Our Team
Tish Rabe, Author and Publisher
Tish Rabe (Robby) is a bestselling children’s book author, singer/songwriter and Emmy Award winning television producer. She has written over 180 books for Sesame Street, Disney, Curious George, Clifford, Blue’s Clues and many more. After the death of Dr. Seuss, she was selected to write “The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library” a series of science books for early readers with over 8 million copies sold to date. Her book “There’s No Place Like Space” is on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller list every year. She has also written children’s songs for broadcast on Fox KIDS, Nickelodeon and PBS Kids and has been an Animation Head Writer for Scholastic Entertainment and HBO Family.
Alan Smagler, Director of Sales
Alan’s 40-year career includes working for a number of publishing companies, where most recently he successfully led the domestic sales force at Scholastic to record breaking revenues, directing the sales and distribution of major properties such as Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. Over more than 15 years with the company, he helped found and led the Trade Advocacy Group at Scholastic, tasked with providing the company with tools & resources, enrichment, and morale enhancement, with a specific focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. He has also served as advisor and mentor for the Scholastic Trade Mentorship Committee.
Jennifer A. Perry, Executive Editor
Jennifer has spent her career creating educational resources and experiences for all ages as a publisher, editor, museum educator, nonprofit consultant and teacher. She is currently Director of Audiobooks at Barnes & Noble. Jennifer was Vice President and Publisher at Sesame Street, where she was responsible for creating thousands of books and other educational media resources with worldwide licensing partners. She was Editorial Director for Scholastic, and is the Founder and Executive Director of PEP Consulting, which helps education-focused organizations develop and distribute high-quality content including books, apps, video, curriculum and more for kids and families. She has a Master’s degree from the Winterthur Museum Program.
Jowill Woodman, Art Director
Jowill Woodman art directs and designs all the children’s books, promotional, marketing, and sales materials for Tish Rabe Books. He established Woodman Creative after honing his strategy and design skills with commercial clients. His focus is now on organizations, like Sesame Workshop, Boys & Girls Club, Prospect Park Alliance, and initiatives that lift up families and communities. Awards for design excellence include the CTAM Silver Mark, Print Award, BMA ACE, GDUSA, and PBS Best Promotion.
Gill Guile, Illustrator
Gill Guile is an award-winning illustrator who has written over 50 children’s books and illustrated over 600 which have been published in 24 countries for HarperCollins, Scholastic, Little Tiger Press, Igloo Books, Brown Watson and Kidsbooks. Tish and Gill met while creating the popular Huff and Puff books for HarperCollins. Gill’s breathtaking, hand painted illustrations are also featured in Sweet Dreams Ahead Time for Bed, a gentle storybook and lullaby that helps children get to sleep and Read to Me! a little booklet that encourages parents, grandparents, teachers and caregivers to read to their children produced by Tish Rabe Books. Gill lives in England and received a first class honors degree in Graphic Design from Birmingham College of Art.