YoungCanLit's Who's Who: Illustrators R to Z

This is my final post introducing some of Canada's illustrators of children's literature.  That's 52 artists who so capably take short texts and make them into magic. I applaud all their work!

Karen Reczuch

Barbara Reid

Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Bill Slavin

Ashley Spires

Bruno St. Aubin

Patricia Storms

Kevin Sylvester

Jeremy Tankard

François Thisdale

Chris Tougas

Vlasta Van Kampen

Ian Wallace

Mélanie Watt

Dave Whamond

Janet Wilson

Yayo

Cybèle Young

YoungCanLit's Who's Who: Illustrators H to Q

Here's my second post of youngCanLit illlustrators for you to peruse and examine for differences in styles, media and defining attributes.  Enjoy.




Ted Harrison

Linda Hendry

Stéphane Jorisch

Vladyana Krykorka

Kim LaFave 

Marie LaFrance

Hilary Leung

Qin Leng

George Littlechild 

Michael Martchenko

Esperança Melo

 

Julie Morstad 

Cynthia Nugent

Ruth Ohi

David Parkins

Karen Patkau 

Dušan Petričić

Stéphane Poulin

 

YoungCanLit's Who's Who: Illustrators A to G

If you've been reading this blog over the last year and a half, you'll know that I've reviewed many picture books, but few illustrators have been reviewed repeatedly.  That's because we have an incredible wealth of wonderful artists whose work is regularly selected to enhance the delightful stories of our youngCanLit authors.  I thought readers might enjoy an opportunity to examine some of the work of Canada's most prominent illustrators.  So, in a series of 3 posts, I'll display a few exemplary pieces of each illustrator's art.

Just as it becomes easier to recognize the writing style of favourite authors, I'm hoping to familiarize readers of youngCanLit with the styles of these illustrators.  While some artists have a variety of artistic styles, the work of other illustrators is easily recognizable, regardless of the author of the text.  For example, my young readers believe that they can recognize Robert Munsch books before they can read.  But it's actually Michael Martchenko's work that they recognize.  More than a few have been deceived into believing that works by Allen Morgan, Loris Lesynski and Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch are actually that of Robert Munsch solely on their familiarity with Michael Martchenko's illustrations.

So, please allow me to present to you my first post of youngCanLit illustrators.



Isabelle Arsenault

Andrea Beck

Philippe Béha

Rebecca Bender

Renné Benoit

Rachel Berman

  


Sean Cassidy

Brenda Clark

 
Gary Clement 

Geneviève Côté

Mike Deas

Brian Deines
 
























Suzanne Del Rizzo

Jan Dolby

Marianne Dubuc

Wallace Edwards

Eugenie Fernandes

Marie-Louise Gay

Georgia Graham

Dean Griffiths

Apologies to those artists who I may have inadvertently omitted.  I selected 50 illustrators with whom I was familiar, and still found more with suggestions from others.  If you would like to recommend another name, please leave a comment. Thank you.

Oy Feh So?

by Cary Fagan

Illustrated by Gary Clement

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-148-9

40 pp.

Ages 4-7

2013

Our families can be the fodder of so much humour.  Obviously Cary Fagan's family has provided him with a wealth of laughter if his numerous children's books are any indication.  From The Fortress of Kasper Snit (Tundra, 2004) and its 2 sequels, to My New Shirt (Tundra, 2007) and Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas (Tundra, 2009), Cary Fagan capably finds the comedic in relationships, familial and otherwise.

In Oy Feh So?, the arrival of Uncle Sam's old Lincoln marks the beginning of the ritualistic Sunday visit from Aunt Essy, Aunt Chanah and Uncle Sam.  As routine as their visits are, so too are their habitual use of interjections or exclamations before commenting on everything and anything.  Aunt Essy of the "Oy" always seems exasperated.  Aunt Chanah is the champion of "Feh", ever contemptuous.  And Uncle Sam's indifference is clear from his favourite interjection, "So?"  

Anticipating no deviation from their relatives' same-speak ("Do you think they'll say something different today?" my sister asked.  "Not a chance," my brother answered.), the three children in the household hatch a plan of multiple role-plays to flabbergast some new vocabulary out of their aunts and uncle.  But, it's not until the kids go overboard and shamelessly mimic their three relatives that Aunt Essy, Aunt Chanah and Uncle Sam discover their own farcical natures and begin to speak freely and uncharacteristically.

Gary Clement's ink-and-watercolour illustrations of Aunts Essy and Chanah and Uncle Sam bring out the boring attributes of all us older relatives: less than trendy eyeglasses, an unwelcome paunch, out-moded hairstyles, double chins and clothing lacking in style.  The details in the faces and hair and attire may be different, but they are the relatives we were all encouraged (forced?) to embrace and chat up because they were family.  And, if we were lucky, as the three children in Oy Feh So? are, we saw beyond the façade of their drudgery and stale vocabulary and glimpsed the fun-loving children they once were and now were willing to share with us.  This collaboration between Cary Fagan and Gary Clement is priceless in allowing us to see ourselves in the story, and hopefully recognize that it's up to us to help change those Sunday visits from doom to delight.  Oy!

The Secret of the Village Fool

by Rebecca Upjohn

Illustrated by Renné Benoit

Second Story Press

978-1-926920-75-7

32 pp.

