Five year-old Shashank, the winner of our first “Around the World in 100 Bookshelves” book draw, received his books! The following is a note from his father:

The books have arrived, and they are so wonderful! Thank you! I have already read them several times to Shashank. His favorite one is ‘Homes,’ and the page he likes the most is the one where crying clouds make rain! Take a look at all the new books on our bookshelf!

Thanks for the feedback and photos, Prashanth! It’s great to see Shashank smiling, with his new favorite book in hand!

Readers, take note: on Jul 15th we will draw a new winner, so keep sending us photos of your children’s bookshelves. They could be the next to win a set of age-appropriate multicultural books!

Here is a list of the books we sent to Shashank:

Homes, by Yang-Huan, illustrated by Hsiao-yen Huang

Speak Chinese, Fang Fang! written and illustrated by Sally Rippin

No English by Jacqueline Jules, illustrated by Amy Huntington

Colors, Colores! by Jorge Luján

Loongie, The Greedy Crocodile by Lucy and Kiefer Dann, illustrated by Bronwyn Houston

Our new bimonthly update focuses on the world and the art of illustrators. If “every childhood lasts a lifetime,” as they say, so does the undoubted influence of picture books, and the world views they convey, in children’s lives. Translating stories into a language that needs no introduction to children, even when the subject matter is complex, children’s book illustrators communicate with their audience in a very unique way: being the language of imagination, the art of illustration lends itself perfectly to direct communication, without cultural or language barriers.

Through these new features, you will have a glimpse of how the highlighted artists work, what art means to them and how it transformed their lives. Please enjoy them. And while enjoying what they have to offer, chances are, you’ll also deepen your understanding of the important role their work plays in developing our children’s imaginations.

Featured artists include: Felicia Hoshino, Sally Rippin, Anne Spudvilas, Maya Christina Gonzalez and Amelia Lau Carling.

Long live children’s book illustrators and their picture books!…

One of Australian illustrator Sally Rippin’s recent children’s books (published in 2005 in Australia, 2007 in the U.S.) opens upwards rather than outwards. I asked Sally how she and author Whitney Stewart decided on the format for Becoming Buddha. Here’s her reply:

“Whitney suggested working together on a picture book, and I approached my publisher at the time with her ideas. They agreed to publish our book, and it was then left up to me to illustrate Whitney’s text. I decided to have Becoming Buddha open so the illustration reads vertically on the double page to represent an ancient manuscript, or a thangka. From what I know about Buddhism, I believe opening the book in this way makes you more conscious of your actions. Fortunately, the publisher agreed to this format.

“Painting the face of Siddhartha was quite challenging, because I knew there were certain rules about how the Buddha could be represented in art, and I also wanted to make the paintings my own representations of Siddhartha, the man, before he became enlightened. Again fortunately, Whitney was able to have a representative of the Dalai Lama approve the artwork before it went to press, so that gave me confidence.”

Melbourne poet and blogger Kris Helmsley had some interesting observations about the layout and Buddhism when he introduced Sally and Becoming Buddha at a book launch in June 2007; read his comments here.

Another vertically read book with an equally conscious layout is Caldecott Medal winner Ed Young’s Beyond the Great Mountains. Its cascading-style pages, illustrating Chinese characters and landscapes, also create a special physical awareness for young readers.

When I visited Ann James, illustrator of Ready Set Skip!, at Books Illustrated, she mentioned that there’s an Australia-wide shortage of book illustrators. To help address the problem, she’s recently taught two workshops on book illustration for aboriginal artists, sponsored by Magabala Books.

Becoming a children’s book illustrator isn’t always a direct path. Ann started out as an art teacher. Gaye Chapman, illustrator of Breakfast with Buddha, had been a graphic designer and professional painter for many years when her first children’s book, Heart of the Tiger, came out in 2004. Sally Rippin, illustrator of Becoming Buddha, started out writing and illustrating picture books, first published in 1996. Her novel, Chenxi and the Foreigner, begun while she was studying Chinese painting in China years earlier, was published in 2002, and an adult version is now in process. Sally teaches writing for children at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, where Ann is now studying with an eye to writing children’s books in addition to illustrating them.

Ann James and her partner, Ann Haddon, long-time promotors of children’s book illustration as an art genre, also produced Making Pictures: Techniques for Illustrating Children’s Books. They have had an exhibition space for children’s book art at their studio/bookshop for years and have recently begun organizing traveling exhibitions of children’s book illustrations on multiple continents.

While these illustrious illustrators illustrate books, their stories illustrate the many paths that can lead to a career in children’s book illustration.

Becoming Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha, by Whitney Stewart, is one of the top five spiritual books for kids on San Francisco Friends School librarian Chad Stephenson’s current favorites list. A practicing Quaker, Chad has also worked in Catholic and Waldorf schools. He looks for books that “equip kids spiritually for the incongruities of life” and are “not obnoxiously preachy.”

Chad describes Becoming Buddha as “a simple retelling of the Buddha’s life through a uniquely formatted book which also includes Sanskrit and even some ‘dark’ sides of the Buddha’s experiences; best for ages 8 and up.”

Along with further details on the appealing format of Becoming Buddha, Whitney Stewart’s website includes a page of information on Buddhism; scroll down for an annotated list of other books on Buddhism for children. Australian Sally Rippin, an illustrator with a widely international background, created the beautiful images. Becoming Buddha includes an introduction to meditation practice for children. Stewart’s earlier books include biographies of the Dalai Lama and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

We’ll have more of Chad’s thoughts and recommendations on spiritual books for children in future posts.