About Astrid

ASTRID SHECKELS

fine art & illustration

ASTRID SHECKELS ART

ABOUT ASTRID SHECKELS

Astrid Sheckels cannot remember a time when she was not telling or illustrating stories, especially ones involving imaginary animals. A native of western Massachusetts and growing up in an artistic family, Astrid spent her childhood playing outside, using her imagination, and drawing. She studied Fine Art at Greenfield Community College and now works as a full-time artist.

PUBLISHING & ILLUSTRATION

Astrid is the author/illustrator of the award-winning Hector Fox & Friends picture book series (Islandport Press). The four-book series includes Hector Fox and the Giant Quest, Hector Fox and the Raven’s Revenge, Hector Fox and the Daring Flight and Hector Fox and the Map of Mystery.

Her debut book as an author/illustrator was the award-winning Nic and Nellie (Islandport Press). As an illustrator, her other award-winning titles include The Scallop Christmas (Islandport Press) and The Fish House Door (Islandport Press). She has illustrated the picture book Hope Somewhere in America (Twin Lights Publishers) and the two chapter books, Black Cloud and Tennessee Rose, in the Horse Diaries series (Random House).

Her latest series introduces readers to the charming canine-marine world in Sea Dog (Down East Books) and its companion alphabet book, Sea Dog Boats. A sequel story book, Sea Dog Rescue, will set sail in Summer 2025.

Flora and the Jazzers (Waxwing Books), a Cinderella-like animal story set in the 1920s, is currently in the works and will be arriving in Fall 2025.

ART & STUDIO

Astrid is a member of The Western Mass Illustrators Guild and The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She has won a number of art awards, including the prestigious Lupine Honor Award (2009), the Moonbeam Award for best picture book for all ages (2010, 2013, 2022), the Moonbeam Award for best illustrator (2022), and the Northern Lights Book Award for best author/illustrator (2021). Astrid now lives and maintains her studio in the rolling hills of Greenfield, Massachusetts. Astrid has spent much time in her mother's homeland of Denmark and her Scandinavian roots are evident in her fine art and illustrations. She describes her style as “a mix of classic realism and whimsy.”

PHILOSOPHY OF ART

Astrid explains that her art is "an outcropping of who I am. I am a Christian and my art reflects my world view. If you see any life, vitality, light, order, or beauty in my work, it is but a reflection of God, the Great Creator."

BOOKS:

Sea Dog Boats: an alphabet book

Sea Dog

Hector Fox and the Map of Mystery

Hector Fox and the Daring Flight

Hector Fox and the Raven’s Revenge

Hector Fox and the Giant Quest

Nic and Nellie

Hope Somewhere in America

Horse Diaries #9: Tennessee Rose

Horse Diaries #8: Black Cloud

The Fish House Door