Tour Provides a Peek Into the Lives of Children’s Book Illustrators

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

Members of the ABC Children’s Group at ABA participated in Illustrator Studio Tours, sponsored by the ABC Children’s Group and the Children’s Book Council, on Wednesday, May 29, at BookExpo America 2013. Illustrators including Paul Hoppe, John Green, You Byun, Tad Hills, Betsy and Ted Lewin, and Kate Yamasaki welcomed booksellers into their studios, shared insights into their creative processes, and provided a look at some of their latest works.

Thanks to Nancy Simpson-Brice of Book Vault in Oskaloosa, Iowa; Gussie Lewis of The Gaithersburg Book Festival in Gaithersburg, Maryland; and Monica Holmes of Hicklebee’s in San Jose, California, for providing us with photos of some of the day’s highlights.

 

 

Children’s book illustrator Paul Hoppe in his Brooklyn studio (left). 

Hoppe’s illustrations, in progress (below).

 

Comics and animation artist John Green at his desk in his Brooklyn studio (left), and his illustration for the Disney cartoon Phineas & Ferb (right).

 

Artist You Byun (third from left), illustrator of the picture book Dream Friends (Penguin), with booksellers Ellen Richmond (Children’s Book Cellar, Waterville, Maine), Beth Golay (Watermark Books, Wichita, Kansas), and Sunny Bowles (Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia) at Byun’s studio in Brooklyn. Byun’s illustrations (below).

 

Children’s book illustrator Tad Hills in his Brooklyn studio (left). Hills with booksellers Sarah Galvin (The Bookstore Plus, Lake Placid, New York), Gussie Lewis (The Gaithersburg Book Festival, Gaithersburg, Maryland), and Isabel Baker (The Book Vine, McHenry, Illinois), and dog Rocket (right).

 

 

 

 

Monica Holmes of Hicklebee’s (San Jose, California) models the Empire State Building, a costume made for Hill’s children for Halloween. 

 

 

 

 

Betsy and Ted Lewin, prolific children’s book writers and illustrators, in front of their Brooklyn brownstone.

 

 

Valerie Lewis talks with artist Kate Yamasaki in her Brooklyn studio.