Robert C. Byrd

Who is Robert C. Byrd?

Robert Byrd is an author and illustrator from Haddonfield, New Jersey.

Following high school, Byrd joined the U.S. Navy in 1961, leaving in 1962 to attend Trenton Junior College. After a year at Trenton, he switched to study at the Philadelphia College of Art

Robert wrote and illustrated five of his own picture books, including Leonardo, Beautiful Dreamer, a picture book chronicling, thematically, the life, and work of Leonardo da Vinci.

"I always drew as a child, but oddly enough never thought of it as a profession, or what you did when you grew up..Out of all my creative work, illustrating children's books gives me the greatest satisfaction. It is my 'fine art.' It keeps me going aesthetically. The books have a permanence and a quality of something meaningful."

He has also illustrated at least sixteen books for other authors, including Jack Stokes, Robert Kraus, Bruce Kraus, Laura Amy Schlitz, Kathleen Krull, Marilyn Jager Adams, and Paula Fox.

His work has been exhibited by the Society of Illustrators, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, and The Rosenfeld Gallery, in Philadelphia. He has also been exhibited in various locations within Switzerland, Italy, and Illinois. His work is a part of permanent collections at the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia College of Art.