Occupation: Illustrator Birth: December 1, 1949
When I was little, I loved books that gave me lots of detail so that I felt like I could be transported to this other place, or, in the case of an il….
Of all people, children are the ones that really understand when there's a truth there for them - an emotional truth. The characters really have to w….
I always feel like my book is a success when I see a child reading it, and they have their pointer finger out, and they kind of keep their place as t….
The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real..
The books take a year just to do the drawing. I will travel to a country to do the research and get ideas. Sometimes I don't travel to do research, b….
When I go to another country, I try to be a big sponge and look at what the houses may look like and what colors predominate. I do not do research as….
I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feel….
A lot of times it's the child that sees something and not the grownup. I love that because, when readers get older, they start looking for the most i….
A children's book is the perfect place where young readers can understand the world because they can take a deep breath and look at it and imagine an….
I just love to draw. It's very intense for me. The day will just go by like the snap of a finger. A lot of times I'll draw or paint late into the nig….
My parents would tell us to go outside and play or to do creative stuff, but television was very limited. So we used our own creativity to entertain ….
I've found places that are just as beautiful as New England, but this is my home..
I create books for six-year-olds. I don't know why that time of my life was so important to me, but no matter what I draw, it always looks like it co….
People may think that because I have illustrated and written all these books it must be easy for me, but it's not really easy for me. The drawing par….
I knew that I wanted to be an illustrator since I was in kindergarten. I can remember the exact day. The art teacher usually came to our classroom on….
I would like teachers to look deep because sometimes kids do have a faade that they put up because they feel vulnerable. Their creative truth may no….
I love children because that's a part of my life that was so happy, and I like to remember back to those days where everything is a discovery, and th….
A book is something that young readers can experience on their own time. They decide when to turn the page. They'll put their arm right on the page s….
I like to pretend that each book is my first one and last one, because it takes a tremendous amount of energy to do a book..
I remember kids used to give me a penny for drawing them a horse. I loved horses, but I couldn't have one, so I would draw a horse for myself. I woul….
Writing a story is like going down a path in the woods. You follow the path. You don't worry about getting lost. You just go..