Valerie Sokolova holds a BA in Graphic Arts and Illustration and an MA in Applied and Decorative Arts. She teaches design, typography and illustration at Kingsborough Community College (KCC). She is the Art Department advisor to Antheon, KCC's award-winning literary and arts magazine and the Art Club, through which she regularly brings illustrators, designers and other artists to speak to the student community about the variety of options in the arts that are available to them upon graduation. Prior to teaching at KCC, Valerie taught at Queensborough Community College and York College.

Outside of KCC, Valerie is an active illustrator and icon painting teacher. She has published more than 30 books in the U.S. and abroad and is especially passionate about illustrating storybooks for children. Her illustrations have been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Time Magazine for Kids, and Highlights. Her books include Bella Bassett Ballerina and Thankful Together. She is currently illustrating a children's book in Ukrainian. She regularly paints icons in the traditional Byzantine/Russian style and teaches icon painting at the Prosopon School of Iconology in New York City. In addition to her illustration, design, icon painting and teaching work, Valerie is an experienced antique restoration specialist and decorative theater artist.

Design 1	Art 55
Illustration	Art 68
Illustration Style	Art 69
Experimental Typography	Art 74
Designing with Type	Art 40

1983 –1987 State Institute of Theatre and Art M.A .in Applied and Decorative Arts	Minsk, Belarus
1981 – 1983 Ukrainian Polygraphic Institute B.A. in Graphic Arts and Illustration	Lviv, Ukraine

Picture Books

Estimated Spring of 2011 Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand, Zonderkids Publishing 

Estimated Spring of 2011 Jesus Raises Lazarus, Zonderkids Publishing

Estimated Spring of 2011 Joshua Crosses the Jordan River, Zonderkids Publishing

Estimated Spring of 2011 The Prodigal Son, Zonderkids Publishing

2007 Thankful Together, Standard Publishing

2005 Bella Basset Ballerina, Pretty Please Press

2004 The Magic of Merlin, Golden Books Publishing Company

2003 King Arthur’s Courage, Golden Books Publishing Company

2001 The Golden Books Treasury of Christmas Joy, Golden Books Publishing Company

Educational Books

2004 Baby Animals, Hampton Brown

2003 The Tooth Fairy Pays a Visit, Unibook

2002 The Elves and the Shoemaker, Rigby

2002 Cat in Boots, Harcourt

2000 The Goose Girl, Scott Foresman

2000 Eek, Squeak! A Leak! Celebration Press

Book Covers

2002 A Season in Dornoch, Simon & Schuster

1999 The Knight, the Harp and the Maiden, Warner Books

1999 The Long Road Home, Dell Publishing

1999 Mirror Image, Dell Publishing

1999 Bittersweet, Dell Publishing

Magazines

American Health, Angels, Clubhouse, Cricket, Grammy Awards, Guideposts, Highlights, Medical Economics, Penthouse, Rosie, Lady Bug, Focus on the Family, Baby Bug Magazine, Focus on the Family Magazine, Rosie Magazine, Time Magazine for Kids

Websites

www.childrensillustrators.com/valeriesokolova

www.wendylynn.com/artist.php?name=valeriesokolova

Illustrator of the Month - Highlights Magazine	Columbus, OH
Finalist - Society of Illustrators Self Portrait Competition	New York, NY

Skiing, billiards, storytelling