Judith Caseley was born in the small town of Winfield, New Jersey, a converted army development. All of the
houses were painted white. Her mother compensated by decorating her bedroom with paintings by Matisse, Rousseau,
and Van Gogh. Later she added the German Expressionists. She remembers her wall of flaming reds and banana yellows and
jungle greens. She's loved color ever since.
Judith went to Syracuse University and majored in English, but felt she'd never get all of the reading done because she
worked in the cafeteria. She switched into art in her sophomore year. During her four years in college, she never took a
single course in illustration or writing. Ten years later, from greeting cards to gallery work, she was an author and
illustrator of children's books. Judith worked part-time as a receptionist for years until she could support herself.
Much of Judith's work is semi-autobiographical. She takes small events from her life or from the lives of her children,
and fictionalizes them. Field Day Friday was based on her son Michael's field day, when his new sneaker fell off
in the middle of the race. Mickey's Class Play dealt with his kindergarten play, in which he played a duck.
Mama, Coming and Going was written about her actual mishaps as a mother. She accidentally locked her
(then infant) daughter Jenna in the car, and took her to a birthday party on the wrong day, and thanked
Aunt Mary for a gift that she never sent. Currently, Jenna is 20 and Michael is 16. She tends to follow their
curriculum, choosing nuggets from their day and spinning them into stories. Judith tries to limit how much material
she steals nowadays, but it's difficult.
Judith wrote Praying to A.L. a few years ago, while her father was dying of Alzheimer's Disease. It is a book that is
close to her heart. It deals with loss, death, and rebirth, and she was able to read all about Abraham Lincoln in
researching the book. She really did have a framed picture of Lincoln on her wall, and her sister and she really did have an
A.L. Club, where they told him all our problems! Bully came next, and Judith used a handful of stories from Michael,
Jenna, and her nephew John about bullies they had dealt with. Her father was a bully when he was little, and liked to tell
about the time another child's mother called him a rat, when he used to be a mouse.
Both of Judith's parents died in the year 2000, and she was afraid that her work might become much too weighted down
with sorrow. However, in that same year, On the Town: A Community Adventure was created. Painting the
pictures for it was a release and a pleasure.
