About Us
- Rylee Hayes, Author -
Rylee Lou Hayes was born and raised in the small town of Bolivar, Missouri. After graduating high school, she moved halfway across the country to attend college in North Carolina. There, she met and fell in love with her husband, Brian, as well as her new home. She graduated in 2015 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Profession in Deafness degree concentrating on American Sign Language interpreting. Following graduation, Rylee worked in an elementary school as an educational interpreter for three years. During her time working with Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, she became particularly passionate about the power of storytelling. Interpreting stories for her students daily deepened and expanded her love for children’s literature.
When her oldest son was born in 2018, Rylee transitioned to being a stay-at-home mom. It is his love of snowmen and all things snow-related that inspired The World’s Biggest Snowman!. Now a mother of two, she reads with her children each day and loves watching the stories come to life for them. Rylee thinks back fondly on the books that formed her as a child and hopes The World’s Biggest Snowman! can be one of those books for you.
- Landon Kemp, Illustrator -
Landon Kemp is the kind of guy who has never lost his love of cartoons and believes that no one can or should “grow out of” them. Suffice it to say, he is a die-hard fan of animation, comics, and entertainment art, and pop culture in general, who tends to approach life with a sense of curiosity and a wilder sense of humor and imagination. As a cartoonist, illustrator, writer and aspiring animator/storyboarder on the Autism/Asperger’s spectrum, he spent four years in Texas, most of it in Austin; and he is currently living in Missouri, while continuing his studies in animation and cartoon art.
On top of his admiration for the art of animation, Landon believes that picture books and graphic novels have the power to help children learn to read and to grow in appreciating visual art and storytelling. Having already illustrated two picture books as well as a chapter book, he was eager to illustrate his sister Rylee’s story also. And it sweetens the deal that he can share his love of story and art with his nephews, Rylee’s sons.