Adam Rex received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona. Ironic Sans: Interview with Adam Rex, illustrator and author of "Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich" He has contributed illustrations to The Gathering and other fantasy art Adam Rex :: Pen & Paper RPG Database and has illustrated several children's books. Adam has noted that his history with fantasy drawings initially hurt his entry into children's books. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex - Interview - Harcourt His first books, Tree-Ring Circus and Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, were published in 2006. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich went on to become a New York Times best seller. Another picture book Pssst! and the illustrated novel The True Meaning of Smekday were published in 2007.

Adam received the Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist in 2005.

His first foray into illustration of children's books, 2003's The Dirty Cowboy, written by Amy Timberlake, received positive reviews, including from The Capital Times, which described Rex's work as "gorgeous... This is his first book, but you wouldn't know it from looking. His artwork has real resonance". The Santa Fe New Mexican wrote, "The consummate skill of Rex's illustrations combines with wit and knowledge of the physical and emotional terrain". The book was banned at W.C. Andrews Elementary School in Texas in 2006. The book was removed from school shelves. The ACLU report noted that the "Principal did not want this book in the library." The book is the story about a cowboy taking a bath.

His illustrations of the book The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity were reviewed favourably by The Gazette's critic, noting "a lively set of endpapers."

Illustrations only

• The Dirty Cowboy, written by Amy Timberlake (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, August 8, 2003)
• Here's the Thing About Me, written by Katy Kelly (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, September 14, 2004)
• Ste-e-e-e-eamboat a-Comin'!, written by Jill Esbaum (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, March 24, 2005)
• Big on Plans, written by Katy Kelly (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, June 14, 2005)
• Busy Like You Can't Believe, written by Katy Kelly (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, September 12, 2006)
• The Journey of Darcy Heart O'Hara, written by Elvira Woodruff (Knopf Books for Young Readers, September 12, 2006)
• Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, written by Mac Barnett (Hyperion Book CH, June 23, 2009)
• Guess Again!, written by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, September 15, 2009)
• The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity , written by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, October 6, 2009)

Story and illustrations

• Tree-Ring Circus (Harcourt Children's Books, June 1, 2006)
• Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich (Harcourt Children's Books, September 1, 2006)
• Pssst! (Harcourt Children's Books, September 1, 2007)
• The True Meaning of Smekday (Hyperion, October 2, 2007)
• Frankenstein Takes the Cake (Harcourt Children's Books, September 1, 2008)

Role-playing games

Changeling: The Dreaming (White Wolf)

• The Autumn People (1995) Interior Artist
• Immortal Eyes: Shadows on the Hill (1996) Interior Artist
• Immortal Eyes: Court of All Kings (1996) Interior Artist
• Changeling Players Guide (1996) Interior Artist
• Kithbook: Nockers (1997) Interior Artist
• Isle of the Mighty (1997) Cover Artist
• Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. (1997) Interior Artist
• Kingdom of Willows (1998) Cover Artist

Planescape (TSR)

• Something Wild (1996) Interior Artist
• On Hallowed Ground (1996) Interior Artist
• Hellbound: The Blood War (1996) Interior Artist
• Doors to the Unknown (1996) Interior Artist
• A Guide to the Astral Plane (1996) Interior Artist
• The Great Modron March (1997) Interior Artist
• Faces of Evil: The Fiends (1997) Interior Artist
• Dead Gods (1997) Interior Artist
• Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix III (1998) Interior Artist
• The Inner Planes (1998) Interior Artist
• Faction War (1998) Interior Artist
• A Guide to the Ethereal Plane (1998) Interior Artist

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (Wizards of the Coast)

• Monster Manual (2000) Interior Artist
• Monsters of Faerûn (Forgotten Realms) (2001) Interior Artist
• Lords of Darkness (Forgotten Realms) (2001) Interior Artist
• Silver Marches (Forgotten Realms) (2002) Interior Artist
• Unapproachable East (Forgotten Realms) (2003) Interior Artist
• Races of Faerûn (Forgotten Realms) (2003) Interior Artist
• Races of Stone (2004) Cover Artist
• Monster Manual III (2004) Interior Artist
• Races of the Wild (2005) Cover Artist

Other

• A Medieval Tapestry: Personalities of Mythic Europe (Ars Magica) (1997) Atlas Games, Cover Artist
• Guide to the Sabbat (Vampire: The Masquerade) (1999) White Wolf, Interior Artist
• Guide to the Camarilla (Vampire: The Masquerade) (1999) White Wolf, Interior Artist
• Dark?Matter Campaign Setting (1999) Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist
• Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game (2001) Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist
• Prophecies of the Dragon (Wheel of Time) (2002) Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist
• Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game (Call of Cthulhu d20) (2002) Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist