Jim Averbeck

Jim Averbeck enjoys throwing himself into situations that give him an opportunity to explore and grow. He joined the Peace Corps in his late twenties and lived and worked in Cameroon in western Africa for almost four years. He designed the training for the Peace Corps Cameroon’s first water and sanitation program. When she heard of that experience, Newbery winner Linda Sue Park reached out to him to illustrate the original, serialized version of New York Times bestseller, A Long Walk to Water.

Jim’s other illustrated books include the critically acclaimed except if and Oh No, Little Dragon! (both published by Atheneum) and his original folk-tale, The Market Bowl (Charlesbridge), which was a Junior Library Guild Premier Selection and a 2014 Bank Street Best Book.