{"id":102,"date":"2011-07-25T19:18:30","date_gmt":"2011-07-25T19:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.annmcgovern.com\/?page_id=98"},"modified":"2012-10-15T15:39:38","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T15:39:38","slug":"meet-the-artists","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/?page_id=102","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Artists"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Click on the pictures to enlarge.<\/p>\n

I was very lucky to have artist friends to illustrate my books. Nowadays, publishers pick the artists and it mostly works out fine. But I miss the special relationship between artist and author.<\/p>\n

Some of the artists who illustrated my books were already my friends; others became friends.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mort and I have been friends since the 50's!<\/p><\/div>\n

MORT GERBERG<\/a><\/p>\n

Mort illustrated a few of my earliest books. When MR. SKINNER’S SKINNY HOUSE<\/a> needed an illustrator, I knew that Mort’s cartoon style would be perfect for my story. \u00a0And it was!\u00a0Mort also illustrated a real birthday cake for one of my big birthdays. Now, how many artists do that? \u00a0Mort’s cartoons were often published in The New Yorker<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When Mort and his wife Judith had a baby girl, Lilia, I became her godmother!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Me and Lilia when she was young. Now Lilia has a baby girl!<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

My son Peter, Ezra and I clowning around. This photo is in our book, ZOO, WHERE ARE YOU?<\/p><\/div>\n

EZRA JACK KEATS<\/a><\/p>\n

Ezra and I were great friends for many years. He also was a good friend to my son, Peter.\u00a0 He told Peter he named his main character after him. Ezra dedicated his book, WHISTLE FOR WILLIE to me.<\/p>\n

Ezra had just won the Caldecott Medal for THE SNOWY DAY\u00a0and his next project was illustrating my story, ZOO, WHERE ARE YOU<\/a>?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Nola, a terrific friend and such a talented artist.<\/p><\/div>\n

NOLA LANGNER<\/p>\n

Nola and I worked on six books together: HALF A KINGDOM<\/a>, SCRAM, KID!<\/a>, LITTLE WOLF<\/a>, and WHO HAS A SECRET?<\/a> We also collaborated on a book of fairy tales. She did the artwork for the first edition of STONE SOUP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We met in 3rd grade and played with her puppets. When we were in our twenties, we bumped into each other at a supermarket in Manhattan and we were the closest of friends until her death in 2003. My son, Peter, and I spent many a happy weekend at Nola’s country house in Connecticut with Nola’s five children.\u00a0 Peter still remembers picking and eating the fresh corn he planted in Nola’s fields.<\/p>\n

Two of our books are now back in print and available — LITTLE WOLF<\/a> and WHO HAS A SECRET?<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

We did a program together at a local library.<\/p><\/div>\n

TOMIE DE PAOLA<\/a><\/p>\n

Tomie and I met at a children’s book conference in California where we both were featured speakers.\u00a0 We became instant friends. He was wearing different colored shoes. I had just come back from the island of Tortola in the Caribbean. Tomie’s shoes and a tropical island were the inspiration for my book. NICHOLAS BENTLEY STONNGPOT III<\/a> was published to great acclaim.\u00a0Tomie has won so many awards for his books.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Another Caldecott Medalist friend<\/p><\/div>\n

SIMMS TABAK<\/a><\/p>\n

Simms and I were telephone and e-mail friends until his death on Christmas Day 2011. The publisher chose Simms to illustrate TOO MUCH NOISE <\/a>\u00a0and he did a new cover for the book’s 40th anniversary. TOO MUCH NOISE is now considered a classic for children ages 3-7. Simms once wrote to me to say TOO MUCH NOISE is one of his favorite books and that he’s amazed it’s been in print so long! Simms won the Caldecott Medal for JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT. <\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hope and I share a funny moment!<\/p><\/div>\n

HOPE WURMFELD\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Hope and I met in 1968 and we’re close friends. Her photographs grace two of my books:\u00a0 BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL<\/a> and FEELING BAD, FEELING MAD, FEELING SAD, FEELING GLAD<\/a>. Hope and I are also travel buddies. We’ve been to Spain, Berlin, Paris, London, Mexico and Mallorca where we take art workshops. Hope is a noted photographer, collage artist and a writer. Her children are my friends, too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Return to the top of the page.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click on the pictures to enlarge. I was very lucky to have artist friends to illustrate my books. Nowadays, publishers pick the artists and it mostly works out fine. But I miss the special relationship between artist and author. Some of the artists who illustrated my books were already my friends; others became friends. MORT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-102","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153,"href":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102\/revisions\/153"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annmcgovern.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}