Beni Montresor was born March 31, 1926 in Bussolengo, Italy. He studied at the Liceo Artistico in Verona, and later at the Academia de Belle Arti in Venice and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. He worked in Italy as a newspaper film critic, author of radio plays, and set designer, and came to the United States in 1960. He continued to work as a set and costume designer for operas and musicals, and also began illustrating and writing children's books. He has illustrated many books on a wide variety of subjects and settings, has done adaptations of operas, and has worked with fiction and non-fiction. In 1965 he received the Caldecott Medal for May I Bring a Friend? a by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers. Throughout his career his illustrations have been praised by critics for their dream-like imagery that stimulates children's imagination. His drawings have also been lauded for their great sense of richness and depth.
Biographical Source: Something About the Author, Vol. 3, 38
From the guide to the Beni Montresor Papers, 1961-1991 with many undated titles, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc])
