Featured Author

Born April 16, 1912 in New York, New York
Died May 8, 1996 in Marfil, Mexico

Garth Williams (booklist) was an American illustrator and children's book author whose hey-day was in the forties and fifties but whose full range of work stretched over fifty years. He illustrated some of the most famous books of the 1950's. Despite the popularity, enduring appeal and wide range of his work, he inexplicably never won any of the major children's illustration prizes.

Reading might be likened to an opening flower in Spring. First you see the bud then the bloom then the full flowering. The work of Garth Williams serves as an exemplar of this.

A child's first picture books are studied with an intensity and narrow focus rarely recaptured in later years. Children often see things an adult never sees in a picture and invest that image with a power that passes completely beyond the attention of an adult. For all the intensity of their concentration, or perhaps because of that concentration, children are often not initially all that adapt at making connections between books. They might know what kind of story they like or what type of illustration, but it is an exceptional child that keys in on and recognizes that the author that wrote this book, also wrote that one or that the painter that did the illustrations for this book also did the ones for that book.

Later, when grown, that same child, now reading as an adult to their children, finds things in these books and across books that they missed the first time around. As a child I know I was exposed to the illustrations of Garth Williams (though I did not register it then) because I know which books I loved. When, as an adult, I then read those favorites to my children, I realized just how many of these books were illustrated by Garth Williams. If you had asked me to speculate about Williams and his life story, I would have guessed that he was quintessentially American, grew up in the Midwest and lived a quiet, unexceptional and productive life. To paraphrase Meat Loaf though, 'One out of three ain't bad.'

When researching this essay, I discovered that my blind assumptions about Williams' background could not have been more in error. He lived quite an eclectic and itinerant life. Williams was born in 1912 in New York City to English parents, both of whom were artists and he was raised in a very artistic environment: "Everybody in my house was always either painting or drawing." This over-familiarity with the artistic process was not a uniformly positive thing. Williams related one incident from his early childhood:

One day my father left his studio door open. I entered and found a pile of drawings he had ready to take to New York. I spent a long time looking at them and adding my art to them. I was not punished. 'I'm afraid he's going to be an artist,' my father said and removed my additions.

Williams' early years were spent on a farm in New Jersey. It was during these years that his fascination with animals, who were to later be the subject of most of his illustrations, blossomed. He later recalled this idyllic period.

I remember well most of those early years spent in New Jersey, especially when I was taken by the farmer, our landlord, on his lap to go harrowing or plowing. Or when we went driving out in his two-wheel buggy to Peterson or the Passaic River, crunching along a gravel road or splashing through puddles. I was a typical Huckleberry Finn, roaming barefoot around the farm, watching the farmer milk the cows by hand, or do his other shores.

Around 1917, Williams' parents moved to Canada where his mother was the arts mistress for a girl's finishing school in Ontario. In 1922, the family returned to Britain for Williams' education. He attended various private schools. Initially, Williams was most interested in becoming an architect, a long standing interest. As he approached his maturity, however, the world was plunged into the Great Depression and Williams decided that there appeared to be no demand whatsoever for architects so instead he entered the Westminster School of Art, graduating on to the Royal College of Art. He initially established a reputation as a portraitist and this, in turn, led to a focus on sculpture.

Graduating in 1934, Williams worked for a year as the headmaster of Luton Art School. He left this position and, in a feat of very fine timing, managed to win the British Prix de Rome for a sculpture. The prize was a two year scholarship to study art in Italy and Europe.

It was during these studies and travels that Williams met his first wife. Ultimately Williams married four times, having six children from these marriages.

Residing in Britain at the beginning of World War II, Williams sent his wife and their child to Canada and initially served as a part of the St. John's Ambulance Organization, rescuing people and recovering bodies from the wreckage of the bombing raids on London. Following a near miss by a bomb which badly damaged his spine, Williams returned to the US and New York.

With a peripatetic career of academic studies, teaching, sculpture and further studies, Williams had no clear path forward. He sought to become a cartoonist at the New Yorker magazine and did have a small selection of his work published. It was through this avenue that he became known to Katherine and E.B. White, both of The New Yorker. Simultaneously he pursued illustration opportunities with the big publishing houses. He approached the famous children's books editor Ursula Nordstrom at Harper & Row with his portfolio. She indicated that she was expecting a new manuscript shortly from one of her authors and that Williams was welcome to tryout some illustrations for that when she received it. When she did receive the manuscript from her author, E.B. White, he had already appended a note to it, "Try Garth Williams". Through this serendipitous turn of events, Williams was launched into a career illustrating children's books. The enduring classic, Stuart Little by E.B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams, appeared in 1945.

Williams had an astonishing run as a children's book illustrator, a career into which he happened to fall and which he apparently always regarded as a means to an end: the financial support of his lifestyle and his other artistic activities. He was the original, and still the iconic illustrator of those two masterpieces of children's literature by E.B. White, Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web. Though not the original illustrator of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series of books, he was commissioned to illustrate the full series of eight books and it is his work that has become the fixed version which most people encounter. Williams' work has occasionally been likened to that of two British artists, John Tenniel and E.H. Shepard, which is somewhat ironic. Both Tenniel and Shepard are in turn, forever linked with two sets of works: Tenniel with Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Shepard with Milne's Winnie the Pooh. I say ironic because, had he only illustrated one set of classics, Williams might possibly be better known. Instead he illustrated one classic after another.

Beyond illustrating Stuart Little , Charlotte's Web, and the Little House books, Williams worked closely with other major authors of the period including most notably Margaret Wise Brown (including some of her most popular titles, Little Fur Family; Wait Till the Moon is Full; Mister Dog, the Dog Who Belonged to Himself; and The Sailor Dog), Charlotte Zolotow, Randall Jarrell, Else H. Minarik, Margery Sharp (the Miss Bianca series) and George Selden (including his classic series, The Cricket in Times Square). In addition to working with others, in the early 1950's Williams also authored and illustrated a series of lightweight but popular picture books for very young readers which included Baby Animals, Baby Farm Animals, The Golden Animal ABC, Baby's First Book, and The Rabbits' Wedding. Given the number of books he illustrated (nearly one hundred) and the prominence of the authors with whom he worked, it would be difficult to emerge from a reading childhood in the US without having comes across Williams' work at least once, whether you knew it or not.

Nearly half, or forty-eight, of all Garth's books were created in the first fifteen years of his career. There was a material drop in the number of books he produced in the sixties and especially in the seventies, eighties and nineties, but he kept on illustrating.

A seminal project in the early nineteen fifties was the commission to illustrate Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series. Williams' travelled out to Missouri to meet and visit with Wilder and then travelled all across the Midwest visiting sites mentioned in Wilder's books and interviewing old neighbors. As Williams described it in an interview with Horn Book;

(We) set out by car, drove through the Smokies and reached Mansfield, Missouri, ten days later. Mrs. Wilder was working in her garden when we arrived and was without any doubt the Laura of her books. She was small and nimble. Her eyes sparkled with good humor and she seemed a good twenty years younger than her age.

Illustrating books is not just making pictures of the houses, the people and the articles mentioned by an author; the artist has to see everything with the same eyes. For example, an architect would have described the sod house on the bank of Plum Creek as extremely primitive, unhealthy and undesirable . . . But to Laura's fresh young eyes it was a pleasant house, surrounded by flowers and with the music of a running stream and rustling leaves.

She understood the meaning of hardship and struggle, of joy and work, of shyness and bravery. She was never overcome by drabness or squalor. She never glamorized anything; yet she saw the loveliness in everything. This was the way the illustrator had to follow – no glamorizing for him either; no giving everyone a permanent wave

Williams' style of illustration varied in emphasis with the circumstances of each author and the nature of the stories but there is an underlying style that is recognizable. He worked in ink and full color washes for the picture books for young children and in pen and ink for the longer works for independent readers such as Charlotte's Web. Williams loved drawing animals as opposed to people and in fact hesitated over the Little House project owing to the greater number of people in those stories as opposed to the books he was accustomed to illustrating which most often were solely or substantially based on animals. There is a soft furry attractive nature to his animal characterizations and he is a master of imparting a human expression on an animal's face without it being anything other than the animal it is supposed to be.

In the last thirty-five years of his life, Williams continued illustrating books, publishing about a half dozen titles a year or so. He purchased land in Mexico and rebuilt an old Spanish ruin there and divided his time between San Antonio and Mexico. He passed away on May 8th, 1996.


Picture Books

	The Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	Wait Till the Moon Is Full by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	Mister Dog by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams Recommended
	Baby Animals by Garth Williams Recommended
	Baby Farm Animals by Garth Williams Recommendation
	Baby's First Book by Garth Williams Recommended
	Home for a Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams Recommended
	My First Counting Book by Lilian Moore and illustrated by Garth Williams Recommended
	Over and Over by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Garth Williams Recommended
	The Sailor Dog by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	The Kitten Who Thought He Was a Mouse by Miriam Norton and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	Rabbits-Wedding by Garth Williams Suggested
	A Tale of Tails by Elizabeth H. MacPherson and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	Amigo by Byrd Baylor and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies by Jane Werner and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	Ride a Purple Pelican by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	Beneath a Blue Umbrella by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	Winter Days in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested

Independent Readers

	Charlotte's Web by E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Highly Recommended
	Stuart Little by E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams Recommended
	These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Recommended
	The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden and illustrated by Garth Williams Recommended
	The Gingerbread Rabbit by Randall Jarrell and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride by George Selden and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse by George Selden and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested
	A Little House Christmas Treasury by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams Suggested

Garth Williams' Bibliography
Stuart Little written by E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams 1945
Little Fur Family written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1946
The Great White Hills of New Hampshire written by Ernest Poole and illustrated by Garth Williams 1946
In Our Town written by Damon Runyon and illustrated by Garth Williams 1946
The Chicken Book: A Traditional Rhyme written and illustrated by Garth Williams 1946
Every Month Was May written by Evelyn S. Eaton and illustrated by Garth Williams 1947
The Golden Sleepy Book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1948
Wait till the Moon Is Full written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1948
Robin Hood written by Henry Gilbert and illustrated by Garth Williams 1948
Tiny Library Volume 1 written by Dorothy Kunhardt and illustrated by Garth Williams 1948
Flossie and Bossie written by Eva LeGallienne and illustrated by Garth Williams 1948
Tiny Library Volume 2 written by Dorothy Kunhardt and illustrated by Garth Williams 1949
The Tall Book of Make-Believe written by Jane Werner Watson and illustrated by Garth Williams 1950
Elves and Fairies (anthology) written by Jane Werner Watson and illustrated by Garth Williams 1951
The Adventures of Benjamin Pink written and illustrated by Garth Williams 1951
Mister Dog, the Dog Who Belonged to Himself written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1952
Charlotte's Web written by E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams 1952
Baby Animals written and illustrated by Garth Williams 1952
My Bedtime Book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
The Sailor Dog written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
Animal Friends written by Jane Werner Watson and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
Little House in the Big Woods written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
Little House on the Prairie written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
Farmer Boy written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
The Long Winter written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
By the Shores of Silver Lake written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
Little Town on the Prairie written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
On the Banks of Plum Creek written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
These Happy Golden Years written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
Baby Farm Animals written and illustrated by Garth Williams 1953
The Friendly Book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1954
The Kitten Who Thought He Was a Mouse written by Miriam Norton and illustrated by Garth Williams 1954
The Golden Animal ABC written and illustrated by Garth Williams 1954
The Golden Name Day written by Jennie D. Lindquist and illustrated by Garth Williams 1955
Baby's First Book written and illustrated by Garth Williams 1955
Home for a Bunny written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1956
Three Little Animals written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1956
My First Counting Book written by Lilian Moore and illustrated by Garth Williams 1956
The Happy Orpheline written by Natalie Savage Carlson and illustrated by Garth Williams 1957
Over and Over written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Garth Williams 1957
Three Bedtime Stories: "The Three Little Kittens," "The Three Bears," and "The Three Little Pigs," written by Anonymous and illustrated by Garth Williams 1958
The Family under the Bridge written by Natalie Savage Carlson and illustrated by Garth Williams 1958
The Rabbits' Wedding written and illustrated by Garth Williams 1958
Do You Know What I'll Do? written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Garth Williams 1958
A Brother for the Orphelines written by Natalie Savage Carlson and illustrated by Garth Williams 1959
The Little Silver House written by Jennie D. Lindquist and illustrated by Garth Williams 1959
The Rescuers written by Margery Sharp and illustrated by Garth Williams 1959
Emmett's Pig written by Mary Stolz and illustrated by Garth Williams 1959
Bedtime for Frances written by Russell Hoban and illustrated by Garth Williams 1960
The Cricket in Times Square written by George Selden and illustrated by Garth Williams 1960
A Tale of Tails written by Elizabeth H. MacPherson and illustrated by Garth Williams 1962
Miss Bianca written by Margery Sharp and illustrated by Garth Williams 1962
The Little Giant Girl and the Elf Boy written by Else H. Minarik and illustrated by Garth Williams 1963
Amigo written by Byrd Baylor Schweitzer and illustrated by Garth Williams 1963
The Turret written by Margery Sharp and illustrated by Garth Williams 1963
The Elves and Fairies Book written by Jane Werner and illustrated by Garth Williams 1963
The Sky Was Blue written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Garth Williams 1963
Bread-and-Butter Indian written by Anne Colver and illustrated by Garth Williams 1964
The Gingerbread Rabbit written by Randall Jarrell and illustrated by Garth Williams 1964
The Sailor Dog and Other Stories written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1965
The Whispering Rabbit and Other Stories written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1965
Miss Bianca in the Salt Mines written by Margery Sharp and illustrated by Garth Williams 1966
A Horn Book Calendar in Honor of Laura Ingalls Wilder written by Anonymous and illustrated by Garth Williams 1968
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook: Favorite Songs from the "Little House" Books written by Eugenia Garson and illustrated by Garth Williams 1968
Push Kitty written by Jan Wahl and illustrated by Garth Williams 1968
Tucker's Countryside written by GeorgeSelden and illustrated by Garth Williams 1969
Bread-and-Butter Journey written by Anne Colver and illustrated by Garth Williams 1970
The First Four Years written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1971
Lucky Mrs. Ticklefeather and Other Funny Stories written by D. Kunhardt and illustrated by Garth Williams 1973
Harry Cat's Pet Puppy written by GeorgeSelden and illustrated by Garth Williams 1974
Fox Eyes written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams 1977
The Little House Cookbook: Recipes for a Pioneer Kitchen written by Barbara M. Walker and illustrated by Garth Williams 1979
The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories written by Barbara M. Walker and illustrated by Garth Williams 1979
Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride written by GeorgeSelden and illustrated by Garth Williams 1981
Chester Cricket's New Home written by GeorgeSelden and illustrated by Garth Williams 1983
The Little House Diary written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1985
Ride a Purple Pelican written by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Garth Williams 1986
Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse written by GeorgeSelden and illustrated by Garth Williams 1986
The Old Meadow written by GeorgeSelden and illustrated by Garth Williams 1987
The Children's Books of Randall Jarrell written by Jerome Griswold and illustrated by Garth Williams 1988
Beneath a Blue Umbrella written by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Garth Williams 1990
King Emmett the Second written by Mary Stolz and illustrated by Garth Williams 1991
J.B.'s Harmonica written by John Sebastian and illustrated by Garth Williams 1993
The Little House Trivia Book written by Carolyn Strom Collins and illustrated by Garth Williams 1996
A Little House Christmas: Holiday Stories from the House Books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1997
Little House Sisters: Collected Stories from the Little House Books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams 1997
Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies with Assorted Pixies, Mermaids, Brownies, Witches, and Leprechauns written by Jane Warner and illustrated by Garth Williams 1999
Salutations: Wit and Wisdom from Charlotte's Web written by E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams 1999 Inside Laura's Little House written by Carolyn Strom Collins and illustrated by Garth Williams 2000
The World of Little House written by Carolyn Strom Collins and illustrated by Garth Williams 2000
A Garth Williams Treasury of Best Loved Golden Books written and illustrated by Garth Williams 2001
Self-Portrait: Garth Williams written and illustrated by Garth Williams
Winter Days in the Big Woods written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams

