CELESTE BOCCHICCHIO-CHAUDHRI

Writing, drawing, and libraries have always been part of my life. I learned to read and write before kindergarten, writing stories in my parents' blue college exam books.  In first grade ,my teachers chose me to attend the Young Authors Conference, where I got to meet Steven Kellogg. 

​

I spent my teenage years taking every art class I could, writing fantasy novels, and working in my local library. Whenever possible I worked in the picture book section. Shelve a few... read a few... shelve a few... read a few... If I'd had more self awareness, I would have known then that I would group up to be a children's librarian  and author/illustrator.

​

But what teenager has self-awareness? I went to college to study cultural anthropology and comparative religion, spent a summer teaching English in Thailand, did a brief stint in the Peace Corps in Bangladesh, then got an MA in South Asian Studies. I spent three years working on a PhD in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies before deciding I didn't want to be an academic. So I quit school, got a job in a day care, and had my first kid. In my thirties, I ended up shelving books in my local library (shelve a few... read a few... shelve a few... read a few). 

​

I got my Library Science degree in 2016 from Simmons, where I also studied Children's Literature. I now spend my time reading books to children, taking every art class I can find, and writing humorous fantasy stories and picture books. 

​

In 2021 I enrolled in the MFA program in Writing for Young People at Lesley University. 

​