Illustrator Extraordinaire

A magical part of children lit are the pictures. Although the words tell a magical story, the illustrations capture the magic. Pairing a writer with the right illustrator is essential to a children’s picture book’s success. I believe illustrating children’s books well  is an extraordinary talent.  

Way back some thirty-plus years ago, the Albert Whitman and Company accepted my Famous Seaweed Soup manuscript. This was an exciting time. The story I had worked on, read to and shared with fellow writers, colleagues and children, and peddled to scores of publishers for almost five years, would finally come to life. As dream fulfilling as it was, I soon learned that I had surrendered my story. A wonderful editor, art directors, and a production team poured over and picked apart the manuscript so that it would flow into a page turning book. My editor sent me pages with sticky note comments and changes (pre-word processing and email era). That was about my only contribution to the entire publication process. 

Nadine Bernard Wescott was the contracted illustrator. At the time, her cartoon style was very popular. Ms. Wescott was a prolific and extraordinary artist. Do you remember Raffi, the children’s folk singer? Ms. Wescott illustrated his children’s songbooks. My daughters had several on their bookshelves. 

I was impressed, but mildly disappointed. Famous Seaweed Soup had lived in my head for years. My vision included pen and ink drawings with a watercolor wash. Very dramatic but not what the public wanted. I had no voice in the matter. I could not send Ms. Wescott photographs of my kids playing on the beach. My kind editor explained that illustrator will interpret “our” story as she sees it. The buying audience will love it. Children will be delighted. No one will be disappointed. She was right. Everyone, including me, loved the finished book. We were all delighted. Famous Seaweed Soup lived for almost twenty-years.

Time marched forward. Things changed and the publishing world changed with it. Famous Seaweed Soup was out of print for ten years when I decided to re-publish it with Purple Butterfly Press, a hybrid book publisher. Not only was I hand held through the whirlwind process, I collaborated about font styles, book size, and had a say in the layout. I also got to contract an illustrator. My first choice was Penny Weber. 

I found Penny Weber the way most illustrators are found in these techy times—the internet. I needed an illustrator to recover my first middle grade book, The Heart of Bakers and Artists, and illustrate the covers for the two other books in the series, The Dreams of Singers and Sluggers and The Wishes of Sisters and Strangers. Middle grade book covers, as with all books, require an attractive eye-catching illustration. I needed cover art that showed the books belonged together.

The world is small for searching for contract work. There are several agencies, each with their pro and cons. I had worked with a Reedsy editor on a separate project and had a wonderful experience and success. Through Reedsy, I browsed children’s book illustrator’s portfolios from around the world. I read bios, and reviews and eventually narrowed my search to a dozen applicants. I corresponded with artists in Finland, Berlin, South Africa, Edinburgh and a few in the States. 

I was drawn to an illustrator’s paintings of children at play. She captured authentic facial expressions and fluid body postures. Her work looked like colorized photographs. She depict diverse cultures without gratuitous stereotyping. Her reviews glowed with integrity and ease of working within parameters and deadlines. She also hailed from New York. When we had an occasion to speak on the phone, she sounded like me. Long Island dialects are hard to miss. We discovered we lived five miles away from each other. 

I hired Penny to do the three covers for the middle grade Becoming America’s Stories series. The experience and outcome were beautiful. I get so many compliments. I wanted Penny to work with me and the amazing crew at Purple Butterfly Press bringing Famous Seaweed Soup back into children’s hands. She agreed. We produced a delightful picture book everyone loves. I never felt I had surrendered my work.

 Penny proved to be the Illustrator Extraordinaire.  As an added bonus, Penny has joined me at launch parties and book-talk events. We also have chatty lunch dates together. 

Thanks for reading. Enjoy. Like. Share.

---