Born December 22, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jerry Pinkney (see booklist) is an American children's book illustrator noted for his illustration of African-American stories. His father was a carpenter and his mother, a home-maker. Pinkney was the fourth of six children. He has, in turn, become the patriarch of an artistic family with his wife (an author), son (illustrator), son (photography illustrating children's books), and daughter-in-law (children's book author) all pursuing careers in art, writing, or illustration; sometimes in collaboration with Jerry Pinkney and sometimes on their own.

Pinkney had an average academic career in school but found that he had a real talent for drawing for which he found good use. In fact, as he relates in Junior Authors and Illustrators, his drawing led to a pivotal event in his childhood:

I worked at a local newspaper stand and always took along my sketch pad and pencils to draw the store display windows and the people passing by. One day, the cartoonist John Liney saw me drawing and invited me to his studio. He gave me supplies and introduced me to the possibility of making a living at drawing and inspired me as a young artist.

Graduating high school, Pinkney briefly attended Dobbins Vocational School where he met his future wife, Gloria Maultsby. Obtaining a scholarship, Pinkey then attended the Philadelphia Museum College of Art.

Pinkney began his career, using his drawing talents and skills, by taking a position in Boston with the Rustcraft Greeting Card Company. From there he moved to Barker-Black Studio working as an illustrator and it was here that, in 1966, he illustrated his first children's book, an African folktale, The Adventures of Spider by Joyce Arkhurst.

He subsequently left Barker-Black and formed an independent studio, Kaleidoscope Studio, with a number of friends. In 1971, however, he struck out on his own, moving his wife and four children to Croton-on-Hudson near New York City. Initially he focused on profitable work in the advertising industry but through the 1970's he spent more and more time illustrating books. In addition he also produced posters and calendars, illustrated magazine articles, and stamps for the US government. By the mid-1980's he was also working as a visiting art professor at various universities.

Pinkney's art work usually consists of energetic water colors with a fairly muted palette. His approach is to research a book, its setting, the historical period, etc and then to produce in outline some initial sketches. Reviewing these initial sketches with the author and publisher he then produces a more finished set of sketches and colors following the flow of the story before he then produces a final set of illustrations. He illustrated the Newbery Medal winner of 1977, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. He has also won three Caldecott Honor awards (for John Henry, Mirandy and Brother Wind, and for The Talking Eggs); five Coretta Scott King illustrator awards (Goin' Someplace Special, Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, Mirandy and Brother Wind, Half a Moon and One Whole Star, and The Patchwork Quilt) and three honor awards for the illustrations of various books (God Bless the Child, The Talking Eggs, and Count on Your Fingers African Style).

In writing about Pinkney, it is difficult to circumvent an issue that attaches to much of modern children's literature of the past twenty or thirty years. That is the issue of agenda-driven didactic books, not written so much to entertain children as to instruct them or to advance a particular view; social, political, or otherwise. While a very few of these books do rise to the level of entertainment, it does call to mind Dr. Johnson's remark about a dog walking on its hind legs: "It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

I would hope it to not be a controversial position to suggest that it is natural for any parent to desire to have books which reinforce a particular world view to their children and that that world view might encompass not only their own values but race as well. This is of course not a particularly significant issue for white Americans as children's literature has historically been primarily a product of countries and cultures that are racially white. The product of some two or three hundred years of children's books from these cultures means that effectively the default probability of any children's book is that the protagonist and most, if not all, the characters will be white. It is important to emphasize that this is on average as there are a large number of exceptions.

For African-American parents, wanting to have good books that reinforce not just values but also a sense of identity in racial terms, the pickings are dramatically slimmer and complicated by the existence of "identity politics," the practice of trying to ascribe certain characteristics or needs to some group, usually in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. The practice of identity politics tends towards efforts to put forward a particular message of group interests (over individual worth) and frequently reinforces an us-versus-them perspective. Strident didacticism and divisiveness are often a consequence.

