Don Tate grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. He earned an AAA degree from Des Moines Area Community College. He has worked as a graphics reporter at the Des Moines Register and Austin American-Statesman newspapers, and as a publication designer for the Perfection Learning Corporation, an educational publishing company. In addition, he was the art director at an advertising and market research firm, and a graphic artist at a print shop. He also flipped burgers in high school and swept floors at the mall.

Don is the illustrator of many award-winning books, including The Cart That Carried Martin, Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite, Summer Sun Risin' (Lee & Low), and She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story (HarperCollins).

With the publication of It Jes' Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw, Don began a new career as a children's book author. He is also the author of The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch.

Don lives in Austin, Texas.

Visit Don online.

Books by Don Tate