Paul Bransom was an American painter, cartoonist, and illustrator of animals. Born in Washington, D.C., as a child Bransom started sketching animals he saw in his backyard and at the National Zoo. In 1903 he moved to New York City, where he worked as a comic strip artist. His earliest commissions were illustrations for editions of Kipling's Just So Stories and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.
(source: wikipedia)