TARA NICOLE WHITAKER was born in Brooklyn, New York, where she fell in love with children's books from visits to the local library. Her education in art began early, from classes at Pratt in her youth, to more formal training at RISD and California Institute of the Arts, earning her a BFA in Character Animation in 2002. Since graduating, she has worked for Dreamworks, Nickelodeon, Fox Animation, PBS, CBS, Cartoon Network, Netflix, and most recently Disney.