SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: The Painter and the President
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.stacyinnerst.com/
CITY: Pittsburgh
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 232
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Los Angeles, CA; has children.
EDUCATION:University of New Mexico, B.A., 1980; graduate study at Southern Illinois University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Illustrator. Freelance illustrator, beginning 1980; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, editorial illustrator, beginning 1999; La Roche University, Pittsburgh, teach illustration.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
AWARDS:Editorial work honored by representation in annuals, including American Illustration, Print, and Luerzer’s Archive: 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide; honors from Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, and Corporation for Public Broadcasting; Parents’ Choice Gold Medal, and One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing selection, New York Public Library, both 2003, both for M Is for Music by Kathleen Krull; Smithsonian magazine Notable Book for Children selection, 2010, for Lincoln Tells a Joke by Krull and Paul Brewer; SCBWI Golden Kite for Picture Book Illustration, for The Music in George’s Head; New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award, and ALA Notable Book, 2017, for Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of RBG Vs. Inequality; Sydney Taylor Book Award, 2020, for The Book Rescuer.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals, including Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, and Philadelphia Inquirer.
SIDELIGHTS
The artwork of Stacy Innerst, a former editorial illustrator for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, has graced the pages of such well-received children’s books as Kathleen Krull’s M Is for Music and Tony Johnston’s stories in both The Worm Family and Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea: A Fairly Fabricated Story of a Pair of Pants. “It was a bit of a shift to go from editorial newspaper illustration to children’s books, but I was eager to try it,” Innerst noted in a Harcourt Web site interview. “The subject matter forced me to ‘lighten up’ and take a breather from the news. It was also fun to create something for an audience that is composed mainly of kids and their parents—a group for whom I have tremendous respect!” In fact, Innerst’s work is noted for its unique approach; for example, in illustrating Johnson’s picture-book history about the man who invented blue jeans, he uses denim as the canvas on which he “chronicles the raucous action in acrylic paintings,” according to a Publishers Weekly critic.
In Krull’s offbeat alphabet book M Is for Music, the author presents a smorgasbord of musical styles, terms, and names, touching on such diverse individuals as Ludwig von Beethoven and Frank Zappa and such concepts as aria and quadrille. Innerst’s “jazzy, oil-and-acrylic collage assemblages include humorous touches to reinforce the concepts,” remarked School Library Journal critic Jane Marino. A Publishers Weekly reviewer similarly noted that the artist’s “slyly humorous, slightly abstract oil and acrylic illustrations give the minimal text a sophisticated spin.” Writing in the New York Times Book Review, Paul O. Zelinsky offered effusive praise for Innerst’s “bravura painting” in M Is for Music. “A daub of paint here and a smear there, and voilá, a perfect Louis Armstrong in caricature … ,” wrote Zelinsky. “Graphics as sophisticated as Innerst’s often lack what interests children most: well-developed subject matter and a sense of humor. But both are fully in evidence here.” Discussing his approach to the work in his Harcourt interview, the artist explained: “I wanted the overall presentation of the book to feel like a musical score, with the kind of scrawled energy that one perceives when looking at a handwritten piece of music.”
Johnston’s The Worm Family offers “a unique take on prejudice,” according to School Library Journal contributor John Sigwald. Despite their love for one another, the seven skinny, wiggly members of the Worm clan have difficulty establishing permanent roots and face discrimination from a host of creepy-crawly neighbors each time they attempt to settle down. Finally, the worms take a bold stand and assert their rights. Innerst’s “antic oil paintings … picture the Worms standing tall like fingers or curling in graceful esses,” applauded a contributor in reviewing The Worm Family for Publishers Weekly.
Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President (and the Country), a picture-book biography by Krull and her husband, Paul Brewer, affords readers an unique view of Abraham Lincoln by focusing on the way the sixteenth U.S. president used humor to guide him through political and personal crises. “Innerst’s colorful and unconventional acrylic illustrations … are the perfect complement to both the text and the subject matter,” Jody Kopple maintained in her School Library Journal review of the book. His “gorgeous, textured paintings, many of them caricatures, are varied and inventive,” a critic in Kirkus Reviews stated, and a Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that the artist’s “stylized acrylics” in Lincoln Tells a Joke “underline the image of Lincoln as backwoodsman-turned-politician.”