The philosophical moorings, political efficiency, and coherence of identity politics are not the subject of this essay other than to the extent to which it impinges on children's books. The extreme practitioners of identity politics usually manifest their concerns, as they relate to children's books, around three actions: 1) a desire to increase the number of books representing the targeted group, 2) attempts to ban or bowdlerize books seen as inconsistent with the desired message regarding the targeted group, and 3) efforts to "authenticate" books based on whether the author shares the targeted characteristic. In other words, only African-Americans can authentically write about the African-American experience, only Native-Americans can authentically write about the Native-American experience, only women can write authentically about women's experiences, etc.

This is a profound rejection of some of our core cultural values arising from the Age of Reason and Age of Enlightenment during which we moved away from sectarian and ethnic profiling (and all the tragic wars, pogroms, and conflicts that arose from that targeting) and put the emphasis on individual merit within the context of political and legal systems that extended the same protections to all citizens. There is no place, we believe, for book banning, bowdlerization or the "authenticating" of authors.

This extreme version of identity politics also repudiates one of the central tenets which we share at Through the Magic Door, a belief that one of the profound benefits of reading is the cultivation of imagination and empathy. It is through fine story-telling that children reach beyond their immediate circumstances and develop fellow-feeling for others. It is a rich world where our first literary friends from India are Kim or Mowgli; from China, the poor Emperor and his nightingale, and from Persia, Scheherazade.

This is a long way around to the end objective of affirming that the increase in volume of books allowing children to self-identify whether by race or religion or ethnicity is a wonderful thing if it means an increase in gripping, well-told stories with which all children, (regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity), will be enchanted. The challenge is to identify those great stories that are going to appeal to all children while steering clear of the didactic, the victim-mongering, the pandering, and the divisive. Slowly, we are beginning to build up a reservoir of books which, with an African-American protagonist, tell a story appealing to everyone and whom might be admired by any child: stories such as Pappy's Handkerchief, Casey Jones's Fireman - The Story of Sim Webb, Jackie and Me and of course John Henry. Jerry Pinkney has been in the vanguard of creating this new population of great stories that appeal to all.

Pinkney was in the right place at the right time as a talented artist in the 1960's and 1970's when publishers began seeking to address the emerging African-American market. He has been very creative over time in illustrating a variety of books, almost all of whom have African-American or children of color protagonists.

Pinkney has not only been creative but bold as well. This is new ground - how do you reinforce a national culture with common folktales and cultural literacy while at the same time, "customizing" the portrayal of those stories in such a way that they can appeal to particular racial, ethnic or religious demographics? It is not an easy path to blaze, but Pinkney was one of the first.

His early efforts concentrated on illustrating retellings of European and other world folktales but with children of color as the protagonists. Sometimes this works easily and well. Sometimes it is a little bit more challenging as with The Little Match Girl. It is like an experience I had many years ago when I attended a musical, The Wiz, a rendition of The Wizard of Oz with an all black cast. I found the musical entertaining, but had a hard time disengaging in a process of comparing it to the actual books and to the traditional movie and play version of The Wizard of Oz. Another example of the challenge here is that of his rendition of Hans Christian Andersen's story, The Nightingale. In the original, you have a story written for European children about a Chinese emperor. In this version, you have the tale set in Morocco with a black Emir. It works, but you lose an important element from the original. It is a little like transplanting a shrub from one part of the garden to another, sometimes the plant does better, sometimes not so well. In sum, these retellings work and I think it is wonderful that African-American parents have these critical folktales (The Ugly Duckling, Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Match Girl, The Nightingale and others) available to their children.

Pinkney has also done many other folktales and other stories from around the world such as The Jungle Book, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, The Adventure of Spiders, and others. He has had a shot at a retelling of Little Black Sambo, a charming but much maligned and willfully misrepresented tale from India. Pinkney's version, a retelling by Julius Lester, Sam and the Tigers, would be appropriate if you particularly like Pinkney's artwork. There is another version which I think to be a better bowdlerization, The Story of Little Babaji, which keeps Helen Bannerman's original text intact (with all its beautiful cadences and rhythms) save for the new illustrations by Fred Marcellino and the renaming of the protagonist and his parents.

Where I think Pinkney really hit his stride, though, and has made the greatest contribution, is in illustrating vignettes from African-American history (such as Home Place; Tanya's Reunion; The Patchwork Quilt; Minty; The Black Cowboy, Wild Horses; and others) and from African-American folktales (Uncle Remus, The Tales of Uncle Remus, The Talking Eggs, and best of all, John Henry). These are books that stand-out as books for all children - stories for everyone and in which race is just part of the background of the story: relevant but not necessarily the central focus. Many of these titles are part of sequence of a long lasting collaboration with the writer Julius Lester.

Try some of these books by Pinkney - I think you and your children will enjoy them.

Picture Books

	The Tales of Uncle Remus by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Highly Recommended
	The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Highly Recommended
	The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Recommended
	John Henry by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Recommended
	Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Recommended
	Goin' Someplace Special by Pat McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	The Adventures of Spider by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Song of the Trees by Mildred D. Taylor and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Childtimes by Eloise Greenfield and Lessie Jones Little and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Mirandy and Brother Wind by Pat McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Home Place by Crescent Dragonwagon and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Pretend You're a Cat by Jean Marzollo and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Drylongso by Virginia Hamilton and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Back Home by Gloria Jean Pinkney and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	The Sunday Outing by Gloria Jean Pinkney and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Tanya's Reunion by Valerie Flournoy and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Sam and the Tigers by Julius Lester and Helen Bannerman and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Minty by Alan Schroeder and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Black Cowboy, Wild Horses by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	New Shoes for Silvia by Johanna Hurwitz and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Noah's Ark written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	God Bless the Child by Arthur Herzog and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Ain't Nobody a Stranger to Me by Ann Grifalconi and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll by Pat McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Little Red Riding Hood written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested

Independent Readers

	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Uncle Remus by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested
	Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney Suggested

