Lee Judah Ames is an illustrator and writer of children’s and how-to-draw books. He was born in New York City, and decided early in his childhood that becoming a book illustrator was the life for him. After high school, Ames was hired to work for Walt Disney. He later enlisted in the military and served as a second lieutenant during World War II.

Early on in his illustrating career, Lee J. Ames was selected over a list of well-recognized illustrators to illustrate Samuel Hopkins Adams' book, The Pony Express. From there, his career grew rapidly and he was hired on to do six more books in the series. He has completed many Westerns, biographies, Boy Scout books, Girl Scout books, textbooks, Golden Books, and how-to books. He has authored many of his own books, most of these being how-to-draw books.