Creating Children's Picture Books

(Book Cover: Cummings, Pat. 1992. New York: Bradbury Press. Photo Source: Pat Cummings' Official Website. 2008. http://patcummings.com/book-set.html, accessed September 5, 2008.)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cummings, Pat, comp. and ed. 1992. Talking with artists: Conversations with Victoria Chess, Pat Cummings, Leo and Diane Dillon, Richard Egielski, Lois Ehlert, Lisa Campbell Ernst, Tom Feelings, Steven Kellogg, Jerry Pinkney, Amy Schwartz, Lane Smith, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Wiesner. New York: Bradbury Press. ISBN 0-02-724245-5.

2. PLOT SUMMARY: Quite often children wonder how someone came to have a particular job and what life is like when you have a certain job. This book answers those questions as they relate to fourteen well known children’s book illustrators. Each illustrator presents a short story of his/her life and then answers eight questions relating to the job of illustrator or their life as an illustrator.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS: The format of this book is very repetitious, which makes it an easy read for children. It is also divided so that a teacher or librarian could focus on only one of the illustrators without reading the entire book to a group of children. For each illustrator, there is a short biographical introduction, written in the illustrators own words. These introductions focus on the life of the illustrator as a child and throughout the years leading up to the start of the illustrator’s career. Following each introduction is a question and answer section where the illustrators are each asked the same eight questions. These questions are the type of questions children would ask, such as: “What is a normal day like for you?” and “How did you get your first book?” The answers to these questions are as varied as the artwork these illustrators produce and move the reader from page to page to find out how the next illustrator will answer these questions.

A fascinating part of this book for a reader of any age is the inclusion of a variety of artwork from each illustrator. For each illustrator, there is at least one item from the illustrator’s childhood and one item from a children’s book he or she illustrated. These illustrations can make a positive impact on a child who has artistic ability and is wondering how they can ever use that ability.

A nice addition to the book is a glossary of art terms and a list of each artist’s five most favorite books they have illustrated. However, the location of these at the end of the book is unfortunate as they can easily be overlooked. The list of illustrators’ favorite books is especially misplaced. It is much better suited to be the ninth item in the Q&A section of the book. Such addition in the main part of the book may have caused a problem with the placement of text on each page and may have led to the decision to include this fascinating bit of information in a manner that seems sadly like an afterthought.

4. BOOK REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

(Source: Book Index with Reviews, EBSCO Host database, accessed via TWU Library Online)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 03/16/1992: “Unfortunately, the often poignant reminiscences and outstanding talent on display cannot overcome the book's unimaginative layout and distractingly pragmatic text.”
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, 05/01/1992: “Young artists will learn a lot; teachers and other children will also love it.”
BOOKLIST, 05/01/1992: “But what kids will love best is the picture of each artist as a child and the sampling of childhood artwork.”

5. CONNECTIONS IN A SCHOOL SETTING:

-- This book and others by Pat Cummings could be used as a way to introduce a particular illustrator. Each illustrator’s “conversation” could be read to children and then a book illustrated by the artist could then be read to the children.

-- Alternatively, instead of reading a book illustrated by the artist, a display of all books in the library which are illustrated by the artist could be put on display so that children could check the books out. This book would work very well in a school library setting where there are only a handful of books illustrated by each author because for each class that came into the library a different illustrator could be featured.

-- This book can be used by art teachers as inspiration for older children who exhibit artistic ability. It can be used to encourage the student to continue to pursue their artistic abilities and to show the student one way in which artists make a living.

Books by illustrators featured in this book:

- Aardema, Verna. 1975. Why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears. Ill. Leo and Diane Dillon. New York: Dial Press.

- Boyd, Herb and Robert L. Allen, eds. 1996. Brotherman: the odyssey of black men in America. Ill. Tom Feelings. New York: One World.

- Caines, Jeanette. 1999. Just us women. Ill. Pat Cummings. New York: Harper & Row.

- Daniel, Claire. 1999. The chick that wouldn't hatch. Ill. Lisa Campbell Ernst. California: Harcourt Brace.

- Ehlert, Lois. 1992. Circus. New York: HarperCollins.

- Flournoy, Valerie. 1985. The patchwork quilt. Ill. Jerry Pikney. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.

- Kellogg, Stephen. 1988. Johnny Appleseed. New York: Morrow Junior Books.

- Prelutsky, Jack. 1980. Rolling Harvey down the hill. Ill. Victoria Chess. New York: Greenwillow Books.

- Scieszka, Jon. 1992. The stinky cheese man. Ill. Lane Smith. New York: Viking.

- Schwartz, Amy. 2006. Oscar: The big adventure of a little sock monkey. New York: Katherine Tegen Books.

- VanAllsburg, Chris. 1981. Jumanji. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

- Wiesner, David. 2001. The three pigs. New York: Clarion Books.

- Yorinks, Arthur.1986. Hey Al. Ill. Richard Egielski. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.