Jerry Pinkney's Bibliography

The Adventures of Spider: West African Folk Tales written by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1964
This Is Music written by Adeline McCall and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1965
The Traveling Frog written by V. Mikhailovich Garshin and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1966
Folktales and Fairytales of Africa written by Lila Green and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1967
The Clock Museum written by Ken Sobol and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1967
Even Tiny Ants Must Sleep written by Harold J. Saleh and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1967
The Beautiful Blue Jay, and Other Tales of India written by John W. Spellman and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1967
Shoes, Pennies, and Rockets written by Ralph Dale and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1968
Kostas the Rooster written by Traudl and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1968
Homerhenry written by Cora Annett and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1969
The Twin Witches of Fingle Fu written by Irv Phillips and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1969
The Porcupine and the Tiger written by Fern Powell and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1969
Babushka and the Pig written by Ann Trofimuk and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1969
Juano and the Wonderful Fresh Fish written by Thelma Shaw and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1969
Sizes and Shapes written by Ken Sobol and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1969
The King's Ditch: A Hawaiian Tale written by Francine Jacobs and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1971
The Planet of Junior Brown written by Virginia Hamilton and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1971
More Adventures of Spider written by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1972
Femi and Old Grandaddie written by Adjai Robinson and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1972
JD written by Mari Evans and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1973
Kasho and the Twin Flutes written by Adjai Robinson and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1973
Prince Littlefoot written by Berniece Freschet and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1974
The Great Minu written by Beth P. Wilson and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1974
Song of the Trees written by Mildred D. Taylor and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1975
Yagua Days written by Cruz Martel and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1976
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry written by Mildred D. Taylor and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1976
Mildred Murphy, How Does Your Garden Grow? written by Phyllis Green and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1977
Mary McLeod Bethune (biography) written by Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1977
Ji-Nongo-Nongo Means Riddles written by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1978
Tales from Africa written by Lila Green and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1979
Tonweya and the Eagles, and Other Lakota Indian Tales written by Rosebud Yellow Robe and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1979
Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir written by Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1979
Jahdu written by Virginia Hamilton and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1980
Count on Your Fingers African Style written by Claudia Zaslavsky and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1980
Monster Myths of Ancient Greece written by William Wise and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1981
Apples on a Stick: The Folklore of Black Children written by Barbara Michels and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1983
The Patchwork Quilt written by Valerie Flournoy and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1985
Half a Moon and One Whole Star written by Crescent Dragonwagon and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1986
Creatures of the Desert World and Strange Animals of the Sea written by Barbara Gibson and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1987
Wild, Wild Sunflower Child Anna written by Nancy White Carlstrom and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1987
The Tales of Uncle Remus written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1988
More Tales of Uncle Remus: Further Adventures of Brer Rabbit, His Friends, Enemies, and Others written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1988
The Green Lion of Zion Street written by Julia Fields and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1988
Mirandy and Brother Wind written by Pat McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1988
Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion written by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1989
The Talking Eggs written by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1989
Turtle in July written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1989
Further Tales of Uncle Remus: The Misadventures of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, the Doodang, and All the Other Creatures written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1990
Home Place written by Crescent Dragonwagon and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1990
Pretend You're a Cat written by Jean Marzollo and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1990
In for Winter, Out for Spring written by Arnold Adoff and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1991
Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1991
The Man with His Heart in a Bucket written by Anonymous and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1991
Drylongso written by Virginia Hamilton and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1992
Back Home written by Gloria Jean Pinkney and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1992
John Henry written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1994
The Last Tales of Uncle Remus written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1994
The Sunday Outing written by Gloria Jean Pinkney and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1994
Tanya's Reunion written by Valerie Flournoy and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1995
The Jungle Book: The Mowgli Stories written by Rudyard Kipling and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1995
Sam and the Tigers: A New Telling of Little Black Sambo written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1996
Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman written by Alan Schroeder and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1996
Fever Dream written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1996
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi written by Rudyard Kipling and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1997
The Hired Hand: An African-American Folktale written by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1997
Sarny, A Life Remembered written by Gary Paulsen and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1997
Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1998
The Little Match Girl written by Hans Christian Andersen and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1999
The Ugly Duckling written by Hans Christian Andersen and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1999
Journeys with Elijah: Eight Tales of the Prophet written by Barbara Diamond Goldi and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1999
New Shoes for Sylvia written by Johanna Hurwitz and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 1999
Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 2000
Goin' Someplace Special written by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 2000
Aesop's Fables written by Aesop and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 2001
In the Forest of Your Remembrance (illustrated with Brian and Myles C. Pinkney) written by Gloria Jean Pinkney and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 2001
The Nightingale written by Hans Christian Andersen and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 2002
Noah's Ark written by Anonymous and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 2002
God Bless the Child (words and music) written by Arthur Herzog Jr. and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney 2005
Ain't Nobody a Stranger to Me written by Ann Grifalconi and illustrated by JerryPinkney Uncle Remus written by Julius Lester and illustrated by JerryPinkney
The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll written by PatMcKissack and illustrated by JerryPinkney
Nightjohn written by GaryPaulsen and illustrated by JerryPinkney
Little Red Riding Hood written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Born October 7, 1942 Oakland, New Jersey

Susan Jeffers is an American illustrator of children's book who has been gracing author's works with her pen and ink drawings for forty-odd years and has illustrated some fifty books. She is the author/illustrator for eight of them. She is perhaps most known for her current collaboration with Rosemary Wells on the McDuff series.

Her story is a relatively straight-forward one. Born in Oakland, New Jersey, she grew up with an early interest and demonstrated aptitude in art. She graduated from the New York Pratt Institute in 1964 and began an initial career in the publishing industry in New York City. She became interested in children's books and began freelancing in children's books design and illustration. She was involved with a number of books by various authors in the late 1960's. After a number of publications including The Buried Moon by Joseph Jacobs in 1969, she started a project to retell and illustrate the traditional story of The Three Jovial Huntsmen. After preparing a complete version of the story, Jeffers and her publisher decided that it was not quite what they were looking for. Jeffers sat down and rewrote and re-illustrated the whole story which was then published in 1973 and received a 1974 Caldecott Honor Award. If you are going to rewrite and re-illustrate a whole story, it is nice if it is then recognized so prestigiously.

Through the 1970's and 1980's Jeffers worked with a number of contemporary writers including Reeve Lindberg and Jean Marzollo as wrote and illustrated four books of her own.. However, her main focus was a series of illustrations of earlier writers, and particularly of their poetry. Folktales which she illustrated included Charles Perrault's Cinderella , The Grimm brothers' Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White, Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina, The Wild Swans, and The Snow Queen. Among the poets, she illustrated a selection from Longfellow's Hiawatha, Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Joseph Mohr's Silent Night and Eugene Field's Wynken, Blynken and Nod.

I am especially keen on authors and illustrators who take a short poem, myth, folktale, or story and render it for young children. I think Jeffers' illustrations of Frost's poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening are marvelous. Done entirely in black, white and grey, her pictures capture the stillness of a remote woods with its frozen energy. This is such a compact little poem; powerful in its entirety and yet also full of great stand alone lines but most especially the final stanza

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Her pictures with Frost's words capture perfectly an example of those little instances in life where we stop, remove ourselves from the hurly-burly for a moment to observe a fine vignette, and then are drawn back into the maelstrom. Jeffers' edition of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening should be one of the first books in any collection for introducing a child to poetry at a very early age.

