Geoffrey Hayes was a popular children’s book illustrator and cartoonist who created over 50 children’s books during his lifetime.

Hayes was born on December 3, 1947, in Pasadena, California. Growing up, Hayes and his younger brother, underground cartoonist Rory Hayes, loved pop culture and comic books. Fueled by their mother’s encouragement, they published dozens of homemade comics. All throughout their teens they continued to make comics, homemade movies, and later, fanzines. After finishing high school, Hayes moved to New York to further pursue a career as an illustrator and cartoonist. During this time, he contributed to a few underground comix including Bogeyman and Arcade.

Eventually, Hayes began working full-time as a children’s author-illustrator for various publishers, like Toon Books, Knopf, HarperCollins, Hyperion, Random House, and others. His popular works include Bear By Himself, The Alligator and His Uncle Tooth, Patrick Takes A Bath, The Mystery of the Pirate Ghost, The Secret of Foghorn Island, The Ants Go Marching, Patrick and the Big Bully, Benny and Penny in Just Pretend, Benny and Penny: The Big No-No!, Benny and Penny in The Toy Breaker, Patrick in a Teddy Bear's Picnic, Benny and Penny in Lost and Found, Benny and Penny in How to Say Goodbye, and Lovo and the Firewolf.

In 2010, Benny and Penny: The Big No-No! received the prestigious Theodor Seuss Geisel Award from the American Library Association for the most distinguished book for beginning readers – the first for a comic.