Born in New Jersey, loves to travel and to work on books based on her worldwide journeys. "I try to portray the people and places of these countries to children in a sensitive, accurate, and educational way.
Attracted by the beauty of Montserrat, she moved to the small Caribbean island, which inspired My Little Island (HarperCollins). The first of many books written and illustrated by Fran
A number of her paintings are part of private collections worldwide and has exhibited her work in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and London. She studied at the New School for Social Research in New York City, the University of Southern California, and Ethnographic Film at UCLA in California.
In 2010 she was awarded The Muriel Barwell Award for Distinguished Service to Children's Literature.
Fran joins the National Year of Reading 2012 initiative as an ambassador for Western Australia.