While Stopping by Woods is my favorite from this period of her work, Jeffers' illustrations of Longfellow's Hiawatha are magnificent. Hiawatha attracted more attention and accolades. Longfellow is one of my favorite poets with many of his poems wonderfully suitable simultaneously for a child and parental audience (Paul Revere's Ride of course but many of his shorter ones as well such as The Blacksmith, The Wreck of the Hesperus, The Skeleton in Armor, and of course Excelsior). Longfellow is such a master of rhyme and cadence that he is one among the very best at instilling a love of poetry at an early age. For some reason, in my youth, I never intersected with Hiawatha and by the time I did, it hasn't really captured me like many of Longfellow's other works. However, many other readers I know, mention on their own volition, what an impact Hiawatha had on them as a child. I can see it in some passages, the thrill to a child of such language mastery:

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

In 1991, almost as a companion piece to Hiawatha, Jeffers published to high acclaim her illustrated rendition of Chief Seattle's speech of 1854, Brother Eagle, Sister Sky!: The Words of Chief Seattle. Chief Seattle's speech is controversial in the sense that there is controversy as to whether there ever actually was a speech; if there was, in which language it was delivered; and the extent to which the reported speech reflected anything that Chief Seattle actually said. The first written version appeared only in 1887, thirty three years after it was said to have been delivered. From a purely rationalist perspective, there are plenty of grounds for extensive skepticism. But when you read and enjoy the import of the speech, the historical veracity and the legitimate questioning all seem very much beside the point. It is a beautiful text, however created or by whom.

Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my people for centuries untold, and which to us appears changeless and eternal, may change. Today is fair. Tomorrow it may be overcast with clouds. My words are like the stars that never change.

Best, I think, to accept a literary gift that is moving in its own right, without investing too much in historical demolition. Just as with, Hiawatha, Jeffers brings a palate of strong colors and beautiful lines to create a book in which the reader struggles to determine which is the stronger, the words or the pictures, until one accepts that the power is in the two going together so compatibly.

After these two powerful triumphs, Jeffers moved in a different direction. Early in her career, when she was beginning to work as an illustrator, Jeffers shared studio space with another young illustrator, Rosemary Wells (see Featured Author, November 3, 2007). They worked together as the illustrators of a book, Why You Look Like You When I Tend to Look Like Me by Charlotte Pomerantz and published in 1969. Sixteen years later they reunited to publish Forest of Dreams, authored by Wells and illustrated by Jeffers. In 1993 there was another book, the very poignant and moving Waiting for the Evening Star. Then, in 1997, McDuff arrived with McDuff Moves In. McDuff is a white West Highland Terrier who is adopted by a young couple. There are the normal adventures in this type of series. The arrival of a newborn. A day at school. McDuff at Christmas time. While this may seem low octane stuff, that kind of misses the point. These are great books for 2-6 year olds. Not a lot of adventure but enough. A setting which is recognizably similar to their own home by most young children. The types of issues that the child also deals with. Most children love the McDuff series and they are a pleasant little treasure at just the right age. There are nearly a dozen books in the McDuff series so they have the additional advantage that, if your child ends up liking one, there are more where that came from.

In addition to the McDuff series, Jeffers has returned in recent years to writing books of her own such as The Chincoteague Pony and My Pony.

Jeffers, working over the past forty years, has seen the art world associated with children's books move through all sorts of fads and fashions. Through all of this, she has quietly and steadily produced appealing, clean and beautiful illustrations for a stream of books with a few stand-out masterpieces such as Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningand Hiawatha. I hope you and your children enjoy her other works as well.


Picture Books

	Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Highly Recommended
	The Snow Queen by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Recommended
	Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Recommended
	Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers Recommended
	Mcduff Moves In by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Recommended
	McDuff Comes Home by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Recommended
	The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	Silent Night by Joseph Mohr and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	Cinderella by Charles Perrault and retold by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	Mcduff And the Baby by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	K Is for Kitten by Nikia Speliakos Clark Leopold and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	The Nutcracker by Mary-Claire Helldorfer and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	Mcduff's Christmas by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	McDuff's Hide-And-Seek by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	McDuff's Wild Romp by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	McDuff Saves The Day by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested

Independent Reader

	My Pony by Susan Jeffers Recommended
	Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight, retold by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	My Chincoteague Pony by Susan Jeffers Suggested
	Blueberries for the Queen by John Paterson and Katherine Paterson and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested

Susan Jeffers' Bibliography

Everyhow Remarkable written by Victoria Lincoln and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1967
The Buried Moon written by Joseph Jacobs and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1969
The Shooting of Dan McGrew and the Cremation of Sam McGee written by Robert W. Service and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1969
Why You Look Like You Whereas I Tend to Look Like Me written by Charlotte Pomerantz and illustrated by Rosemary Wells and Susan Jeffers 1969
The Spirit of Spring: A Tale of the Greek God Dionysus written by Penelope Proddow and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1970
The Circus Detectives written by Harriette S. Abels and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1971
Three Jovial Huntsmen written and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1973
The First of the Penguins written by Mary Q. Steele and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1973
All the Pretty Horses written and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1974
Wild Robin written and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1976
Close Your Eyes written by Jean Marzollo and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1976
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening written by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1978
If Wishes Were Horses and Other Rhymes written and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1979
Thumbelina written by Hans ChristianAndersen and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1979
Little People's Book of Baby Animals written and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1980
Hansel and Gretel written by JacobGrimm and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1980
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1981
The Wild Swans written by Hans ChristianAndersen and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1981
The Snow Queen written by Hans ChristianAndersen and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1982
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod written by Eugene Field and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1982
Hiawatha written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1983
Silent Night written by Joseph Mohr and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1984
Cinderella written by Charles Perrault and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1985
Black Beauty written by Anna Sewell and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1986
The Midnight Farm written by Reeve Lindbergh and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1987
Forest of Dreams written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1988
Baby Animals written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1989
Benjamin's Barn written by Reeve Lindbergh and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1990
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky!: The Words of Chief Seattle written by Chief Seattle and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1991
Waiting for the Evening Star written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1993
Lassie Come-Home written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1995
McDuff Moves In written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1997
McDuff Comes Home written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1997
McDuff and the Baby written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1997
McDuff's New Friend written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1998
Rachel Field's Hitty: Her First Hundred Years written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1999
The McDuff Stories written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2000
Love Songs of the Little Bear written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2001
McDuff Goes to School written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2001
McDuff Saves the Day written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2001
K Is for Kitten written by Niki Leopold and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2002
My Chincoteague Pony written and illustrated by Susan Jeffers
My Pony written and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2003
The Nutcracker written by Mary-Claire Helldorfer and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2007
Blueberries for the Queen written by John Paterson and illustrated by Susan Jeffers
McDuff's Christmas written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers
McDuff's Hide-And-Seek written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers
McDuff's Wild Romp written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers
McDuff Saves The Day written by Rosemary Wells and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2000

Born February 19, 1903 in Albany, New York
Died May 8, 1975 in Miami Beach, Florida

Louis Slobodkin, an American sculptor and children's book author and illustrator, was born February 19, 1903 in Albany, New York, one of three brothers and a sister. His parents were Ukranian immigrants, his father an inventor and his mother a homemaker. His early childhood was characterized by a sustained interest in art and an evolving comprehension of what that might mean.

