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WEBSITE: www.davidcovell.com/
CITY: New York
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 336
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PERSONAL
Born in ME.
EDUCATION:Carnegie Mellon University, B.F.A., 1989.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Graphic designer, art director, author, and illustrator. Jager DiPaola Kemp Design, Burlington, VT, art director, 1990-2000, creative lead and founder of New York City office, 2004-11; freelance designer, 2000—, including work with advertising agencies SpotCo., Strawberry Frog, and TBWA/Chiat Day. Speaker at schools, libraries, and bookstores. Work is included in the permanent collection at Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum.
AWARDS:Best Illustrated Book, New York Times/New York Public Library, 2018, for Run Wild.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals.
SIDELIGHTS
A respected graphic designer and art director, David Covell is the author and illustrator of a number of picture books for young audiences. In Rat and Roach: Friends to the End and its sequel, Rat and Roach Rock On!, Covell follows the adventures of a pair of unlikely companions. A tribute to the great outdoors, Run Wild draws on Covell’s memories of growing up in rural Maine.
In his debut children’s book Rat and Roach, Covell introduces readers to “a classic New York City odd couple,” observed a Publishers Weekly critic. Pudgy, unkempt Rat shares quarters under Avenue A with his fastidious pal, Roach. Often at odds over home decor and meal planning, the pair wind up in an argument that threatens their friendship. According to School Library Journal reviewer Susan Weitz, “Covell tells this familiar story with unusual visual and verbal humor and a delightfully caustic lack of sentimentality,” and a writer in Kirkus Reviews believed that “Covell’s talents lie in his art, his book filled to brimming with spray-paint drips, clouds of noxious fumes and humorous details.”
The two friends join forces for a special musical performance in Rat and Roach Rock On! Chosen to serve as the lead singer for Rat’s junkyard band, the Rat-a-Tat Pack, Roach comes to rehearsal in a glittery, dazzling outfit that earns the ire of his more sloppily attired bandmates. As the group prepares to hit the stage at the Big City Jam, Roach—forced to wear grungy-looking clothes—suffers a case of stage fright, which forces his companions to reconsider their sartorial options. Rat and Roach Rock On! “demonstrates the value of compromise,” remarked Gay Lynn Van Vleck in School Library Journal. A Kirkus Reviews contributor applauded Covell’s artwork, noting that the “digital gymnastics evoke the splatter, smells and feel of the filthy pavements.”
Covell celebrates the joys of playing outdoors in Run Wild, a lyrical work featuring “powerful art and punchy text,” in the opinion of a Publishers Weekly critic. Prompted by an ebullient girl who beckons him outdoors, a boy puts down his electronic device and enjoys a barefoot romp through a sunny field and a lush forest before going for a dip at the seashore. “Short sentences … flow easily and keep pace with the children’s feet,” Maryann Owen stated in Booklist, and Barbara Auerbach, writing in School Library Journal, praised Covell’s “invigorating, celebratory poem.” A number of reviewers complimented the dynamic illustrations. “Covell’s illustrations are exuberant, projecting to readers the raw joy and wonder of exploring the natural world,” explained a Kirkus Reviews writer in a starred review.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 15 2018, Maryann Owen, review of Run Wild, p. 59.
Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2012, review of Rat and Roach: Friends to the End; January 15, 2013, review of Rat and Roach Rock On!; April 15, 2018, review of Run Wild.
Publishers Weekly, May 7, 2012, review of Rat and Roach, p. 52; April 30, 2018, review of Run Wild, p. 58.
School Library Journal, June, 2012, Susan Weitz, review of Rat and Roach, p. 80; February, 2013, Gay Lynn Van Vleck, review of Rat and Roach Rock On!, p. 72; May, 2018, Barbara Auerbach, review of Run Wild, p. 66.
ONLINE
David Covell website, http://davidcovellbooks.com (November 1, 2018).
No bio.
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DAVID COVELL
David Covell grew up in the wilds of Maine and only came home when it was time for dinner.
By day, Covell is a graphic designer, whose experience covers an array of clients from XBOX to the Wall Street Journal and whose work is included in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
By night, Covell is an author and illustrator of picture books. His latest, RUN WILD, published by Penguin Viking, was selected as a 2018 Best Illustrated Book by The New York Times and The New York Public Library. He lives in the Catskills.
Covell, David GATHER ROUND Viking (Children's None) $18.99 3, 26 ISBN: 9780593327630
The ancient comfort of a campfire's glow provides both a space for new friends and a sturdy brace against the dark.
"Aren't we lucky / we're not alone?" An adult, a child, and a dog travel through the wilderness until it's time to set up camp. "Gather rocks. // Rocks all around. / Let's make a fire / before the sun goes down." After the trio gather tinder, the resulting flames seemingly produce phoenixes and foxes in their flickers. The night might be shadowy and scary, but soon food is cooking over a roaring fire. Fellow hungry travelers then join in, providing songs and company amid fireflies and roasted marshmallows. Noting in the gentle afterword that "a campfire is a living thing: Just like you," Covell explains how to safely tend one, bank it, and put it out. In this way the book celebrates the campfire and recognizes how fire helps foster a sense of community, but Covell also acknowledges the harm fires can do if left untended. Innovative art constructed from digitally collaged cut paper, charcoal, chalk, "all kinds of pencils, and a pinch of salt" will keep young readers enthralled, particularly if they notice the little red ant that pops up in almost every scene. The human protagonists are brown-skinned; other characters are racially diverse.
The darkness and unknown are no match for people, song, and the warmth of a good fire in this reassuring paean to community. (Picture book. 4-7)
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"Covell, David: GATHER ROUND." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A782202485/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ae17f91e. Accessed 2 May 2024.