Tony Chen was born January 3, 1929 in Kingston, Jamaica. He came to the United States in 1949 and attended the Art Career School, and graduated from Pratt Institute with a B.F.A. in 1955. Tony Chen has worked as an art director for Newsweek Magazine, and art instructor, painter, and sculptor. He is noted for his illustration of animal and nature books, two areas of personal interest. Tony Chen works with a variety of media, including watercolor, pen, tempera, and acrylic exhibiting his art in Galleries throughout New York City.

Throughout his long career as an artist, Tony Chen has illustrated many books for various authors that cover a wide variety of subjects, including Bible stories, folk tales, and non-fiction. Chen worked as a graphic designer and illustrator, as Art Director for Newsweek (1961-1972), and as Art Instructor at Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York (1972-1973). His first children's book, Too Many Crackers, was published in 1962. Chen has received numerous honors and awards including the Children's Book Showcase in 1972 for Honschi and in 1976 for About Owls. He won the Jane Addams Award for The Princess and the Admiral in 1975.

Tony Chen also writes poems, one of which, "A Question," was published in an anthology of American poetry called Timeless Voices opposite a poem by Carl Sandburg. Chen's interest in drawing and painting began when he was six years old and his uncle gave him a set of water colors. This interest was kept alive by his next door neighbor, a handicapped boy, who was also an artist. As a Boy Scout, Chen was troop artist and began drawing animals and landscapes, subjects he still paints today. Having illustrated more than twenty 20 books, he believes that the American people should discover art in order to develop self-discipline and to cultivate inner peace. He believes that one who appreciates art has reverence both for life and for the achievement of mankind, past and present.