Peter Linenthal

Peter Linenthal is the author, illustrator, and sometimes both of more than a dozen children's books. He's taught art in elementary schools for almost thirty years and lives in San Francisco, California. His most recent book, 'Jaya's Golden Necklace: a Silk Road Tale', has a theme of mindfulness for children. Little Jaya finds strengths and abilities she didn't know she had while on an exciting journey with her father. The first story of the Buddha image for children, it takes place in the multi-cultural Kushan Empire on the ancient Silk Road and includes the recipe for Jaya's mom's apricot/almond cake!

His 'Look, Look!' series of four board books are extremely popular and have been included in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The high-contrast illustrations are an immediate hit with very young children.

Peter worked with the innovative children's author Ann Morris for many years illustrating and taking photos for her books. In the series 'What Was It Like, Grandma?' grandmothers of six ethnicities answer that question posed by their grandchild.

Peter is now working with archaeologists on a catalog of his collection of Central Asian antiquities, 'The Kushan Connection', which inspired 'Jaya's Golden Necklace'. He directs a neighborhood history group, The Potrero Hill Archives Project and is co-author of two books by Arcadia on Potrero Hill.