Children Book Illustrators: the Inside Look Into Their Life, and Their Books
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YOUTH November 2019 Children Book Illustrators: The inside look into their life, and their books Felecia Bond Anna Dewdney Dr. Seuss 1 TABLE OF 12 Silly CONTENTS Seuss 20 Felecia Bond 4 Anna Dewdney 2 3 YOUTH Magazine November 2019 WHO IS SHE? Felicia Bond, illustrator, was born to American parents in Yokohama, Japan, where she lived for two years. Bond grew up in Bronxville, New York and Houston, Texas with her four Playful brothers and two sisters. She is the second child in a family of seven. It was Felecia while living in New York that she observed a beam of light coming in her bedroom window at age five and knew that art was her calling. Bond cites numerous inspirations as a child, among them the covers of The New Yorker, the drawings in her Girl Scout Handbook, the sketches her mother drew for her and her siblings, and the since its publication and If You Give a addition to the If You Give A . series, BondBy Jane Smith art in children’s books. Bond was Mouse a Cookie has sold over a million she has also illustrated, among other especially drawn to the painterly, copies. At age twenty-two is when she titles, Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise expressive style of Ludwig Bemelmans moved to New York City with nine Brown and Little Porcupine’s Christmas in his Madeline books and the hundred dollars and worked several by Joseph Slate. She’s the author and sensitive ink drawings by Garth jobs, including illustrating botanical illustrator of the Poinsettia books, The Williams in Charlotte’s Web and books, working as a freelance scene Day It Rained Hearts, The Halloween Stuart Little. For many years she closely painter in a children’s museum, and Play, and Tumble Bumble. She lives in examined the work of Charles Schulz, being an art director for Margaret K. Santa Fe, New Mexico. renowned for his Peanuts comic strip, McElderry Books. During this time and credits him as making a lasting HOW IT ALL BEGAN Bond took classes at The School of impression on her. Felicia Bond grew Visual Arts and put together a portfolio up in New York and Texas. As a child, She graduated from the University of of work intended for children’s books. nearly every kind of children’s book art Texas at Austin, where she received a Bond was offered five contracts in short degree in Fine order and left behind her original idea Arts, and lived of pursuing her painting. “BOND WAS OFFERED FIVE CONTRACTS IN SHORT for ten years in ORDER AND LEFT BEHIND HER ORIGINAL IDEA OF New York City, HER PURSUING HER PAINTING.” writing and BOOKS illustrating By the time books and Felicia Bond working as an art director in a was exciting to her, from the paintings was twenty-six publishing company. She is one of the in Madelineto Charles Schulz’s the first book best-selling children’s book writers and Peanuts. “I loved it all,” she says. “I Bond both illustrators in the world. Her first work, couldn’t wait to grow up and be an wrote and Poinsettia and Her Family, has become artist.” Felicia Bond is the illustrator of illustrated, numerous books for children. In a children’s book staple in the 15 years 4 5 YOUTH Magazine November 2019 Poinsettia and Her also included it on her list Oprah’s Fa- world including Japan, where an entire Family, had been vorite Things from A-Z in that same Tokyo city bus was painted with Bond’s published. Four more year. If You Give a Moose a Muffin was images of Mouse. Mouse also made books of Bond’s own the answer to a question on Jeopardy!. it to the White House; in Laura Bush’s quickly followed Many of the books in the If You Give... Celebration of American Authors at the before Bond illustrated Book™ series have been adapted into 2001 Presidential Inauguration Felicia If You Give a Mouse a plays for children’s theaters across the Bond and Laura N u m e r o f f If You Cookie in 1985. Bond country, The Bronx Zoo in New York were among those honored for their If has also illustrated, among other works, Big Red Barn, written by Margaret Wise Brown, The Big Green Pocketbook, written by Candice Ransom, Little Porcupine’s Give A... Christmas, written by Joseph Slate and The Right Number of Elephants, written by Jeff Sheppard. Felicia Bond is both author and illustrator of numerous other works, including Poinsettia and her Family, Poinsettia and the Firefighters, The Day It Rained Hearts, The Halloween Play, Tumble Bumble, and Big Hugs, Little Hugs. WHAT SHE IS KNOWN FOR If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the