From: Binawill at aol.com <Binawill>
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 13:18:05 -0500

A couple of sources that I found helpful as I was facing the Caldecott process last year included a book by CCBC's own K.T. Horning. From Cover To Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Picture Books. (Harper, 1997) Genres and art styles are all addressed as well as making judgements about the books. Wonderful for helping the reader formulate the "right" questions to ask when looking at picture books.

Any of Leonard Marcus's books are great too. Through interviewing different artists and authors, the reader learns more about what their visions are and how they express them.The newest is Ways of Telling: Conversations on the Art of the Picture Book. (2002 Dutton) This offers an excellent look at the artists and their work! Also: A Caldecott Celebration: Six Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal
(1998 Walker & Co.) Side By Side: Five Favorite Picture BOok Teams Go To Work
(2001, Walker & Co.) How do two people work together?

SLJ's website has a section called ArtSpeak by Dilys Evans who knows everything there is about children's picture book art. Different media are introduced with multiple examples of each. Very helpful!
(If this is too arduous a URL, just go to www.slj.com and click on ArtSpeak in the left column of options.)

There have been numerous articles in Hornbook, PW and SLJ about or by different artists. Also, just looking at Art History books can be helpful for looking at composition, use of media, and artistic vision.

Good Luck! Bina

Bina Williams Bridgeport (CT) Public Library
Received on Tue 01 Apr 2003 12:18:05 PM CST