SATA

PERSONAL

Married Bob Strong (a carpenter); children: two.

University of Massachusetts, B.A. (multicultural education), 1984.

ADDRESS

• Home - MA; Costa Rica.

CAREER

Illustrator, designer, and educator. Taught kindergarten in public schools for fifteen years. Illustrator and designer of stamps for Massachusetts State Park system. Leader of workshops and art classes; classroom consultant. Exhibitions: Work included in exhibits in western Massachusetts and at Society of Illustrators Original Art Show, New York, NY, 2011 and 2017.

Travel.

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Western Massachusetts Illustrators Guild.

Irma Black Award semi-finalist, 2011, and Ezra Jack Keats Book Award honorable mention selection for best new illustrator, and Best Books selection, Bank Street College of Education, both 2012, all for Lola’s Fandango by Anna Witte; Ezra Jack Keats Award, 2017, for Daniel Finds a Poem.

WRITINGS

• SELF-ILLUSTRATED
• ILLUSTRATOR
• Daniel Finds a Poem, Nancy Paulsen Books (New York, NY), 2016
• Daniel’s Good Day, Nancy Paulsen Books (New York, NY), 2019
• Wonder Walkers, Nancy Paulsen Books (New York, NY), , published in Spanish as Caminantes curiosos, Nancy Paulsen Books (New York, NY), 2021
• What’s New, Daniel?, Nancy Paulsen Books (New York, NY), 2023
• Shahrukh Husain, The Wise Fool: Fables from the Islamic World, Barefoot Books (Cambridge, MA), 2011
• Anna Witte, Lola’s Fandango, Barefoot Books (Cambridge, MA), 2011
• Lindsay N. Giroux and Mary Louise Hemmeter, We Are Problem Solvers, Connect4Learning (Lewisville, NC), 2016
• Wade Bradford, Around the World in a Bathtub: Bathing All over the Globe, Charlesbridge (Watertown, MA), 2017
• Annette Bay Pimentel, Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon, Nancy Paulsen Books (New York, NY), 2018
• Laura Purdie Salas, Snowman—Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations, Charlesbridge (Watertown, MA), 2019
• Yanitzia Canetti, My Big Family, Reycraft Books (New York, NY), 2020
• Patricia MacLachlan, Prairie Days, Margaret K. McElderry Books (New York, NY), 2020
• Patricia MacLachlan, Snow Horses, Margaret K. McElderry Books (New York, NY), 2022
• Wind Watchers , Nancy Paulsen Books (New York, NY), 2025

Contributor to periodicals, including Cricket.

SIDELIGHTS

A former kindergarten teacher, Micha Archer has provided the illustrations for a number of children’s books, including Lola’s Fandango by Anna Witte and Snowman—Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations by Laura Purdie Salas. Working in oil, watercolors, pen and ink, and collage, Archer creates artwork that has been described by critics as energetic, colorful, and detailed. In 2017 she received the prestigious Ezra Jack Keats Award for Daniel Finds a Poem, her first self-illustrated tale.

In Daniel Finds a Poem, Archer presents “a vividly illustrated, inventively told opportunity for early readers to grasp the power of language to observe, entertain, and mystify,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer. The tale centers on a youngster named Daniel who learns about the meaning of poetry though his conversations with the creatures in a city park. “Archer’s atmospheric and evocative collage illustrations enhance the sense of peace and contentment shared by Daniel and his animal friends,” explained Linda L. Walkins in School Library Journal.

A companion volume, Daniel’s Good Day, finds the youth polling several of his neighbors to determine what makes their days special. “Archer’s oil-and-collage vignettes portray a diverse community in the midst of a lush, blooming spring,” a writer observed in Publishers Weekly. A Kirkus Reviews contributor stated that Archer’s narrative “advocates for the importance of giving children a level of independence and also welcoming them into the family circle after their adventures.”

Wonder Walkers, Archer’s next self-illustrated title, finds two brown-skinned children taking a ponderous walk through the great outdoors. Along the way, the grand sights of the sun hanging overhead, the trees set against the backdrop of the sky, the wind coursing through the air, and more prompt question after question about the nature of the world. Some of their questions frame the earth itself as a living organism, evoking the Gaia conception.

A Kirkus Reviews writer was enamored with Wonder Walkers, calling the language “profound and beautifully poetic” and the “luminous ink-and-collage illustrations … lush and vivid.” The reviewer declared that “only wonderstruck children, confronting nature’s gorgeous mysteries, could express themselves so intimately, creatively, and originally.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the artwork “sumptuous” and concluded, “Asking good questions is at the heart of discovery, and Archer’s young wonder walkers show readers how it’s done.”

