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A review by jwsg
Show Me a Story!: Why Picture Books Matter: Conversations with 21 of the World's Most Celebrated Illustrators by Leonard S. Marcus
3.0
This isn't a book I would have read before having kids honestly. A few years ago, I dare say only Quentin Blake's name would have rung any sort of bell for me (thanks to his illustrations for Roald Dahl's books). But I swiftly learned about Eric Carle within the first month of parenthood and over the course of the first year, added Kevin Henkes, Helen Oxenbury, Rosemary Wells, and Maurice Sendak.
This collection of interviews with 21 children's books illustrators was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The most interesting interviews for me were those that covered the artist's "method" (for lack of a better word), how they approached illustration and their journey to becoming an illustrator of children's books. I loved the interview with Anno, where he spoke about how his books try to build understanding of abstract concepts, to "teach without teaching", and the challenges of making his illustrations work for different cultural contexts; Carle's interview where he spoke about being born in Syracuse, NY but having to move to Germany after he turned five and hating it, his formative training under Prof Ernst Schneidler and his process for writing The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Yumi Heo's account of moving to the US from South Korea to pursue her ambition to study fine art; Tana Hoban's photographic process; and Mo Willems' background as a stand up comic and writer for Sesame Street.
Some of the interviews, by contrast, bored me. Sometimes because they dwelled at length on books and characters I was unfamiliar with (the exception being James Marshall's interview - I've not read his books and now have plans to check them out at the library). I didn't enjoy the couple of Chris Raschka's children's books I'd read previously and his interview didn't make me feel like I'd want to give his works another chance. The interview with Maurice Sendak - the longest in the collection along with James Marshall's - was a lot less interesting than I'd expected it to be.
Despite the unevenness, Show Me A Story is a pretty fun read to curl up with. It has some fascinating nuggets about its subjects' lives - like how Eric Carle went to NYC hoping to find a job as graphic designer and contacted Lionel Lionni, the art director for Fortune magazine, after seeing the magazine's gorgeous designs. Lionni hooked Carle up with a job and after Lionni started creating picture books, suggested that Carle try his hand at them too. Or how Chris Raschka got a job doing illustrations for the Michigan Bar Journal, which included assignments to illustrate tort reform and water regulation. And it did give me some new authors/titles that I'd love to check out.
This collection of interviews with 21 children's books illustrators was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The most interesting interviews for me were those that covered the artist's "method" (for lack of a better word), how they approached illustration and their journey to becoming an illustrator of children's books. I loved the interview with Anno, where he spoke about how his books try to build understanding of abstract concepts, to "teach without teaching", and the challenges of making his illustrations work for different cultural contexts; Carle's interview where he spoke about being born in Syracuse, NY but having to move to Germany after he turned five and hating it, his formative training under Prof Ernst Schneidler and his process for writing The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Yumi Heo's account of moving to the US from South Korea to pursue her ambition to study fine art; Tana Hoban's photographic process; and Mo Willems' background as a stand up comic and writer for Sesame Street.
Some of the interviews, by contrast, bored me. Sometimes because they dwelled at length on books and characters I was unfamiliar with (the exception being James Marshall's interview - I've not read his books and now have plans to check them out at the library). I didn't enjoy the couple of Chris Raschka's children's books I'd read previously and his interview didn't make me feel like I'd want to give his works another chance. The interview with Maurice Sendak - the longest in the collection along with James Marshall's - was a lot less interesting than I'd expected it to be.
Despite the unevenness, Show Me A Story is a pretty fun read to curl up with. It has some fascinating nuggets about its subjects' lives - like how Eric Carle went to NYC hoping to find a job as graphic designer and contacted Lionel Lionni, the art director for Fortune magazine, after seeing the magazine's gorgeous designs. Lionni hooked Carle up with a job and after Lionni started creating picture books, suggested that Carle try his hand at them too. Or how Chris Raschka got a job doing illustrations for the Michigan Bar Journal, which included assignments to illustrate tort reform and water regulation. And it did give me some new authors/titles that I'd love to check out.