David Small attended Cass Technical High School and began studying writing in college, but at age 21 switched to art. He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree at Wayne State University and a master of fine arts degree at Yale University. Small taught art for many years on the college level, ran and film series, and made satirical sketches for campus newspapers. His first book, which he wrote and illustrated, Eulalie and the Hopping Head, was published in 1981.

Small earned the 1997 Caldecott Honor and The Christopher Medal for The Gardener, with Sarah Stewart, his wife, recipient of the 2007 Michigan Author Award. In 2001 he won the Caldecott Medal for So You Want to Be President?, combining political cartooning with children's book illustration. CNN Book News report on David Small and U.S. News & World Report, 29 January 2001 pg 8 "The cartoonist in chief" Small's drawings have appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times.

David Small and Sarah Stewart make their home in an historic manor house in Mendon, Michigan.

David Small's graphic memoir, Stitches, was published in September, 2009. One day, Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that that he had been transformed into a virtual mute...one of his vocal cords had been removed. He was fourteen, and had not been told that he had cancer and was expected to die. Stitches tells the story of Small's journey from sickly child to cancer patient, to the troubled teen who made a risky decision to run away from home at sixteen...with nothing more than the dream of becoming an artist.

Stitches has been reviewed by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and is a #1 New York Times Best Seller.

Written and Illustrated by David Small

Stitches by David Small, W.W. Norton & Company, 2009

Eulalie and the Hopping Head by David SmallMacMillan 1982, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2001 A "School Library Journal" Best Book of the Year.

Imogene's Antlers by David Small Crown 1985

Ruby Mae Has Something to Say by David Small Crown 1992

Paper John by David Small Farrar Straus Giroux 1987

Hoover's Bride by David SmallAlfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

George Washington's Cows by David SmallFarrar, Straus and Giroux 1997

Fenwick's Suit by David Small Farrar Straus Giroux 1996

Written by Sarah Stewart and Illustrated by David Small

The Money Tree by Sarah Stewart, David Small (Illustrator)Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1994

The Library by Sarah Stewart, David Small (Illustrator)Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1995

The Gardenerby Sarah Stewart, David Small (Illustrator)Trumpet Club, New York 1998 Caldecott Honor Award

The Friend by Sarah Stewart, David Small (Illustrator)Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2004

The Journey by Sarah Stewart, David Small (Illustrator)Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2001A "Publishers Weekly" and "School Library Journal" Best Book of the Year.

Illustrated by David Small

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, David Small (Illustrator), Antheum, 2008

So You Want to Be President?by Judith St George, David Small (Illustrator)Philomel 2000Year 2000 Notable Books by the New York Times, one of the Best Children's Books 2000 by Publishers Weekly, winner of the 2001 Caldecott Medal.

So You Want to Be an Inventor? by Judith St George, David Small (Illustrator)

So You Want to Be an Explorer? by Judith St George, David Small (Illustrator)Philomel 2005

Once Upon a Banana by Jennifer Armstrong, David Small (Illustrator)

When Dinosaurs came with Everything by Elise Broach, David Small (Illustrator) Athenium

The Christmas Crocodile by Bonnie Becker, David Small (Illustrator)Simon & Schuster, New York 1998

The Essential Worldwide Monster Guide by Linda Ashman, David Small (Illustrator)Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003

My Senator and Me: A Dog's Eye View of Washington, D.C.by Edward Moore Kennedy, David Small (Illustrator) Scholastic Inc, 2006

Mouse & His Child by Russell Hoban, David Small (Illustrator) Arthur A. Levine Book 2001

Huckabuck Family: And How They Raised Popcorn in Nebraska and Quit and Came Backby Carl Sandburg, David Small (Illustrator)Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1999

Company's Coming by Arthur Yorinks, David Small (Illustrator)Knopf Books for Young Readers 1988

Petey's Bedtime Story by Beverly Cleary, David Small (Illustrator)HarperCollins Publishers 1993

Company's Going by Arthur Yorinks, David Small (Illustrator)Hyperion Books 2001

A Surfeit of Similes by Norton Juster, David Small (Illustrator)William Morrow & Company, New York 1989