MERCER MAYER received his first big break when a family friend gave him the names of some of the most reputable children's book editors. Mayer set out with a bag filled with his sketches and doodles, and luck was with him: he was asked to illustrate The Gillygoofang for The Dial Press and Outside My Window for Harper and Row. The first book that was truly his own was A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog (The Dial Press, 1967) followed by his classic picture book There's a Nightmare in My Closet a year later. In 1976, he joined Golden Publishing and soon began publishing his phenomenally successful Little Critter® and Little Monster® books.