“I was born in Los Angeles, where my father worked for the LA Times and taught at UCLA,” Innerst told SATA. “As a small child I lived in a neighborhood in Santa Monica Canyon that was home to Rod Serling, James Arness, Ray Bradbury, and Noel Neill, the actress who played Lois Lane in the Superman TV series. It was no wonder that stories, comics, fantasy, and imagination took root early in my mind. Mr. Serling was in the P.T.A. and yet, there he was on TV, introducing the Twilight Zone.
“I’ve nearly always had some sort of drawing or painting implement in my hand and have learned to use those tools judiciously, but there were many defaced walls and books in my parents’ home during my childhood. I even left my mark in a copy of The Wind in the Willows—apparently I thought picture books were ‘interactive’ at the time.
“The most gratifying pictures I’ve made as an adult are those that appear in books that are read by or to children. I now live in Pennsylvania but many of the paintings I’ve done for books are in the Every Picture Tells a Story gallery in Santa Monica, California. Full circle, I suppose.”
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Writer Claudia Friddell tells the story of one of America’s first crowdfunding campaigns in Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer’s Fight for the Statue of Liberty, that Innerst illustrated. Famous newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer was frustrated when the government and wealthy New Yorkers were not interested in funding a pedestal to hold the incoming Statue of Liberty, a gift from France. So Pulitzer arranged for all Americans to participate, sending in whatever they could afford to build the pedestal. The project raised $100,000 for the statue’s arrival in 1886. The book includes Pulitzer’s rags-to-riches biography as a poor immigrant from Hungary who became a respected newsman.
“Innerst adds to the high tone of this celebration with impressionistically brushed scenes of Lady Liberty’s grand features, [compared to] her frail-looking champion,” declared John Peters in Booklist. In an interview online at Let’s Talk Picture Books, Innerst explained his technique for illustrating Saving Lady Liberty: “I try to incorporate artifacts from the time period to make the images authentic. In Saving Lady Liberty, I used letterpress printing effects because Pulitzer was most famously a newspaper publisher. I used to work for newspapers and I’ve always had an appreciation for those primitive news printing techniques.”
Jack Knight’s Brave Flight: How One Gutsy Pilot Saved the US Air Mail Service, written by Jill Esbaum, chronicles the relay race in 1921 when pilots in biplanes challenged the railroad as the best and fastest way to send mail. The government condemned air mail service as too risky and dangerous and wanted to defund it. But two relay pilots starting in California going east and two in Long Island going west tested it. When three of the four planes were grounded, it was pilot Jack Knight who completed his portion of the relay from Nebraska to Illinois, through a blizzard and unfamiliar terrain, and running low on fuel, to prove it could be done.
For the illustrations in Jack Knight, Innerst took a ride in a plane to get the view from above. He used watercolor and gouache, “I also used a rubber stamps to create the sense of mail postmarks and so on. … The biggest challenge for this book was finding just the right model of airplane and locating reference photos of the airport hangars,” said Innerst in an interview at Picture Book Builders. In Horn Book, Patrick Gall described Innerst’s mixed-media illustrations: “Rather than depicting objects and characters realistically, he manipulates their sizes, shapes, and colors to accurately reflect the mood of any given scene.”
In 1963, 12-year-olds Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield became friends. Ben liked art and Jerry liked science but they both loved ice cream. After college they decided to open an ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont, that became a nationally renowned company that writer Lisa Robinson and illustrator Innerst chronicle in the picture book The Sweetest Scoop: Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Revolution. Besides creating the wackiest ice cream flavors, like Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia, and Truffle Kerfuffle, they also aimed to make the world a better place with their environmental and political activism, and fighting back against unfair trade practices.
