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WORK TITLE: THE SNAIL
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WEBSITE: http://ehug.tumblr.com/
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COUNTRY: United Kingdom
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LAST VOLUME: SATA 327
http://blog.picturebookmakers.com/post/137152829936/emily-hughes * http://nobrow.net/creator/emily-hughes-2/ * http://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-of-the-day/emily-hughes-102886.html * https://tygertale.com/2015/08/30/5190/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Hilo, HI.
EDUCATION:Arts University College at Bournemouth, Poole, England.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Illustrator and author.
AVOCATIONS:Reading, watching films.
WRITINGS
Also, author of Nana Shaped Like a Banana.
SIDELIGHTS
Originally from Hilo, Hawaii, Emily Hughes moved to England when she was seventeen years old. Educated at Arts University College at Bournemouth, she works as an illustrator for children’s books. She has written and released self-illustrated books and has illustrated the books of other authors, including Sean Taylor, Carter Higgins, Roddy Doyle, and Laurel Snyder.
Hughes’s first self-illustrated book is Wild, released in 2013. It features a girl learning from the animals she lives with in the woods. Bears, birds, and other creatures teach her how to perform regular actions, like eating and speaking. A human couple is shocked to find the girl living alone in the woods. They take her home to live with them. The little girl is unhappy in her new environment and ultimately runs back to the woods, where she feels she belongs. Mary Medicott, a contributor to School Librarian, described Wild as “a challenging picture-book—simple on the surface, unsettling underneath.”
In 2015 Hughes published The Little Gardener, another self-illustrated book. It tells the story of a tiny man who is inspired by a beautiful flower to tend to its garden. A normal-sized girl takes over the gardening when the tiny man falls asleep. The man wakes and, with the girl, enjoys the blooms in the garden they have made. In an interview with a contributor to the Design of the Picture Book website, Hughes explained how the book came to be. She stated: “Lots of things were swimming around in my head when The Little Gardener was being made. I was back home rereading a book I love, The Growth of the Soil, about a simple, self-sufficient man dealing with societal pressures that seem unnecessary. He was the symbol of The Little Gardener, he’s not the personality powerhouse Wild is, he is really just a symbol for the everyman, the underdog, you, me, (my brother thinks the third world) our place as a human. It’s not about him, it’s about his vision, his hopes.”
A reviewer in Publishers Weekly asserted: “Hughes’s rich, rhythmic storytelling voice and dark tapestry spreads carry perennial magic.” A Kirkus Reviews critic described the book as “a lovely visual tribute to the persistent hard work behind every flourishing garden.” “A gentle fairy tale, the story encourages tenacity,” noted Gay Lynn Van Vleck in School Library Journal.
Hughes illustrated Brilliant, a book by Doyle, which finds children chasing the Black Dog of Depression out of Dublin. Taylor tapped Hughes to illustrate his 2016 book, A Brave Bear. Hughes is the illustrator for both Charlie & Mouse and its sequel, Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy, written by Laurel Snyder. The former tells of two siblings’ daily adventures. In Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy, their grandpa visits them. Hughes is the illustrator of 2018’s Everything You Need for a Treehouse, written by Carter Higgins.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2016, Briana Shemroske, review of A Brave Bear, p. 64.
Horn Book, July-August, 2017, Elisa Gall, review of Charlie & Mouse, p. 142.
Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2015, review of The Little Gardener; July 1, 2015, review of Brilliant; February 15, 2016, review of A Brave Bear; February 15, 2017, review of Charlie & Mouse; August 1, 2017, review of Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy.
Publishers Weekly, May 18, 2015, review of The Little Gardener, p. 81; June 8, 2015, review of Brilliant, p. 59; December 2, 2015, review of The Little Gardener, p. 24; January 18, 2016, review of A Brave Bear, p. 77; December 2, 2016, review of A Brave Bear, p. 31; February 13, 2017, review of Charlie & Mouse, p. 76.
School Librarian, winter, 2013, Mary Medicott, review of Wild, p. 215; autumn, 2016, Wendy Worley, review of A Brave Bear, p. 160.
School Library Journal, June, 2015, Gay Lynn Van Vleck, review of The Little Gardener, p. 84; July, 2015, Wayne R. Cherry, Jr., review of Brilliant, p. 75; February, 2016, Marianne Saccardi, review of A Brave Bear, p. 73; January, 2017, Casey O’Leary, review of Charlie & Mouse, p. 81; October, 2017, Luann Toth, review of Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy, p. 88.
ONLINE
Cartoon Brew, http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ (December 5, 2014), Chris McDonnell, profile of author and examples of her work.
Design of the Picture Book, http://www.designofthepicturebook.com/ (August 25, 2017), author interview; (August 26, 2017), author interview.
Nobrow Website, http://nobrow.net/ (March 2, 2018), author interview.
Picturebook Makers, http://blog.picturebookmakers.com/ (March 2, 2018), author profile.*
In conversation with Emily Hughes
From the book ‘Wild’, by Emily Hughes
Arranged by British Council Bangladesh, Drawing Words is an exhibition that features ten illustrators from across the UK, whose works play an important role in the contemporary British picture book illustration sector. One of the most impressive exhibits in the project was from illustrator and writer Emily Hughes’ Wild, a truly stunning piece of art in the mold of a children’s book. Her book, Nana Shaped Like a Banana, won second prize in the 2012 Macmillan Children’s Book Awards. The Daily Star presents to you an exclusive interview of the Hawaii-born illustrator on the exhibition, her works, and more.
