Ponder Goembel

Ponder Goembel was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, a city of many cultures. Her neighborhood was full of artists including her parents who brought her up experiencing block parties, crab feasts and art festivals. Encouraged to depict her life experiences in art and she enjoyed arts and craft classes at the Maryland Institute of Art as well as the recreation center where her father worked at the end of her block. Her later experience designing posters and programs in High School helped her to choose an art school for college.

At the Philadelphia College of Art, now the University of the Arts, Ponder attended a various electives in addition to the required classes for her major, Illustration. Classes such as animal drawing and history of film still influence her today.

Ponder was still a senior when she worked on her first freelance illustration job and continued to freelance there after, mostly for magazines and advertising for about ten years after earning her B.F.A.

Although Ponder's first children's book work was only ten black and white chapter heading illustrations for a young adult book, the experience brought her a step closer to the full-color double page picture book work she acquired later. In all, Ponder illustrated fourteen children's picture books and her last one was also "authored" by her when she adapted a favorite children's song by the same title, Animal Fair.

In addition to creating art Ponder may be found showing and telling how she creates art for children, she may even sign one of her books for you.