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Reading: Authors
African-American Author-Illustrator
Jerry Pinkney:
The Pictures That Tell
the Tales
Jerry Pinkney
is one of the world's favorite illustrators of children's picture books. His
beautiful, colorful, vibrant paintings, created with pencil, colored pencils,
and watercolor, have enhanced more than 100 children's books.
In 2010, he won
the Caldecott Medal for his adaptation of the Aesop's fable, "The Lion and the
Mouse," which he not only wrote, but also illustrated.
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His
list of awards and honors is growing almost daily. Here's just a small sampling
of some of his children's book covers:
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Cover art for the award-winning The Lion and the Mouse
Born in Philadelphia in 1939, in childhood he struggled with
dyslexia - reading disability 0—but was great at art, and his talent was
recognized.
Even today, he
still has trouble reading and spelling, but at least his genius with drawing
gave him high enough self-esteem to not give up, but continue to reach toward
an art career.
He attended
vocational school and received a full scholarship to attend the Philadelphia
Museum College of Art (PCA), which is now known as the University of the Arts.
He married his wife, Gloria, herself an accomplished author, while a student at
PCA.
Pinkney worked as a designer at a greeting card company in
Boston, and became known for his work as an illustrator at another firm. After
opening a studio with several other artists, Pinkney later opened his Jerry
Pinkney Studio, and he and his family moved to New York.
Pinkney began
illustrating children's picture books in 1964. By 2000, he had illustrated more
than 100 picture books. Among the books he has illustrated are several written
by his wife, Gloria, and a number written by Julius Lester, including the
recent John Brown book which has
gained much fame.
Pinkney's drawings have tended to focus on multicultural and
African-American themes, although many people admire his animal paintings and
say he is among the most-skilled artists of any ethnic background. Among many
other projects, he designed a dozen postage stamps for the U.S. Postal Service
Black Heritage series
To read more
about this creative genius and see more of his art work, see www.jerrypinkneystudio.com