Deborah Kogan Ray is a painter and printmaker, who became an illustrator when she discovered she could take words, and make them into images. She became a writer when she discovered she could take images and turn them into words. A self -described "research junky", she now specializes in writing and illustrating biographies about "people who should be much better known". She has written and illustrated 19 books and illustrated 54 in her career. Her books have received many awards, including the Coretta Scott King, Parents Choice and Bank Street Honors, 'Notables' from the American Library Association, NCSS/CBC for social studies, National Science Teachers of America, the International Reading Association, and state reading associations. Her books have been featured on Book-TV, and Reading Rainbow. Two recent biographies Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw (2008), and Dinosaur Mountain: Digging Into the Jurassic Age (2010) were picked by on-line reviewers for the "Cybil" award in non-fiction. Her latest book is Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca published in 2012.