He related, in a number of articles, an early experience when he was five years old where he gained his first insight into perspective. As his long time authorial collaborator Eleanor Estes tells the story in an article in Horn Book in July 1944:

He likes to tell the story of the only lesson in drawing he ever received. This unique lesson he picked up for himself when he was just a little boy of five from a big boy he did not know. Louis was running across the brick pavement of the school yard late one afternoon when he saw a boy drawing a large head on the wall in white chalk. Louis stopped short to watch. The boy drew a three-quarter view of a head and then so indicated the nose that the head took on form and dimension. The face came right out at Louis, who was literally overcome at [sic] this revelation unfolded before his eyes. He had been drawing flat patterns all along, but now he saw that the illusion of the third dimension could be indicated in drawing as well.

In an article in Child Life, May, 1947, Slobodkin related:

That important thing happened when I was just five or six years old. And that must be the time I decided to become an artist, whether I'd be a cartoonist who draws for the comics, or a painter who paints pictures of sunsets and mountains for art museums - but some kind.

Another transformative incident in his childhood, and it was lucky they happened early because he grew up fast, was when his brother gave him a lump of red modeling clay when he was about ten years old.

First I modeled the head of an Indian - it was red plastelline. Then I made the head of George Washington, the Father of our Country. I could not make his eyes look right so I put a couple of flat pieces of clay over his eyes and made spectacles. He looked exactly like Benjamin Franklin! Spectacles on, he looked like Franklin. Spectacles off again he looked like G. Washington! That decided things for me. I would become a sculptor.

By his own admission, Slobodkin was not a distinguished student and as he entered high school he set his mind to throwing over his academic studies and pursuing art. His parents were initially reluctant to support this course of action till Slobodkin undertook a peaceful protest by attending but not participating in classes. As the zeroes began to rack up, his parents finally gave their blessing and at age fifteen, Slobodkin left Albany and enrolled in the Beaux Arts Institute of Design, in New York City. He studied sculpture for six years, studying during the day and working a variety of jobs at night to support himself. Given his age and the times, one of his jobs was as an elevator boy. Washing dishes and working in a factory were his other means of support.

Despite the burden of studying and supporting himself at the same time, Slobodkin had a very successful career at the Beaux Arts Institute, winning a fellowship (Louis Tiffany Foundation) as well as twenty-two medals for his works. In 1922, predating Monty Python by half a century, he determined that it was time for something completely different, signed on as a deckhand in the merchant marine, and sailed to Argentina.

On his return to the States he apprenticed himself in commercial art studios and then worked in Europe, primarily in Paris, for a year and a half, before again returning to the US. In 1927 he married Florence Gersh, a writer and poet. They were to eventually have two sons.

Through the next fifteen years, Slobodkin established himself as one of the leading sculptors in America, winning numerous prizes and commissions. His style was very muscular, almost a refined version of the 1920-30's Soviet worker type art. His works were commissioned by museums, private patrons and various New Deal organizations. One of his works, commissioned for the 1939 World's Fair in New York, became something of a cause celebre. Rail Joiner, a seven foot steel and plaster statue of a young Abraham Lincoln took more than a year to build. Unfortunately, a female friend of the World's Fair Commissioner General, Edward J. Flynn, complained to Flynn about the statue and he in turn ordered workmen to take sledge hammers to it.

Slobodkin later had the last laugh though. He recast the statue in bronze the next year and it was installed in a courtyard of the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. where it has resided ever since.

In the summer of 1938, Slobodkin and his family were summering on Cape Ann. Out strolling about one day, they met a young couple sunning themselves on an old stone wall and fell to talking. Eleanor and Rice Estes were librarians but Eleanor had been contemplating changing her career and becoming an author. She began writing a story based on a family of four children and their widowed mother living in a small Connecticut town named Cranbury. The story is strongly dependent on characterization and humorous plotting with each chapter essentially serving as a stand-alone tale (which makes it an ideal read-to book). Once she completed the book and had it accepted for publication, she asked her sculptor friend Louis Slobodkin to illustrate it which he accepted without hesitation. The Moffats, the first book for both Estes and Slobodkin, was published in 1941. (See Eleanor Estes in Featured Author section).

Slobodkin had been drawing and sketching all his artistic career and had no doubt about his ability but found that the process of book illustration was not at all straight-forward. He had to quickly learn about the constraints of the publishing processes and find ways to work within those constraints. In his Caldecott acceptance speech, he had some interesting observations about the differences as an artist between his work as a sculptor and his work as a drawing artist.

When you start a sculpture composition, you develop one main thought; all sketches and primary indications tend towards developing that idea with all its ramifications. Say it's a colossal figure or composition of a couple of sculpture units. After your primary sketches and mechanical preparations are complete, you settle down to work, five months, seven months, a year or more, on one shape, one movement, and one thought. Of course, you develop and clarify and carry through essential nuances of good sculpture. But a change in the composition, a deviation from this one idea, the mere movement of a ponderous clay arm, a few inches in any direction, is a major operation, an engineering feat. There's the readjustment of the weight, the sawing through of the armature, the risk of destroying all the work you've done in the past six months and throwing that much of your life into the clay bin. You don't often change from your first idea: you compromise. And that's true, too, of changes in a stone carving.

Now, moving from this one-composition and one-idea way of a sculptor's life, to the crackle of thinking of hundreds of compositions within a short space of time was the main difficulty. For each drawing was a complete composition in itself. Every Moffat was an individual sculpture unit. Then there was another element, space, and the shape of the space, limited by the requirements of the book. Sculpture make's its own space. It pushes its way into existence.

His illustrations, always pen and ink and often with watercolors, are notable for their compact energy. He has a particularly distinctive style, which becomes comprehensible once you realize his background in sculpture. All his human characters have a particular stylization most easily seen in his male figures. There is a muscular statuesqueness which is also characteristic of his statues. All his figures are only a thin sheething away from the basic human form.

