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By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: March 4, 2012

Lindsey Manwell. Photo credit: ValJean Anderson

Lindsey Manwell is a gifted illustrator and painter. She’s also the illustrator-in-residence for LitWorld. In her awe-inspiring blog A Year in Paris, she chronicles her year abroad living with her newlywed husband in Paris. To celebrate World Read Aloud Day this March 7, Lindsey agreed to speak with TCBR about her work with LitWorld, her determined path to publication, and the beauty and grandeur of Paris.

Nicki Richesin: I’m so excited to interview you as we met on World Read Aloud Day through the efforts of LitWorld- a cause I know that is near and dear to your heart. Could you tell us how you became the illustrator-in-residence for LitWorld and a little bit about the organization?

Lindsey Manwell: Sure! In 2009 I went to a literary event in Mill Valley where Pam Allyn was guest speaking. Pam is one of the leading literacy experts in the world. I met her before she took the stage and in those few brief moments we really connected. When she spoke that night I learned a lot about how many people in the US and abroad cannot read. It sounds naïve, but I was very shocked. Growing up my mom was an English teacher, so literacy and books were a way of life that I guess I took for granted. Afterwards we stayed in touch, and just a couple months later I was proudly illustrating a logo and putting together a coloring book for LitWorld that would travel the globe helping people learn how to read. Ever since then I’ve joyfully taken on various work for LitWorld year-round.

In one sentence, LitWorld teaches training techniques that help cultivate and sustain literacy in places around the world. It’s funny because the day I met Pam in Mill Valley I felt right away that we were kindred sprits who had to work together, and now I laugh as after 3 years of working with her I’ve learned that pretty much everyone who meets her- from the big wigs in New York City to the 5 year olds in Kenya- all feel this way!

NR: Congratulations on signing your two book series deal with HarperCollins! You are illustrating two upcoming books and you also work as a realist oil painter. I’m sure you must be thrilled to see your dreams coming true. Could you share your road to publication and any words of advice for aspiring illustrators?

LM: Absolutely. My road to publication has been rocky and it’s taken me over two years to get my first contract. When I graduated from art school I went straight to New York to meet with publishers, portfolio in hand. Within a few months I was con

I can't believe I didn't discover this YouTube series earlier! In the first video, author/illustrator Grace Lin shares a bit about how her artistic style developed. In the second video, she shares a couple of heartbreaking stories =( that really illustrate the need for multicultural children's books.

The Sydney Taylor Book Awards recognize and honor outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Every year the winners are celebrated and showcased through a blog tour. Below is the schedule for this year's exciting roundup of interviews with the winning authors and illustrators!

Sunday, February 5

Susan Campbell Bartoletti, author of Naamah and the Ark at Night
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Ima On & Off the Bima

Holly Meade, illustrator of Naamah and the Ark at Night
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Into the Wardrobe (Here here here!)

Shelley Sommer, author of Hammerin' Hank Greenberg, Baseball Pioneer
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Great Kid Books

Monday, February 6

Marcia Vaughan, author of Irena's Jar of Secrets
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Shelf-Employed

Ron Mazellan, illustrator of Irena's Jar of Secrets
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at The Children's War

Tuesday, February 7

Trina Robbins, author of Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Bildungsroman

Anne Timmons (and possibly Mo Oh), illustrators of Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Gathering Books

Morris Gleitzman, author of Then
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The 3 R's

Wednesday, February 8

Michael Rosen, author of Chanukah Lights
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at A Chair, a Fireplace, & a Tea Cozy

Robert Sabuda, illustrator/paper engineer of Chanukah Lights
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Practically Paradise

Susan Goldman Rubin, author of Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Cynsations

Robert Sharenow, author of The Berlin Boxing Club
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Jewish Books for Children

Thursday, February 9

Durga Yael Bernhard, author and illustrator of Around the World in One Shabbat
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger

By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 30, 2012

Marla Frazee

Marla Frazee is the award-winning author and illustrator of many celebrated bestselling books including The Seven Silly Eaters, Stars, The Boss Baby, Roller Coaster, and the Clementine series. Her acclaimed books All the World and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever received the Caldecott Honor Award. She lives in southern California with her husband and three sons, where she works in a backyard studio under an avocado tree. I’m willing to bet she makes some crazy delicious guacamole.

Nicki Richesin: You knew from a very young age that you wanted to become a children’s book illustrator. It must have felt incredibly gratifying when A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever won the Caldecott Honor Award. How does it feel now looking back on your youth and realizing your single-minded determination and drive has helped you achieve your goal?

Marla Frazee: You mean aside from making me feel old? Well, I guess I had determination and drive to some extent, but when I compare my growing up years to my children’s growing up years, I honestly feel like I was a slacker! I just loved children’s books, and I loved drawing and reading and writing stuff, and I never stopped loving all of that. I did get very serious in college – I attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and the program was so grueling that I hardly retain any memories of that time because I was so sleep-deprived.

NR: Your latest book Stars is a gorgeous, magical book about stars and all their practical applications, but it’s also about wishing. Could you tell us a bit about working on this project?

MF: When I first read Mary Lyn Ray’s manuscript, it reminded me of A Hole is to Dig with its seemingly random, childlike sentences and it’s high-wire act of how-is-she-gonna-pull-this-off, oh-my-god-she-just-did! I thought it would be impossible to illustrate, which is why it was so intriguing. I spent many months just thinking about it before I started sketching. It is always fascinating when a book begins to take form, be

Author Showcase

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 20, 2011

Mercedes Cecilia was born and raised in Peru. She studied Naturopathic methods of healing, Jin Shin Jyutsu. Mercedes Cecilia has won several awards for her paintings, her Art in Education programs and community events.

