PAUL GIAMBARBA began The Scrimshaw Press in 1965 to make available abundantly illustrated original material in quality paperbacks at modest prices. His mission: to write and illustrate books that would interest young readers in the world around them.

Giambarba received his training as an illustrator from Harold Irving Smith, a pupil of the great painter and teacher, Robert Henri (1865-1929). As a designer for Polaroid Corporation, Tonka Toys, and others, he won many awards and international recognition for his work. He is also the author and illustrator of at least 18 titles published by The Scrimshaw Press; Atlantic/Little, Brown; Houghton Mifflin; Doubleday, and others.

For over ten years he was a weekly contributor to Scholastic Magazines publications for third and fourth-graders. Articles about him and his Scrimshaw Press have appeared in American Artist and Horn Book magazine. He has lived and worked on Cape Cod since 1960. He was a Senior AmeriCorps volunteer working with Cape town departments of natural resources and Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge.