yura Osborn is an illustrator and window display designer artist living and working in Japan. She was born and raised in Tokyo by an American father and a Japanese mother. In 2001, she moved to California to study at Idyllwild Arts Academy, and later went on to earn a BFA in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She drew the animations for the poems in Moon Cleaning. In 2017, she relocated to a small beach town in Japan. She hopes to make everyone smile and make your day a little brighter with her art.