David was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, a seaside town north of Boston. As a child, he enjoyed books, movies, theaters, and the ocean. A favorite pastime was drawing - anywhere, anytime, and on anything! He began when he was two years old, drawing with a crayon on paper bags that his grandmother cut up for him. Sometimes passion for drawing got him into trouble --drawing on walls was not acceptable!

In 1963, David enrolled in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston. And in1966, while working as a shipping clerk in a book clearinghouse, he rediscovered children's books. He spent hours looking through the many picture books that crossed his desk. David started collecting and soon began his new career.

His first book, The Bear's Toothache, was published in 1972. Since then, he has written and/or illustrated more than fifty books and is hard at work on many more. McPhail is best known for his animal characters like pigs and bears. He feels that an animal can do things that might be too scary for a young child to do. David recommends “that young artists draw from life and be true to oneself.”

Book List
	Tinker Tom and the Star Baby by David McPhail 1998		Pigs Ahoy! by David McPhail
	Why a Disguise? by Laura Numeroff		The Day the Sheep Showed Up by David McPhail
	Mole Music by David McPhail		Edward and The Pirates by David McPhail
	If You Were My Bunny by David McPhail(Illustrator), Kate H. McMullan Hardcover - March 1998		Lost! by David McPhail Paperback - October 1993
	The Puddle by David McPhail Paperback - March 2000		Henry Bear's Christmas by David McPhail 2003
	Henry Bear's Park by David McPhail 2003		Mud is Cake by Pam Munoz Ryan 2002