The First Dinosaur

Ian Lendler is the author of the award-winning graphic novel series, Stratford Zoo Presents...; the picture books An Undone Fairy Tale, Little Sid, and One Day a Dot; and the middle grade novel The First Dinosaur (illustrated by C.M. Butzer). If he had to be one sort of dinosaur, he’d probably be a chicken (yes, they’re dinosaurs, too). C.M. Butzer was raised in a small town, just outside of Portland, Oregon. In 1992 Butzer left Oregon to attend Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle where he earned a BFA in illustration. After school he worked for Wizards of the Coast. In 1998 he moved to Florence, Italy, where he met Luigi Galante, who ran a didactic illustration studio. He worked for Studio Galante for nearly five years before moving to New York City to earn his MFA in illustration at the School Visual Arts. In 2009 he published Gettysburg, his first graphic novel. He taught “Creating Independent Comics” at SVA and is working on new comics, screenprints, and a myriad of thing drawn and printed. Butzer also works as an illustrator, storyboard, and concept artist out of his studio in Hilo, Hawaii. His work has been featured in the Society of Illustrators, American Library Association, and the Graphic Novel Reporter.