Keeping wonder in the world
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Underneath it all, I am seven years old. Deep down, I am that buck-toothed little girl who dreams in pictures, clips snippets of words, puts them in a pretend pocket. I believe.
I walk around with my head in the sky, my eyes on the ground. A sidewalk yields the most interesting swirls, cracks, and bits of rock. I photograph this world within a world. I get some funny looks, but that's normal for an artist.
The odd bit or castaway trash is just as rich. I pick shiny words like a magpie. A fertile seed sprouts the idea for a story.
I love the differences in us all. I love the similarities, too. The world is multi-hued, texture upon texture, layer upon layer, our stories overlapping in the most beautiful collage.
Heidi Woodward Sheffield is an author/illustrator repped by Laura J. Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary Agency
Awards & Recognition
• 2025 BBC CBeebies Bedtime Stories, read by Myles Smith featuring ARE YOUR STARS LIKE MY STARS?
• 2021 Ezra Jack Keats Illustration Award
• Dolly Parton Imagination Library Book (BRICK BY BRICK)
• Dolly Parton Imagination Library Book (ICE CREAM FACE)
• 2020 The Original Art Show, Society of Illustrators
• 2020 3x3 Honor International Illustration Awards
• 2019 Illustration West 58 Exhibit
• 2020 Muskegon Museum of Art Exhibition
• SCBWI 2017 LA Mentorship Award
• SCBWI 2017 Winter Conference, Portfolio Award, Honorable Mention
• SCBWI 2016 Bologna, Short List for Illustration
• SCBWI 2016 Wild, Wild Midwestern Conference, Second Place
• SCBWI 2014 NV Illustration Mentorship
• SCBWI 2010 NV Illustration Mentorship
• SCBWI 2007 MI Illustration Mentorship
• SCBWI 2007 Don Freeman Grant, Runner Up
• SCBWI 2006 NY Winter Conference, Top 10 Illustration Showcase
• American Library Association Awards, Illustration and Design
• Highlights Writers Workshops
• Numerous Addy Awards: Illustration, Design, and Copywriting
Education
• Hard knocks, School of Life
• BA in English, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• BA in Design, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
Prior Life
• Breast Cancer Survivor