Can you share a little on your background and how you became a children’s book writer and illustrator?

When we came to live in USA, storytelling was a way for me to treasure our diversity as immigrants to a new land. At school, in ninth grade I found myself spinning the few English words I knew to weave the stories about the people of the Andes Mountains.  When I painted an imaginary portrait to give a face to the Amazon River so that it could tell its own story, my first children’s book began.

What inspired you to write Kusikiy, A Child from Taquile, Peru?

I always wanted to write a book about Peru and I treasure the times I lived with the people of Taquile. Since 1980 I have shared slide presentations of Taquile and other small communities of the Andes of Peru, in different universities, and schools. One day in the summer of 2007, I was having lunch with my 7-year-old grandson, Paulo Andres, and we were talking about condors and glaciers, when he asked me if I could draw the APU, the Spirit of the Great Glacier. This is how the story of Kusikiy started; soon I decide to share the story with everyone.

Illustration copyright by Mercedes Cecilia

What age group did you write the book for?

I wrote Kusikiy A Child from Taquile, Peru thinking a child of 5 to 12 would enjoy reading it as well as friends, parents and teachers.  I wanted to make a children’s book, because I feel a book with pictures allows the reader to become a co-creator of the story.

Your artwork is rich and vibrant. Can you tell us how you create your illuminating illustrations?

Illustration copyright by Mercedes Cecilia

Thank you. First I did the drawings and used soft pastels on black tinted paper.  I chose pastels as a medium, because the mineral pigments use to die wool is similar to the pigments in soft pastels. Because weaving and knitting is central to life in Taquile, I wanted to have those bright and pure colors in the illustrations. After I finished illustrating the story and photographed each painting, I used a digital tool to delineate more of the shapes.

Should we expect to see another book from you soon?

Yes, I am now finishing writing and illustrating the story of a girl from a village of

By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: October 6, 2011

Elisa Klevin in her San Francisco Bay Area studio.

Elisa Kleven has created magical, fantastic worlds for children to explore in her acclaimed picture books including such gems as The Paper Princess, The Lion and The Little Red Bird, Welcome Home, Mouse, and A Carousel Tale. An author and illustrator, she employs an unusual mixed-media technique of watercolor, collage and illustration to create her fantasy landscapes. Her most recent titles include The Friendship Wish and One Little Chicken. The Friendship Wish tells the story of lonely dog named Farley who dreams of an angel and enlists his “friends” to help him find her when he awakes. For One Little Chicken, Kleven returned to her Russian-Jewish roots to illustrate this folktale about a little girl named Leora who finds a chicken and wants to keep it, but her parents insist on keeping it only until its rightful owner returns. Although Jewish law dictates that “finders aren’t keepers,” this delightful tale is a great lesson on generosity. Kleven lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, daughter, son, and various animal friends.

Nicki Richesin: You have created some unforgettable picture books over the years including The Paper Princess series, Sun Bread, Ernst, and The Apple Doll. Would you tell us a little about your work on your latest book One Little Chicken?

Elisa Kleven: Although I’ve created pictures for quite a few stories and songs about Christmas, and many books with Latin American themes, One Little Chicken, by Elka Weber, is the first Jewish story that I’ve illustrated. Being of Russian-Jewish descent myself, the story seemed a natural fit for me. My ancestors come from the same kind of “shtetl,” or little Jewish town, in the story, and I grew up hearing a Passover song about a certain “father” who “bought a goat for two zuzim” (silver coins), which is just what the father in the book does!

Illustration © 2011 by Elisa Klevin

Furthermore, as an ardent admirer of goats (I love their sweet smiles, graceful legs, intelligent, soulful eyes, mischievousness — everything about them!) I was delighted at the prospect of illustrating a book in which they feature prominently. While illustrating One Little Chicken I made many trips to “

Today I welcome into the wardrobe Zachariah OHora, the author and illustrator of Stop Snoring, Bernard! (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 2011). As you will see in the book trailer below (and the pictures above), Stop Snoring, Bernard! is a picture book that will induce giggles as well as touch hearts as Bernard tries to find a new place to sleep at the zoo - his fellow sea otters have kicked him out because he is a chronic snorer!



Hi, Zach! Let's talk about your influences and inspirations.

What are the top five picture books that turned you into a picture book author/illustrator? What was it about them that led you down the path to writing and illustrating your own picture book?

The earliest books that I remember loving were Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day? and his Rabbit and His Friends Golden Book, the one about the Platypus, I was obsessed with the scene where the Platypus joined the circus and was hanging out eating ice cream and lollipops, it made me want to join the circus! I guess for the ice cream? My mom was pretty into nutrition at the time and we weren't allowed anything with sugar so that must have seemed insane that you could have a job that involved ice cream AND lollipops.

HAHAHA!

Here is a link to a blog that has the entire book scanned, I still look at this for inspiration.

Wow, thank you for the link. That ice cream cone is almost as big as the platypus!

Harold and the Purple Crayon was one of the few books with a limited palette that I liked, and the magic simplicity of it was pretty profound, even as a little kid.

I agree!

I was also drawn to the linework of Syd Hoff, like Danny and the Dinosaur and Margaret Bloy Graham's Harry and the Dirty Dog.

I realize that I'm going over the limit of Top Five here, but the single most influential picture book that made me think, THIS is what I want to do was The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith. This came out when I was in high school, and I was blown away. It was funny, a little subversive and Lane Smith used collage and other techniques in ways that I never saw before.