In 2023, Archer released a Spanish translation of Wonder Walkers, titled Caminantes curiosos. The Spanish edition was well received by critics. Lissette Perez-Hernandez, reviewing the book in School Library Journal, declared, “The lyrical Spanish text is spare and leaves space for kids to ponder as they examine the intricate art.” Perez-Hernandez concluded that Caminantes curiosos is “engaging.”

In her illustration work, Archer earned plaudits for her contributions to The Wise Fool: Fables from the Islamic World by Shahrukh Husain. The volume collects twenty-two short stories that feature the exploits of Mulla Nasruddin, a whimsical wise man. A writer in Kirkus Reviews felt that Archer’s “collage work recalls the colors, patterns and perspectives of Persian and Indian miniatures,” and Booklist critic Hazel Rochman also praised the illustrations, “many of which have a stained-glass appeal.”

Lola’s Fandango focuses on a young girl’s efforts to escape her older sister’s shadow by learning to dance the flamenco for their mother’s surprise party. “The action, both external and internal, is visualized in the charming collage-style artwork,” Ilene Cooper noted in Booklist. “Vibrant colors, swirls, and splashes of light and sparkle bring the rhythm of the flamenco to the pages,” observed School Library Journal contributor Mary Hazelton.

In Around the World in a Bathtub: Bathing All over the Globe, Wade Bradford examines the bath time experience in Japan, Turkey, and India, among other nations. “Exuberant illustrations, emphasizing aqueous blues and greens, are executed in oils with collage elements and finished in Photoshop,” a critic stated in Kirkus Reviews. “Archer’s bold, bright oil paint and collage art depicts each custom with engaging detail,” Rita Meade commented in School Library Journal, and Amina Chaudhri, writing in Booklist, opined that the “illustrations are vivid, textured, and energetic.”

Annette Bay Pimentel recounts the true story of a pioneering female athlete in Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon. In the words of a Kirkus Reviews contributor, Archer’s “artwork is an eyeful, a deep-dish mixture of oil paint and collage with tissue paper and hand-stamped patterned papers as materials.” A fanciful blend of poetry, arithmetic, and science, Snowman—Cold = Puddle looks at the changing of the seasons from winter to spring. “Archer’s detailed, vibrant collages reflect a sense of wonder,” Carolyn Phelan declared in Booklist, and a Publishers Weekly critic believed that the “torn paper collage and oil art offers sharp contrast in visual textures and colors.”

Prairie Days is a picture-book memoir by Patricia MacLachlan recounting her childhood on a farm. In School Library Journal, Laken Hottle observed that Archer’s “paper collage illustrations add intricate texture and detail to the deceptive simplicity of the prairie landscape.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer praised the artwork as “hypnotic,” with a furrowed farm field made from scores of paper strips deemed a “work of remarkable intricacy.” The reviewer suggested, “Together, words and pictures create a sense of endless space and ample time.”

Again working with MacLachlan, Archer illustrated Snow Horses in 2023. Tim and Tom are two Percheron horses gearing up for a winter sleigh ride. As the story begins, their owner, Jenny, approaches the barn to retrieve Tim and Tom. She leads them out into the early dusk and readies them for the ride. She attaches their bridles, harnesses, and then links them up to a large, red sleigh. Then Jenny turns on the sleigh’s twinkling lights. Out into the night, the horses tow the sleigh toward the sound of jingle bells, where they will pick up their riders. Through the town, winding over bridges, the sleigh eases its young riders through the night. Then there is an older couple from a large residence to be picked up for a ride. The couple shares stories of the past as they ride through the snow. Once the rides are complete, Jenny steers Tim and Tom back to the barn. The next morning they awaken to the sound of trumpets signaling the arrival of New Year’s Eve. Carolyn Phelan, reviewing Snow Horses in Booklist, concluded, “Magical in its ability to conjure the brightness of the snow-covered hills, the crisp clarity of cold air, and the upbeat spirit shared by young and old alike, Archer’s artwork re-creates classic winter landscapes brightened at night by sparkling lights.” Commenting on Archer’s illustrations in Kirkus Reviews, a contributor applauded, “The warm palette and bold designs of the papers used to depict fabric and floor planks contrast beautifully with the smooth coolness of the wintry landscape.”

