From: Marianne Saccardi <m.saccardi>
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2003 11:15:13 -0400

I have brought Vera Williams in to speak for several of my programs and have heard her as a speaker at several conferences. Each time has been a delightful experience. I will never forget how, for a group of third graders, she enacted being huge printing machines printing out four different colors to create a picture book illustration. She chugged her way across the room as she spoke. The children were enthralled. That same energy is so evident in her books. I particularly love her background brush stokes. If you look at More, More, More, Said the Baby, the brush strokes in the background mimic the actions of the characters on the page. Then there's the multicultural aspects of her books, both in content and illustration. The different shades of color in her character Bedemi's (don't have the book in front of me, so am not sure I'm spelling the name correctly) are amazing.

 I believe someone wrote that Vera said her book about Amber and Esse was the point to which all her work was leading. I agree that it is masterful!

Marianne Saccardi
Received on Fri 08 Aug 2003 10:15:13 AM CDT