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Windows Into Their Lives:
The Ninth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators
(H. W. Wilson, 2004)
By Connie Rockman
Children are innately curious about the authors and artists who create the books they love, and since 1934 the Junior Book of Authors and Illustrators series has been offering young readers and those who work with them a glimpse into the lives of creative people. The H. W. Wilson company has continued its commitment to this series into the 21st century with the recent publication of the Ninth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators. It has been my privilege to serve as the editor of this volume and the previous Eighth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators in 2000.
In all the volumes in this series, every attempt has been made to elicit from the authors an autobiographical statement so that researchers can read about their lives in their own words. For young readers, these autobiographies are especially meaningful. When famous authors and artists talk about the influences of their early childhood, home life, significant teachers and mentors, and the path they have followed to achieve eventual success, children may be inspired to follow their own dreams and develop their own creative responses to the world around them. The nine volumes in the Junior Authors series can be used for author and illustrator studies, for creative writing ideas, for inspiration as children write their own autobiographical sketches, and to compare the different paths creative people have taken to find their careers. Teachers and librarians might use these volumes to find new authors and artists whose work would enhance their curriculum and to identify people to bring to their schools for assembly programs and author visits to classrooms.
How do we determine which authors should be included in each volume? The editor creates a list of possible names, culled from award lists and distinctions, review journals, articles, and generally keeping an eye out for significant new names in the field. The list is then sent to a committee of children's book experts chosen to represent five different areas of the country. The experts vote on 200 names and the final list is compiled from comparing those lists and choosing the ones with the most votes. We then contact the writers and illustrators through their publishers to request an autobiographical sketch, a photo, and their signature. To add visual interest, one of the author's or artist's representative book jackets is chosen to illustrate the article. The result, for young readers, is a feeling of having a virtual visit with the author or illustrator. While many creative people have established their own websites, and some information about their lives can be culled from various sources on the Internet, there is still an intimate feeling to reading about a favorite writer or illustrator in book format and in their own words.
One of the joys for me, as an editor, is contacting authors and illustrators and working with them to create each profile. Their individual stories are remarkable in the way they illuminate their work. James Rumford, whose picture books are each set in a different part of the world, has traveled widely. He and his wife served in the Peace Corps in Chad and Afghanistan and have journeyed throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East before settling in Hawaii, where they now make their home. Recently, his book on Sequoyah (Houghton Mifflin, 2004) received a Sibert Honor Award. Pam Muñoz Ryan calls her background an "ethnic smorgasbord" and tells in her autobiographical sketch about the Mexican grandmother whose story she told in her much-honored novel Esperanza Rising (Scholastic Press, 2000) winner of the Pura Belpré Award. Ben Mikaelsen, whose riveting YA novels include Touching Spirit Bear (HarperCollins, 2001), tells how his life revolves around "Buffy," the 750-pound black bear he has raised from a cub. During his school visits he enjoys seeking out young students who are struggling with the mechanics of the language and relating the story of a college professor who told him his grammar skills were those of a 5th grader, but that his story was the only one in 300 papers that had made him laugh and cry. "You're a storyteller," said the professor. "That's writing!"
Kathy Jakobsen, the much-honored folk artist and author/illustrator of My New York (Megan Tingley, 2003), among other books, tells of a father who dumped a load of sand that covered the entire backyard so that she and her siblings could create roads and castles and sailing ships. They also printed news of their small world in their own tiny newspapers while drinking homemade root beer mixed in the basement laundry tub. Christopher Bing relates his delight in comics when he was a boy, a fascination that led him to ask customers on his newspaper route to cut out certain comic strips which they would save until he collected for the papers at the end of each week. As a teenager in an evening art class, he was introduced to editorial cartooning and found his career. With his first children's book, Casey at the Bat (Handprint Books, 2000), he received a Caldecott Honor Award.
The stories continue—each one unique, each one special, just as every individual is unique and special. Perhaps that is the ultimate lesson for young readers—and for all of us—as we read through these 175 profiles. We all have our own personal view of the world and there is great value in recognizing our own talents and developing our own skills, whatever they may be. Ultimately, having contact with creative people—whether in person or through the short visits provided in these volumes—children and teens can be inspired to find their own dreams and goals in life. •
Connie Rockman is a freelance Children's Literature Consultant and an adjunct professor in children's and young adult literature and storytelling at several universities. She is the editor of the Eighth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators (H. W. Wilson, 2000) and the Ninth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators (H. W. Wilson, 2004) and is now at work on the tenth volume in the series. She lives in Stratford, Connecticut and can be reached at connie.rock@snet.net.
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Connie Rockman is a freelance Children's Literature Consultant and an adjunct professor in children's and young adult literature and storytelling at several universities. She is the editor of the Eighth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators (H. W. Wilson, 2000) and the Ninth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators (H. W. Wilson, 2004) and is now at work on the tenth volume in the series. She lives in Stratford, Connecticut and can be reached at connie.rock@snet.net.
Past Perspectives:
Windows Into Their Lives: The Ninth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators
Connie Rockman, June 2005
Editing Anthologies for Young People
Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, May 2005
A Place Where The Wind Is Not Howling
Carole D. Fiore, October 2004
Picture a Life: Picture Book Biographies
Megan Schliesman, November 2003
Reading Skills and Social Studies
Tarry Lindquist, September 2003
Writing Biography
Barbara Elleman, June 2003
The NY Times Best Illustrated Children's Book Award
Eden Ross Lipson, March 2003
Publishing Books for the Very Young
Bernette Ford, October 2002
Stories and Art
Allison Day, June 2002
Children's Books are Not Just for Children Anymore!
May 2002
Poetry and Literacy
Glenna Sloan, April 2002
Library Outreach to Hispanic Children
Maria Mena, March 2002
Choosing Award-winning Nonfiction Writing for Children: Three Perspectives
February 2002
View from the Riverbank
Martha Davis Beck, November 2001
Science, Trade Books, and Natural Curiosity
Christine Anne Royce, August 2001
No Laughing Matter
Michael Cart, May 2001
Historical Fiction
Oralee Kramer, February 2001
Coretta Scott King Award
Dr. Henrietta M. Smith, November 2000
Multicultural Literature as Curriculum
Myra Zarnowski, August 2000
Multicultural Book Publishing
Philip Lee, May 2000
Human Diversity Materials in the Public Library
Esther Pollock, February 2000
Windows into the World's Religions
Marsha Hutchins, November 1999
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