Cooper is the author of the memoirs ''Falling: A Daughter, a Father, and a Journey Back'', ''ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool: A Year in an American High School'', and ''Crawling: A Father's First Year'', and several sketchbooks.
Children's books include ''8: An Animal Alphabet, Train,'' ''Farm'', ''Homer'', ''Beaver Is Lost'', ''Ice Cream'', ''Ballpark'', ''Building'', ''Dance!'', ''Magic Thinks Big'', ''A Good Night Walk'', and ''Beach''.
''Dance!'' was a ''New York Times'' Ten Best Illustrated winner in 2001. ''Beach'' was a Society of Illustrators Gold Medal best illustrated book of the year in 2006. A ''New York Times Book Review'' said of ''Magic Thinks Big'', "Elisha Cooper's watercolors, like his sentences, are simple and quiet and essentially perfect." His book ''Big Cat, Little Cat'' was a Caldecott Honor book in 2018. ''River'' won the [https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=the-2020-robin-smith-picture-book-prize Robin Smith Picture Book Prize] in 2020.
He currently lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.
