Talking With Artists, Volume 1

Talking With Artists, Volume 1. (1992). Ed. Pat Cummings. New York: Bradbury. ISBN 978-0027242454

Volume 1 of this series contains interviews with Victoria Chess, Pat Cummings (who is also the editor), Leo and Diane Dillon, Richard Egielski, Lois Ehlert, Lisa Campbell Ernst, Tom Feelings, Steven Kellogg, Jerry Pinkney, Amy Schwartz, Lane Smth, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Wiesner.

Each interview (or, as the book calls it, “conversation”) has three parts: a short autobiography of the artist titled “My Story,” with photos of the artist now and as a child; answers to eight questions (the same for each artist) like, “What do you enjoy drawing the most?” and artwork by the artist – both current work and pictures that the artist drew as a child. At the end of the book is a glossary with definitions of some of the words used in the book and a bibliography in which the artists list their five favorites of all the books they’ve illustrated.

The format got slightly repetitive when I read the book from cover to cover. All of the artists were asked the same eight questions, and all of their answers were included, even when the answer wasn’t particularly interesting or when it repeated information the author had previously given. This gave the effect of an interviewer who wasn’t listening to the interviewee. For instance, Richard Egielski answers question 2, “What is a normal day like for you?” charmingly by talking about how his dog comes in to make him take a break and play Frisbee with her every three hours. But he still gets asked whether he has any pets two questions later, as if he hadn’t told the story about his dog at all!

For me, the most interesting part of each conversation quickly became the autobiography and the pictures. I saw myself in some of the artists’ stories, and in others, I got glimpses of the kinds of children they must have been. (Amy Schwartz made me grin when she described picking books by authors whose names stared with W, Y, and Z because they were at the end of the children’s section and she thought that must make them the most complicated!)

The hands-down favorite for me was Lane Smith’s section. Everything had a Lane Smith touch, from his pictures (he’s wearing the same kind of shirt, has the same hairstyle, and is making the same face in his picture as an adult as he was in his picture as a kid) to his interview answers. He even livened his autobiography up by illustrating it.

Publisher’s Weekly says, “Unfortunately, the often poignant reminiscences and outstanding talent on display cannot overcome the book's unimaginative layout and distractingly pragmatic text. Some interview topics--how to get that first book contract, for example--seem less suited to children than to parents, who might be reassured to learn that making art can be financially as well as personally rewarding.” On the other hand, reviewer Shirley Wilton writes in School Library Journal, “Well designed and well conceived, this book will be welcomed in all those classrooms in which children's literature has become central to the curriculum.”

If I were to use this book with kids, I would do it by using each artist’s interview as a supplement to books by that artist. I think being intrigued by the artwork itself is most likely to get kids interested in finding out more about the artist.

“Talking With Artists.” Publisher’s Weekly. Qtd. in Amazon.com.

Wilton, Shirley. “Talking With Artists.” School Library Journal. Qtd. in Amazon.com.