Mordicai Gerstein has been a painter, sculptor, and prizewinning film-maker. He worked for many years as a designer and director of animated films before turning to writing and illustrating picture books.

Born in Los Angeles in 1935, Mordicai attended the Chouinard Institute of Art there, and then moved to New York City where he lived and worked for twenty-five years making animated films for television. One of his independently produced short films, The Room, won an award at the Belgian Experimental film Festival in 1967, and another, The Magic Magic Ring, won a Cine Golden Eagle in 1968.

In 1971, Mordicai collaborated with author Elizabeth Levy to create the Something Queer is Going On series of mystery books for Delecorte Press. He began writing and illustrating his own books in 1980. The first, Arnold of the Ducks (1983), was named a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year. The Mountains of Tibet (1987) was selected as a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year. His most recent animated video film, Beauty and the Beast, narrated by Mia Farrow, won a Cine Golden Eagle, and won the American Film Foundation's 1989 Award for best children's video. His fascination with the Savage of Aveyron, the feral child found in a forest southern France in 1800, culminated in two remarkable new books - a picture book and a novel.

Mordicai lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife, Susan Yard Harris, who is also an illustrator, and their daughter, Risa.

Books by Mordicai Gerstein
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
The Wild Boy
Victor
What Charlie Heard