Cats Are Like That (A Holiday House Reader, Level 2) (Holiday House Readers Level 2) - Hardcover

Martha Weston was an author and illustrator of more than 60 children's books.

Her works include the illustrations for six new books in the famed Curious George series, the many adventures of a mischievous little monkey who first appeared as a children's favorite by Margret and H.A. Rey 60 years ago.

Ms. Weston illustrated children's books since 1975. Her first was "The I Hate Mathematics! Book," by Marilyn Burns, which is still in print, a rarity in the highly competitive industry nowadays. In 1981, she published "Peony's Rainbow," the first of 11 picture books that she also authored as well as illustrated.

Ms. Weston had developed a large group of friends in the children's book illustration field, and earned praise as a hard-working mother, a dedicated professional, and a source of creativity and inspiration to her peers. 

Ms. Weston's humor was offbeat, larky and often self-deprecating. One source of that humor was how she outwitted nature: she consistently produced beautiful, hand-colored illustrations despite being colorblind.

She compensated for her colorblindness by schooling herself in the technical details of how colors interact, by carefully labeling her paints and palette, and by relying on colleagues to check her work.

Ms. Weston was born in Asheville, N.C., and grew up in Ann Arbor, Mich. After graduating from the University of Michigan, she moved to San Francisco, began work as a freelance artist, and eventually settled in Fairfax, where she raised two children.

"For me," Ms. Weston wrote, "the best part of writing and illustrating is creating a world of my own -- generally a goofy one -- and feeling like I am stepping into it."

Ms. Weston died unexpectedly in 2003 of heart disease, she was 56.  She is survived by her husband, Richard, son, Charley, and daughter, Dory.