Discussing her work in an interview with Margot Abel on the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation website, Archer remarked, “My collage process has two very different stages. The first is the spontaneous and freeing stage of creating a supply of homemade papers, like revisiting kindergarten. The second stage is the detailed, time-consuming, trial-and-error work of finding the right papers, the exacting cutting, and the sometimes terrifying moments of finally glueing something down.”

Archer once told SATA: “What first got me interested in writing was reading. I read so many children’s books as a teacher and mother and developed a sense of what I wanted to see in books and so then finally decided to write them myself. And I had an agent who believed in me.

“I keep a notebook for book ideas with me all the time. An idea can brew for months and even years and then finally either flame out or take root and flourish. I have learned to be patient and not push too hard. The hardest thing is to have to commit to the final manuscript.

“The most surprising thing I have learned as a writer is how similar it is to doing my collage work. Cutting, adding, subtracting, trial and error, and happy accidents. And how much one has to simplify when writing a picture book but never dumbing it down in the process and never, ever being didactic because children read right through that crap.

“I hope my books help get kids to go outside and be curious about nature—to get them to think outside themselves and appreciate the people around them and what they do to make their lives easier and better and more beautiful.”

Archer later told SATA: “What actually inspired me to write my first book ( Daniel Finds a Poem, ) was something my agent, Rubin Pfeffer (who was not yet my agent), asked me. I saw him speak at an event and knew right away that I wanted him as my agent, even though he was mainly a literary agent and I was still only illustrating books. I sent him my website. When he answered and asked about a drawing of a little boy on a stage on my website and whether there was a story behind that little boy, I decided I better create a story. After days and days of studying my favorite children’s book and thinking back to what I loved and needed as a teacher of young readers, I came up with Daniel Finds a Poem. This eventually led to finding an editor (Nancy Paulsen).

“I have always loved writing, although mostly for myself. This has been a welcome change, however. I really love that I am now always on the prowl for stories.

“I hope my books prompt kids to ask questions, be curious, be kind, go outside, and to take care of nature.”

BIOCRIT

PERIODICALS

• Booklist, November 15, 2011, Hazel Rochman, review of The Wise Fool: Fables from the Islamic World, p. 51; August 1, 2011, Ilene Cooper, review of Lola’s Fandango, p. 44; February 1, 2016, Randall Enos, review of Daniel Finds a Poem, p. 53; May 15, 2017, Amina Chaudhri, review of Around the World in a Bathtub: Bathing All over the Globe, p. 44; January 1, 2019, Carolyn Phelan, review of Snowman—Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations, p. 72; November 1, 2022, Carolyn Phelan, review of Snow Horses, p. 78.

• Children’s Bookwatch, September, 2017, review of Around the World in a Bathtub.

• Horn Book, March-April, 2018, Martha V. Parravano, review of Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon, p. 111.

• Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2011, review of The Wise Fool; September 15, 2011, review of Lola’s Fandango; November 15, 2015, review of Daniel Finds a Poem; May 1, 2017, review of Around the World in a Bathtub; November 15, 2017, review of Girl Running; December 15, 2018, review of Snowman—Cold = Puddle; March 15, 2019, review of Daniel’s Good Day; February 1, 2021, review of Wonder Walkers; September 1, 2022, review of Snow Horses.

• Publishers Weekly, November 23, 2015, review of Daniel Finds a Poem, p. 68; January 28, 2019, review of Snowman—Cold = Puddle, p. 95; March 11, 2019, review of Daniel’s Good Day, p. 50; December 2, 2020, review of Prairie Days, p. 24.

• School Library Journal, September, 2011, Marilyn Taniguchi, review of The Wise Fool, p. 135; December, 2011, Mary Hazelton, review of Lola’s Fandango, p. 96; January, 2016, Linda L. Walkins, review of Daniel Finds a Poem, p. 66; May, 2017, Rita Meade, review of Around the World in a Bathtub, p. 113; December, 2017, Alyssa Annico, review of Girl Running, p. 120; April, 2020, Laken Hottle, review of Prairie Days, p. 118; August, 2020, Naomi Caldwell, review of My Big Family, p. 61; June, 2023, Lissette Perez-Hernandez, review of Caminantes curioses, p. 58.

ONLINE

• Brightly, https://www.readbrightly.com/ (May 28, 2021), author profile.

• Ezra Jack Keats Foundation website, https://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/ (June 15, 2019), Margot Abel, author interview.

• Micha Archer website, https://www.michaarcher.com (November 21, 2023).

• Publishers Weekly Online, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (February 9, 2021), review of Wonder Walkers.

• Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators website, https://www.scbwi.org/ (May 28, 2021), author profile.*