Biography
David Small was born in Detroit, Michigan, the second son of Edward Pierce Small, Jr. and Helen "Elizabeth" née Murphy Small. He began drawing at the age of two years, and health problems that kept him home for much of his childhood, also led to his developing his drawing skills. Small has described his childhood home as abusive. He attended Cass Technical High School and wrote plays throughout his teenage years.
At age 21, he switched to art. He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree at Wayne State University and a master of fine arts degree at Yale University. Small taught art for many years on the college level, ran a film series, and made satirical sketches for campus newspapers. His first book, Eulalie and the Hopping Head, which he wrote and illustrated, was published in 1981.
Small earned a 1997 Caldecott Honor and The Christopher Medal for The Gardener, with Sarah Stewart, his wife. She also received the 2007 Michigan Author Award. In 2001, Small won the Caldecott Medal for So You Want to Be President?, combining political cartooning with children's book illustration. He received a second Caldecott Honor in 2013 for illustrating Toni Buzzeo's One Cool Friend. Small's drawings have appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times. On July 15, 2014, he was announced as a finalist for the 2015 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature.
In addition to picture books, Small published a graphic memoir in September 2009 called Stitches about his journey from sickly child and young cancer patient to a troubled teen who ran away from home at sixteen to become an artist. Upon its release, the book topped the New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller list. It was named one of the ten best books of 2009 by Publishers Weekly and Amazon.com and was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Stitches has been translated into seven languages and published in nine countries.
In 2020, Western Michigan University Libraries announced it would acquire David Small and Sarah Stewart's archives, including their original artwork, sketchbooks, journals, published and unpublished writings.
David and Sarah Stewart live in an historic manor house in Mendon, Michigan.