At nearly forty years old, after one very successful career, Slobodkin suddenly found himself heading in an entirely different direction. While he never completely abandoned sculpting, he very quickly refocused most of his energies into illustrating children's books. And what a tear he had at the very beginning!

In the space of three years, he was involved in three striking projects. Estes career was launched with The Moffats and she followed this first book with two more in the series, The Middle Mofat (1942) and then Rufus M. (1943) both of which were also illustrated by Slobodkin. There actually ended up being a series of four books when, forty years later, Estes wrote the final book, The Moffat Museum.

In 1942, Slobodkin was asked to illustrate the humorist and essayist James Thurber's Many Moons, the first of three children's books he wrote in the 1940's. While the Moffat books were in black and white, Slobodokin used watercolors extensively throughout Many Moons . Many Moons was a big hit, remains in print today, and earned a Caldecott Medal (illustration) for Slobodkin. Many people think the illustrations of the Moffat series more deserving of the Medal but at least he was awarded a deserved recognition. In 1944 Slobodkin published the first book, Magic Michael (based on his first son Michael) in which he is both the author and illustrator.

Also in 1944, Slobodkin published The Hundred Dresses. This is another book by Eleanor Estes, though not in the Moffat series. See Eleanor Estes Featured Author essay for discussion about The Hundred Dresses, which is a wonderful book.

Slobodkin's long term reputation is almost certainly anchored on these works from his first five years in his new calling. Currently no other books from his later career are still in print, though a number warrant being brought back. He wrote an engaging biographical account of his trip as a sailor to Argentina in Fo'castle Waltz. He illustrated some classic American children's stories such as Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer, a handful of stories by his wife Florence Slobodkin, and other contemporary authors that went on to establish reputations of their own such as Edgar Eager (Red Head). He wrote a series of career stories (Read About the Policeman, Read About the Postman, etc.), a handful of books on manners (e.g. Thank You, You're Welcome), and many stand-alone stories. Of his latter work, a series which he wrote beginning with The Space Ship Under the Tree, is the one probably most surprising in being out of print. It had quite a following in it's day.

After a long, distinguished and productive life, Louis Slobodkin died of a heart attack on May 8, 1972 in Miami, Florida.

I hope you enjoy the wonderful energy and distinctive style of Slobodkin's work as evidenced in the Moffat series as well as in Many Moons and The Hundred Dresses.


Picture Books

	Many Moons by James Thurber and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin Recommended
	The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin Recommended

Independent Reader

	The Moffats by Eleanor Estes and Louis Slobodkin Recommended
	The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin Recommended
	Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin Recommended
	The Moffat Museum written and illustrated by Eleanor Estes Suggested

Young Adult

Sculpture; Principles and Practice. by Louis Slobodkin Suggested

Louis Slobokin's Bibliography


The Moffats written by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1941
The Sun and the Wind and Mr. Todd written by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1942
The Middle Moffat written by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1942
Many Moons written by James Thurber and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1943
Rufus M. written by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1943
Peter the Great written by Nina Brown Baker and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1943
Magic Michael written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1944
Friendly Animals written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1944
The Hundred Dresses written by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1944
Garibaldi written by Nina Brown Baker and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1944
Young Man of the House written by Mabel Leigh Hunt and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1944
Clear the Track written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1945
Fo'castle Waltz written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1945
Lenin written by Nina Brown Baker and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1945
The Adventures of Arab written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1946
Tom Sawyer written by Mark Twain and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1946
Seaweed Hat written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1947
Hustle and Bustle written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1948
Bixby and the Secret Message written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1948
Jonathan and the Rainbow written by Jacob Blanck and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1948
Sculpture: Principles and Practice written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1949
Mr. Mushroom written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1950
The King and the Noble Blacksmith written by Jacob Blanck and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1950
Dinny and Danny written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1951
Our Friendly Friends written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1951
Ginger Pye written by Eleanor Estes and illustrated by Eleanor Estes 1951
Red Head written by Edgar Eager and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1951
Gertie, the Horse Who Thought and Thought written by Margarite Glendinning and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1951
The Space Ship under the Apple Tree written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1952
Circus April 1st written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1953
The Alhambra written by Washington Irving and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1953
The Magic Fishbone written by Charles Dickens and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1953
Mr. Petersham's Cats written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1954
The Horse with the High-Heeled Shoes written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1954
The Amiable Giant written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1955
Millions and Millions written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1955
The Saucepan Journey written by Edith Unnerstad and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1955
Evie and the Wonderful Kangaroo written by Irmegarde Eberle and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1955
Pysen written by Edith Unnerstad and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1955
The Mermaid Who Could Not Sing written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1956
One Is Good but Two Are Better written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1956
The King's Shoes written by Helen F. Bill and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1956
Love and Knishes written by Sara Kasden and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1956
Melvin, the Moose Child written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1957
Thank You, You're Welcome written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1957
Evie and Cooky written by Irmegarde Eberle and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1957
Little O written by Edith Unnerstad and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1957
The Warm-Hearted Polar Bear written by Robert Murphy and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1957
The Space Ship Returns to the Apple Tree written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1958
The Little Owl Who Could Not Sleep written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1958
The First Book of Drawing written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1958
Too Many Mittens written and illustrated by Florence Slobodkin 1958
Upside-Down Town written by F. Amerson Andrews and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1958
Trick or Treat written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1959
Excuse Me, Certainly written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1959
Martin's Dinosaur written by Davis Reda and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1959
Clean Clarence written by Priscilla Friedrich and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1959
Up High and Down Low written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1960
Gogo the French Sea Gull written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1960
Nomi and the Beautiful Animals written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1960
Marshmallow Ghosts written by Priscilla Friedrich and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1960
The Cowboy Twins written and illustrated by Florence Slobodkin 1960
A Good Place to Hide written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1961
Picco written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1961
Mr. Spindles and the Spiders written by Andrew Packard and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1961
The Three-Seated Space Ship written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1962
The Late Cuckoo written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1962
Io Sono written and illustrated by Florence Slobodkin 1962
Luigi and the Long-Nosed Soldier written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1963
Moon Blossom and the Golden Penny written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1963
The Lovely Culpeppers written by Margaret Uppington and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1963
The Polka-Dot Goat written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1964
Mr. Papadilly and Willy written and illustrated by Florence Slobodkin 1964
Yasu and the Strangers written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1965
Colette and the Princess written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1965
Read about the Policeman written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1966
Read about the Postman written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1966
Read about the Fireman written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1967
Read about the Busman written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1967
Round-Trip Space Ship written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1968
Mazel Tov Y'all written by Sara Kasden and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1968
Sarah Somebody written and illustrated by Florence Slobodkin 1969
The Spaceship in the Park written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1972
Wilbur the Warrior written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin 1972
The Moffat Museum written and illustrated by Eleanor Estes 1983