As an illustrator he has won three Caldecott Medals recognizing the year's "most distinguished American picture book for children"[1] and he was one of five finalists in 2008 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest recognition available for creators of children's books.

[2] Wiesner was born and raised in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, and attended Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

He graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration.

[1] Free Fall was the first example of the predominant style of his solo books, which tell a fantastical, often dream-like story without words, only illustrations.

Subsequently he won three Caldecott Medals for solo picture books—Tuesday (1991), The Three Pigs (2001), and Flotsam (2006)—and he was one of the runners-up for Sector 7 (1999) and Mr. Wuffles!