Robin James

The “Serendipitous” Illustrator

Robin Irene James-Williams was born on September 24, 1954, in the Pacific Northwest. Raised by a family of artists, she displayed a love of creativity from the moment she could hold a pencil.

In the early 1970s, Stephen Cosgrove couldn’t find affordable, colorful, “wholesome,” easy-to-read paperback books for his three year-old daughter (not sure he was looking hard enough, but I digress). So, he proceeded to write one himself.

“I really liked the story I wrote,” he said, “which became Serendipity, the first book in the series. Within a few months, I had found Robin James to illustrate it, and sent it off to a big New York publisher. They liked the book, but thought the art was too colorful, and wanted to do it in duotone. So I said, ‘OK, then I’ll publish it myself.’ I found a printer, and Serendipity was off and running.”

In December of 1973, the first four Serendipity books, through Cosgrove’s nascent Serendipity Press, were released. Each book featured the art of a 19 year-old James.