first collaborative work written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond, quickly became established as a popular favorite and is today considered a contemporary classic, with over four million copies sold. A series of seventeen titles followed, with sales exceeding sixteen million. They have been translated into more than thirteen languages. The If You Give... featured Felicia Bond’s art in their You Give... Book™ series, and the Book™ series has garnered Children’s Zoo for one year and Bond’s former First Lady writes that the Bush numerous awards, and their popularity artwork has been used to create murals family cat India’s favorite book was is witnessed by their consistent in the wings of children’s hospitals. The If You Take a Mouse to the Movies. A presence on The New York Times Best If You Give... Book™ series has fans bronze sculpture of her sleeping on the Seller List. Many of the books were the of all ages from all over the book is included in the George W. Bush #1 best-sellers in the picture book Presidential Library. First Lady category. The If You Give... Book™ Michele Obama read If You Give a series has become so embedded in Mouse a Cookie on The White house our culture that If You Give a Mouse lawn during the 2009 Easter Egg Roll. a Cookiewas mentioned in the movie The website mousecookiebooks.com, Airforce One and Oprah Winfrey chose posted by its publisher, HarperCollins, If You Give a Pig a Pancake as one of is an interactive site for children, her favorite things in 2000. Winfrey parents, teachers, and librarians alike. 6 7 YOUTH Magazine Novemeber 2019 THE PRESENT “There was virtually HER DESIGN nothing that didn’t excite me in the art I Felicia Bond continues to write as well In her illustrations Felicia Bond’s experienced as a child — as illustrated, and is currently signature style is characterized by rich, everything from the expressive scheduled to create the art for an vibrant watercolor, often with a black free-spirited paintings by Ludwig upcoming book with HarperCollins, A line used for graphic effect. Bond’s use Bemelmans in his Madeline books to Mother’s Goodnight, written by of white space is often similarly the graphic and verbal wit and Margaret Wise Brown. A new book in applied, especially in her distinctive understatement of Charles Schulz in his the If You Give... Book™ series (If You design of the books in the If You Give... Peanuts strip — I loved it all. I couldn’t Give a Mouse a Brownie) is due to Book™ series. Bond’s book Big Hugs, knees and bony elbows and something wait to grow up and be an artist!” be published in 2014. Ms. Bond says, Little Hugs uses mixed media collage, like a coat-rack on my head.” As for the which reflects her painting style from pig in If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Bond her early twenties. Bond personalizes says, “I didn’t want her to be a typical many of her illustrations by discreetly chunky pink pig…. I added some fuzz writing the names of family, friends, and a few spots.” She also decided that and pets in the art. Felicia Bond has the pig would not write four or forty said she started doing this years ago, letters to her relatives, but four inspired by the cross-hatched ink hundred! “So I had to put her in a artwork in The New York Times by wheelbarrow,” she explains. Al Hirschfeld, who hid his HER WRITING daughter’s name, Nina, at least once in almost every drawing. Bond’s writing style varies in content Bond puts a lot of thought into but is often narrative and character the characters she draws. When based. Poinsettia and Her Family and she drew the moose in If You Poinsettia and the Firefighters came N.Y. On this particular day, Bond was lio of her work and made the rounds Give a Moose a Muffin, she says: about from her own childhood. Other standing in the doorway of her of children’s-book publishers. She got “I imagined what it would be like stories began as an aimless doodle, bedroom in the late afternoon, her her first book contract at the age of 24. to be very VERY tall, with knobby such as the whimsical The Day It Rained attention caught by a beam of sunlight Today, Bond’s watercolor illustrations Hearts and the playful Tumble Bumble. coming through the window. Bond, 52, are known by millions of children and Her book Big Hugs, Little Hugs is more remembers deciding that she had to adults who are fans of the best-selling conceptual in nature and evolved from capture the feeling inspired by seeing series that began in 1985 with “If You a dream that she merged with a that shaft of light.