Author,
illustrator,
& creator

of wonderfully
peculiar worlds

Step Inside

My work begins with one strange little idea…*

and I follow it wherever
it wants to go.

Hand-painted illustration of a long leash and an ant attached to the other end

Featured Books

Two Many Birds’

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Featured Books

How to Walk an Ant’

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Featured Books

Vibhi and The Voice’

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Featured Books

Outside In’

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How to Walk an Ant by Cindy Derby, a playful picture book about learning to walk an ant.

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Outside In by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Cindy Derby, a picture book about a child’s connection to nature.

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Two Many Birds by Cindy Derby, a humorous picture book about a tree crowded with far too many birds.

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Vibhi and the Voice by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Cindy Derby, a picture book about finding beauty in darkness.
Cindy Derby seated in a vintage armchair, smiling and surrounded by whimsical hand-drawn characters. tilt-scroll

Why, hello folks!

I spend my days dreaming up picture books, making paintings, building strange little worlds, and following ideas that refuse to leave me alone. My background is in theater and puppetry, so I've always thought of books as tiny stages where curious characters get to come alive. I'm happiest when something unexpected happens along the way.

Read My Story

Featured In

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Explore the Worlds

From picture books and editorial illustration to paintings, sketchbooks, and personal projects, every collection begins with curiosity.

These are worlds built one strange idea at a time

Spread from Blurp’s Book of Manners by Cindy Derby, a humorous picture book about manners and an unruly creature.

Picture
Books

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Cindy Derby paints artwork at a desk with a watercolor palette and drawing materials.

Sketchbook & Process

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Cindy Derby stands behind a large handmade fish puppet character.

Puppet Theater

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  • "Derby's art makes you feel that everything is going to be okay. Even when it's weird. ESPECIALLY when it's weird."

    — Betsy Bird, School Library Journal

  • “[Derby’s] illustrations feel alive...mysterious and wonderfully out of control.'"

    — The New York Times

  • "There is something about Cindy Derby's brain and the way she tells her stories that make me happy she's making picture books."

    — Julie Danielson, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

  • "After your visit, my students wanted to let you know you reminded them of a dancing brontosaurus. Perhaps it's the whimsy that permeates so much of you and your work."

    — Elementary School Teacher

Bring a little wonder home’