The illustrations for The Sweetest Scoop were a bit of a departure for Innerst, but he was inspired by tie dye to get the 1960s vibe and by the dairy cows Ben & Jerry’s use in their advertising. Innerst told Andrea Wang in an interview in Picture Book Builders: “The bright color and wet-on-wet look of tie dye was a big factor in deciding to use watercolor as the medium for this book. I also like watercolor because it forces me to stay loose and to be somewhat gestural with the illustrations. I wanted the artwork in this book to feel fun and spontaneous.” In a review in Booklist, Carolyn Phelan remarked: “Some of the colorful, expressive illustrations include fanciful drawings of cows sitting at a board table” and eating ice cream.
Innerst next illustrated The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart’s Brush with George Washington by Sarah Albee. Washington understood the power of art and knew that he needed an official portrait so people would know what he looked like, but he hated to sit still and his teeth hurt from ill-fitting dentures. But artist Gilbert Stuart was a free spirit who allowed his subjects to talk, joke, and walk around, thereby letting them relax so he could render a likeness with soul and spirit. The two men worked together to create the iconic portrait of Washington that has stood the test of time and graces the one dollar bill.
The Painter and the President received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly. In Booklist, Connie Fletcher remarked that the “illustrations, done with acrylics and pencils, have a whimsical, cutout quality, with swirling brushstrokes in the background emulating Stuart’s signature brushwork.” Innerst incorporates “droll caricatures of 18th-century dignitaries and the busy artist adroitly wielding his brush with many a vigorous ‘dab’ and ‘swish,’” according to a Kirkus Reviews critic. In Publishers Weekly, a reviewer noted how Innerst used sculptural acrylic, pencil, and digital artwork that “captures both the artistic process and the wrangling of two unique historical personalities.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, August, 2003, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of M Is for Music, p. 1985; February 15, 2010, Andrew Medlar, review of Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President (and the Country), p. 73; April 15, 2020, John Peters, review of Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer’s Fight for the Statue of Liberty, p. 42; April 1, 2022, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Sweetest Scoop: Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Revolution, p. 30; June 1, 2024, Connie Fletcher, review of The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart’s Brush with George Washington, p. 70.
Childhood Education, summer, Maria T. Holder, review of M Is for Music, p. 212.
Horn Book, May-June, 2010, Betty Carter, review of Lincoln Tells a Joke, p. 109; May-June 2022, Patrick Gall, review of Jack Knight’s Brave Flight: How One Gutsy Pilot Saved the U.S. Air Mail Service, p. 161.
Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2003, review of M Is for Music, p. 1019; October 1, 2004, review of The Worm Family, p. 963; March 15, 2010, review of Lincoln Tells a Joke; July 15, 2011, review of Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea: A Fairly Fabricated Story of a Pair of Pants; June 1, 2024, review of The Painter and the President.
New York Times Book Review, November 16, 2003, Paul O. Zelinsky, “Letters Entertain You,” review of M Is for Music, p. 37.
Publishers Weekly, September 8, 2003, review of M Is for Music, p. 74; December 6, 2004, review of The Worm Family, p. 58; March 22, 2010, review of Lincoln Tells a Joke, p. 69; July 18, 2011, review of Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea.
School Library Journal, September, 2003, Jane Marino, review of M Is for Music, p. 200; February, 2005, John Sigwald, review of The Worm Family, p. 104; March, 2010, Jody Kopple, review of Lincoln Tells a Joke, p. 142.
ONLINE
Harcourt Web site, http://www.harcourtbooks.com/ (July 1, 2011), interview with Innerst.
Let’s Talk Picture Books, https://www.letstalkpicturebooks.com/ (July 14, 2020), “Let’s Talk Illustrators #149: Stacy Innerst.”
Picture Book Builders, https://picturebookbuilders.com/ (April 5, 2022), Jill Esbaum, “Welcome, Award-winning Illustrator (of my new book), Jack Knight’s Brave Flight, Stacy Innerst!”; (July 12, 2022), Andrea Wang, “The Sweetest Scoop – Interview with illustrator Stacy Innerst.”
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (August 2024), review of The Painter and the President.
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Web site, http://www.scbwi.org/ (July 1, 2011), “Stacy Innerst.”
