Michael Paraskevas (born 1961)[1] is an American illustrator, cartoonist, and animation producer best known for co-creating along with his mother Betty in the Canadian animated children's television series Maggie and the Ferocious Beast.[2] The show was based on the 1996 book The Ferocious Beast with the Polka-Dot Hide and its sequels, all of which were also created by the Paraskevases.[3] Together, they authored 20 children's books.[4] and created three animated series: Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse, and The Kids from Room 402. They also produced and created The Tangerine Bear as a direct-to-video Christmas special.
Paraskevas graduated from the School of Visual Arts[1] (SVA) in 1984. Studying illustration and journalism, he received his MFA from SVA in 1986.[5]
The Paraskevas strip Junior Kroll ran weekly for ten years in Dan's Papers in Bridgehampton and New York. Junior Kroll also ran as a monthly feature for five years in United Airlines' Hemispheres magazine. Paraskevas's Green Monkeys is currently running in Dan's Papers as a weekly comic strip and is soon to be syndicated.[citation needed]
Until her death in 2010, Betty and Michael owned and operate The Paraskevas Gallery in Westhampton Beach.[1]
Bibliography
With Betty Paraskevas, unless otherwise noted
On the Edge of the Sea (Dial Books, 1992)
Junior Kroll (HMH Books for Young Readers, 1993)
Shamlanders (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1993)
The Strawberry Dog (Dial Books, 1993)
Junior Kroll and Company (Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994)
A Very Kroll Christmas (Harcourt Childrens Books, 1994)
