The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois

In addition to writing and illustrating his own books, Pène du Bois illustrated books written by Jules Verne, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Rumer Godden, Claire Huchet Bishop and John Steinbeck, as well as magazine articles and advertisements. He also edited the camp newspaper and illustrated strategic maps.

He worked as a correspondent for Yank magazine.

He spent his years in the army (1941–1945) with an artillery unit stationed in Bermuda. Writing careerīy the time he entered the army in March 1941 at age 24, he had written and illustrated five more books. Thomas Nelson & Sons accepted Elisabeth, the Cow Ghost in 1935, when he was nineteen, and published it in 1936. After high school he was accepted by the Carnegie Technical School of Architecture, and offered a scholarship, but he sold a book that he had written and illustrated to pass the time during a vacation and pursued the creation of books rather than college. When William was eight the family moved to France, where he was educated at the Lycée Hoche in Versailles and the Lycée de Nice in Nice. Their Du Bois ancestors had moved from France to New Orleans in 1738. His older sister Yvonne (born 1913, later Yvonne Pène du Bois McKenney) would become a painter and their cousin Raoul Pene Du Bois would become a noted costume and scenic designer. His father Guy Pène du Bois was a noted art critic and a painter known for landscapes and portraits. His mother was Florence Sherman Pène du Bois who worked as a children's fashion designer until 'Billy' was about seven years old. William Pène du Bois was born in Nutley, New Jersey.

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois