Nancy Carpenter is an American illustrator of children's picture books.
Carpenter's mother was an art teacher.
Carpenter worked as a graphic reporter for Associated Press and illustrator for the New York Times.
She has published dozens of children's picture books with authors such as Anna Quindlen, Karen Hesse, and Jane Yolen.
Carpenter's books have won several awards, including: for Sitti's Secrets (Four Winds Press, 1994), a Notable Children's Books designation from the American Library Association (ALA) and Jane Addams Children's Book Award; for Apples to Oregon (Atheneum, 2004), a Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and ALA Notable Children's Books designation; for Emma Dilemma (Clarion Books, 2011), an ALA Notable Children's Books designation; and for Queen Victoria's Bathing Machine (Simon & Schuster, 2014), an ALA Notable Children's Books designation.
Carpenter is married and has two children. She lives in Brooklyn.