Talking With Artists

Bibliography

Cummings, Pat, comp. and ed. 1992. TALKING WITH ARTISTS. New York: Bradbury Press. ISBN 0027242455

Plot Summary

Pat Cummings compiled this series of autobiographies and interviews of successful picture book illustrators to inspire young artists to keep drawing and to show them that it is possible, and enjoyable, to make a living doing what they love. The autobiographies of each artist are witty and describe the sometimes rocky path to discovering that they wanted to be artists. Each of the artists came to their art in different ways and children should be able to identify with aspects of each story. The authors featured in this volume are: Victoria Chess, Pat Cummings, Leo and Diane Dillon, Richard Egielski, Lois Ehlert, Lisa Campbell Ernst, Tom Feelings, Steven Kellog, Jerry Pinkney, Amy Schwartz, Lane Smith, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Wiesner.

Critical Analysis

Each section begins with a brief autobiography of the artist, followed by the answers to eight of the most common questions that children ask when illustrators do school or library visits. The artists talk about where they get their ideas from, what a normal day is like for them, where they work, whether they have children or pets, what they enjoy drawing the most, whether they ever draw people that they know, what materials they use to create art, and how they got to do their first book.

For each author there is a photo from when they were a child, a photo of them as an adult, an example of their artwork from childhood, and examples of artwork from their published books. Some of the early childhood artwork examples show extraordinary talent, others look like the artwork on any mother’s refrigerator. The examples of artwork from published picture books show a wide range of styles and mediums.

The predictable nature of each interview makes it easy to compare and contrast each artist. The autobiographies and answers to the questions are written with a child audience in mind. At the end of the book is a glossary to explain the technical terms that the artists use in describing their artwork and careers.

Review Excerpts

School Library Journal: “Well designed and well conceived, this book will be welcomed in all those classrooms in which children's literature has become central to the curriculum.”

Awards

Winner: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award -1992

Connections

~ Project: Have a group of children write a letter to a favorite picture book illustrator. Have them ask some of the questions that Pat Cummings used, or have them come up with their own.

~ Talk about the ways in which each child can identify with the illustrators and their depictions of their childhoods.