Thank you for your time. ‘Drawing Words’ has received a lot of praise for its presentation and the fact that it highlights work for children. How was your experience in Bangladesh, while your time here for the exhibition?
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This was my first time in the country, and I must say that I loved it very much. The people are very welcoming here, and Dhaka has a certain charm to it – there is always something happening when I look out of the car window. Drawing Words has indeed been a special exhibition; we had an equally good response when it was held in Cox’s Bazaar and Dhaka. Since the exhibition is geared towards children, it had to be geared towards narratives and expression, and we had to be mindful of that.
Photo: Sheikh Mehedi Morshed
You are both the author and illustrator of ‘Wild’, a book which has been highly praised. Could you tell us more about it?
Wild is about a girl who was found in the forest, and has green hair. She knows nothing but nature from birth—she was taught to talk by birds, to eat by bears, and to play by foxes. She is later found by some humans, who perplex her as they look the same, but act vastly different from her. There is not much text in the book, the story is paved by the illustrations.
‘Wild’, has some gorgeous illustrations that make adults, as well as children, want to read it. Do you think children’s books can be both for children and adults?
Thank you very much for your words. Absolutely, children’s books have to be read by adults, as they are the ones who will be ultimately conveying the stories to them. People think that it is easy to make a children’s book, and quite frankly, it is the opposite. The aim of a book, for me, is not to increase ‘literacy’ per se, but to build a social connection. These books are often passed from one generation to another, so the it has to have a level of longevity as well.
What is the most important aspect of being a children’s illustrator or writer?
One of the quotes that I use frequently is, “Don’t dumb it down for children.” The work has to be entertaining, but at the same time, has to be very honest. Children can often sense injustice better than adults can, but at the same time, I feel bad that they have so little power over their surroundings.
Do you have any advice for upcoming writers and illustrators?
Even though I am not that confident about my writing as of yet, I’ll say that if you don’t read books, don’t write books! (Laughs) It is not as easy as we sometimes think it is. For illustrators, I feel like a lot of creativity is needed, and one needs to stop drawing directly from real-life subjects and focus on their inner creativity. Only then will the art be distinguishable.
Emily Hughes is the illustrator of the beloved Charlie and Mouse series and Everything You Need for a Treehouse. She was born in Hawaii and lives and works in the United Kingdom.
Hughes, Emily THE SNAIL Chronicle Books (Children's None) $18.99 11, 8 ISBN: 978-1-79720-467-3
A glimpse into the life of an iconic sculptor.
The son of a Japanese poet and an American writer, Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) struggled for acceptance in both Japan and the United States; he "felt like a snail and called himself one," most at home in his own shell. Hughes uses Noguchi's creation of an akari light sculpture for an exhibition as a device to dive into the artist's development. Curves are a motif throughout--as Noguchi works on the curves of the sculpture, he recalls being ostracized in Japan as a child for his curly hair, but he also remembers the fern tendrils of his beloved garden. He remembers the tension between his parents, each believing his future was in a different land, and he's reminded of World War II and its destruction, when he was seen as the enemy by both America and Japan. But the akari's paper brings comfort. Noguchi emerges from the creative process anew, at peace with himself and with the knowledge that he and his creations can't be categorized--that they are astounding, new, and uniquely him. Though the illustrations, which use graphite to delicately render his life, are effective, the text jumps across time and space and may at times confuse readers unfamiliar with the artist. In particular, it isn't clear why Noguchi was able to leave an imprisonment camp while other Japanese Americans remained. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An ambitious attempt to chronicle the life of a complex artist that falls short. (author's note, photo) (Picture-book biography. 8-10)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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Source Citation
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"Hughes, Emily: THE SNAIL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729072478/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=65b24445. Accessed 19 May 2023.
The Snail
Emily Hughes. Chronicle, $18.99 (88p) ISBN 978-1-79720-467-3
Interspersed with full-color spreads that mark crucial moments in the life of sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), diaphanous grayscale illustrations by Hughes (the Charlie and Mouse series) give this picture book a sense of visual calm. But emotion roils underneath as lines describe Noguchi, the son of a white American mother and a Japanese father, as an artist whose work was rejected by both countries. Asked as an old man to represent the U.S. in an exhibition, he declines: "America never wanted me!" Attentive spreads describe the way "Isamu felt like a snail and called himself one.... In the shell, Isamu was safe with his memories and dreams and worked with complete focus." Toggling back and forth between the figure's youth and old age, the text portrays Noguchi's feeling of profound alienation from both cultures, his shortening both his hair and his name in an attempt to fit in with peers ("No cut, no change could bring him closer to others"), and, much later, his creation of akari--"sculptures that held light within"--en route to participating in the exhibition. Though the text sometimes proves confusing, relying on abstract phrasing, Hughes pays careful attention to the surfaces of Noguchi's sculpture-the heavy grain of wood, the dark gleam of polished stone--to create a visually elegant telling. Ages 8--12. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Nov.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"The Snail." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 44, 24 Oct. 2022, p. 82. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A726744459/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=08c349fa. Accessed 19 May 2023.