Maira Kalman is an American artist, illustrator, writer, and designer known for her painting and writing about the human condition.

[2] She is the author and illustrator of over 30 books for adults and children and her work is exhibited in museums around the world.

[9][11] M & Co. created work for Interview magazine, Restaurant Florent, the band Talking Heads, the National Audubon Society, and the Museum of Modern Art.

Her first children's book, Stay Up Late (1985), featured illustrations paired lyrics of musician David Byrne.

[14] After Tibor passed in 1999, Maira Kalman began creatively asserting herself, writing more than 20 books over the years.

Over the course of her career, Kalman has written a series of children's books about Max Stravinsky, the poet-dog.

[16] She created the sets for the Mark Morris Dance Group production of Four Saints in Three Acts, an opera by Virgil Thompson and Gertrude Stein.

Most notably, Kalman collaborated with Rick Meyerowitz for The New Yorker December 2001 cover, called New Yorkistan.

[23] During 2009, Kalman wrote another illustrated blog in The New York Times called And the Pursuit of Happiness about American democracy.

Kalman's work is also featured on Rosenbach Museum and Library's 21st Century Abe project.

Kalman crafted the illustrations for author Daniel Handler's Lemony Snicket series including the books, 13 Words (2010) and Why We Broke Up (2011).

The two went on to collaborate on a illustrated book, Girls Standing on Lawns, published in 2014 by The Museum of Modern Art.

From November 2019 to April 2020, Kalman's publications were exhibited at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts.

[38] Kalman's mother, Sara Berman, was the early source to her inspiration behind storytelling and book reading.

"[5] Sara Berman's Closet also became a memoir that Kalman and her son worked on in dedication to their loved family member.