Ages 7-10

2012

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

E. F. Schumacher

We are all fools at one point or another so the antiquated idea of a village fool is and should be reprehensible.  But, as E. F. Schumacher recognizes in the above quotation, courage and genius can transform, as it does in Rebecca Upjohn's The Secret of the Village Fool.  In the capable pen of award-winning youngCanLit author Rebecca Upjohn (The Last Loon, Orca, 2010; Lily and the Paper Man, Second Story Press, 2007), the true events upon which this picture book is based demonstrate the ignorance of prejudice and the courage of those who can see beyond it.

A sensitive man who talks to animals and plants and never eats meat, Anton is ridiculed for his weird ideas. But he recognizes kindness in others, like Milek and Munio's mother who sends food and clothes over to Anton who is poor.  He also sees the ugliness of those who warn him against fraternizing with Jews.  In World War II Poland, the fear of Hitler has many shunning their Jewish neighbours.  But not Anton.  He considers how to help them should the Nazis arrive in their village.

When the Nazis do arrive and they begin arresting Jews, targeting the boys first, Anton arrives at Milek and Munio's house with disguises for the boys. Later when whole families are being taken away, Anton keeps six of them hidden in his attic until an underground hiding place is constructed for them leading by tunnel from Anton's root cellar and by a shaft from Anton's bedroom.  Along with a young girl Ziphora and a family friend, Eva, the family hides away for months, enduring lice, dampness, hunger and cramped quarters.  Mama always reminds them of the risks Anton was taking daily to ensure their safety.  But, as Anton had always known, "Life is precious--every life."

With photographs, Rebecca Upjohn extends the story of Anton Suchinski and the Zeiger family to 1992 with Anton's official recognition as "Righteous among Nations" at the Holocaust Memorial and Museum in Jerusalem.  This recognition may have finally transformed Anton from village fool to village hero but his heart and valour have always identified him as a champion, choosing to live his life true to his heart, even when ridiculed.  The Secret of the Village Fool shows Anton to be not a fool, but an angel, especially to those whose lives he saved and to their children, grandchildren and others they were able to touch.  And to those of us fortunate enough to read this story. 

Thank you, Rebecca Upjohn, for giving life to this story and presenting it exquisitely, wisely tempering the horrors of a wartime genocide and human ignorance with Anton's compassion and wisdom and the learning that happens, so necessary for ignorance to be overcome.

Hannah and the Salish Sea

by Carol Anne Shaw

Ronsdale Press

978-1-55380-233-4

200 pp.

Ages 10+

2013

On a map showing the town of Cowichan Bay on Vancouver Island, you couldn't imagine a more serene, contemplative setting, tucked into a bay across from Saltspring Island and surrounded by parkland.  But this Cowichan Bay, of Carol Anne Shaw's Hannah and the Salish Sea, has some dark goings-on.  All is not well in Cowichan Bay.

The sequel to Carol Anne Shaw's Hannah and the Spindle Whorl (Ronsdale, 2010), Hannah and the Salish Sea revisits Hannah Rae Anderson, fourteen now, who still has trouble convincing her best friend and maybe boyfriend Max Miller that she'd somehow connected with a young girl, Yisella, 150 years earlier,  after finding an old spindle whorl.  But two years later, she and Max have no trouble finding other concerns in present-day Cowichan Bay.  While on a hike, they find dumped garbage bags of horticultural materials, including burned out extension cords.  At night, Hannah who lives on a houseboat spots some mysterious activity around the old rusty tuna boat, Orca I.  And Jack, the raven that has adopted Hannah, is bringing her odd gifts of a cigar butt, an eagle talon, a sliver of abalone, and such.  Then, when a bald eagle dies after hitting the power lines and its body disappears, Hannah and Max are sure they've seen more evidence of the rumoured poachers.

Meanwhile, rebellious teen Izzy Tate who is part Cowichan is shipped off from Saltspring Island to stay with her mom's friend, Ramona in Cowichan Bay, and work at her Salish Sea Studio where she knits sweaters and such in the Cowichan tradition.  Though resentful of this move, Izzy loves drawing, bird-watching and kayaking and quickly adopts an eagle's nest with two eaglets (who she names Oscar and Tango) and their father, Two-Step, ensuring their safety and keeping them fed with fish.

The two girls' stories are told in parallel veins, even for a time after they meet. And when Izzy and Hannah do meet, they see something shocking in each other:  Izzy sees the legendary red-haired white girl with a raven on her shoulder who came from the future, and Hannah sees the likeness of Yisella.  But their lives continue to follow independent paths, with Hannah trying to solve the mysteries of Jack's gifts, the Orca I, and the red 4x4 that seems to be associated with illicit activities, while Izzy tries to resolve issues with her mother, her heritage, and just do the right thing.

I'm so pleased to see that I can add Carol Anne Shaw's name to the list of youngCanLit authors who have successfully targeted the middle-grade book readers. With Hannah and the Salish Sea, Carol Anne Shaw provides young teen protagonists with contexts for their own parent and family issues, first attractions, peer pressures, jealousies, trust, and reactivity while learning to be themselves, not what others want them to be.  Just as in life, some things work, some don't; sometimes they're wrong, sometimes they convince others of their rightness. But, these are journeys they must endure, time-travel not excluded, to solve the mysteries within and without.  Within the framework of a gloriously natural setting, a First Nations history, and contemporary environmental issues, Hannah and the Salish Sea is sure to draw new readership from those who don't want to relive too much angst in their books.


n.b. A third book, Hannah and the Wild Woods is planned, taking the teens to Haida Gwaii and dealing with the detritus from the horrific tsunami that hit Japan in 2011.