Stacy Innerst Home Page, http://www.stacyinnerst.com (July 1, 2011).
Stacy Innerst is a painter, children’s book artist, illustrator and educator. His books have received a host of starred reviews and have been honored with the 2020 Sydney Taylor Book Award (for The Book Rescuer), the New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award (Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of RBG Vs. Inequality), the SCBWI Golden Kite for Picture Book Illustration (The Music in George’s Head) as well as several Gold Medals from the Parents’ Choice Awards. His first book for children, M is for Music (HMH) by Kathleen Krull was named an SLJ Best Book of 2003 and Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea (HMH) with author Tony Johnston was named a best book of 2011 by Publishers Weekly. Ruth Bader Ginsberg: The Case of RBG Vs. Inequality, written by Jonah Winter (Abrams) was named an ALA Notable Book and was included on the ILA Teachers Choice Reading List. Since 2003 his illustrations have regularly been selected for the Original Art show at the Society of Illustrators. His latest releases include picture books about birds, painters, presidents and Supreme Court justices.
Originally from Los Angeles, he was raised in New Mexico and now makes his home and studio in Pittsburgh.
Q & A with Stacy Innerst
June 18, 2020 By Sandra Bornstein
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Sue Macy and Stacy Innerst at Book Signing
Sue Macy and Stacy Innerst at The Book Rescuers Book Signing
To draw creative images corresponding with a picture book text is a special talent. Not only does it require artistic skill but it also is dependent on the illustrator’s ability to translate the author’s words into images.
Today, I introduce Stacy Innerst, an accomplished artist and illustrator. After extensive research, he was able to effectively capture the essence of Jewish culture in the award-winning picture book, The Book Rescuer: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to Come. To learn more about the book, read the book review and to become acquainted with the author, Sue Macy— read her author interview.
When did you determine that your love for art would lead to a profession?
Since I was a kid, I was determined to make a living with my picture-making. It wasn’t easy. I had a series of, let’s call them, “menial” jobs after college before my first break as a designer/illustrator at a Public TV station in New Mexico. Since then I’ve always worked as an artist in some capacity. I think working hard at unpleasant jobs early on has made me appreciate what I get to do for a living.
When and where did you receive your formal art training?
I studied fine art, mostly art history, painting and drawing, at the University of New Mexico. That experience gave me a strong foundation in technique but I’m really self-taught as an illustrator. My university did not offer illustration classes. I actually think that helped me to find my own vision as an illustrator. I also had wonderful art teachers in grade school. New Mexico was a great place to grow up as an artistic kid.
With so many artistic options available, why did you decide to narrow your focus to becoming an illustrator of picture book biographies?
I worked as an editorial illustrator for newspapers, magazines, and television documentaries for years before I illustrated my first book. My interest in picture books developed when my own kids were small and I was reading to them at bedtime. Some of the most interesting artwork was in those books. Also, I’ve always loved to read history, especially biographies. My first two books were not biographies. For the last several years, I illustrated fascinating stories about real people.
Your website mentions that you are also a painter and educator? Can you briefly describe your work in these fields?
Well, I’ve always considered myself a painter first because that’s what I fell in love with at the beginning. There is something special about the way paint behaves on a surface that can be so expressive and visceral. It’s hard to capture in words.
I also like the unpredictable messiness of the process until something mysteriously appears and you have that satisfying moment of success. I show my work at a couple of U.S. galleries. It’s a different experience entirely because each work is singular. Each picture has to stand for itself, not as part of a collaborative product.
I teach illustration at a small private university called La Roche in Pittsburgh. I love to visit schools and talk about art and books with kids. They’re my audience!
Can you describe any challenges you faced when you first tried to enter the book illustrator market?
It was a stretch going from editorial illustration to making books for kids. I’m not going to lie. I was working as an illustrator at a Seattle newspaper and a published author, who saw my work in the paper, introduced me to her Harcourt editor in San Diego.
She was willing to give me a chance on a picture book but it took about two years before she found one that was right for my rather unusual style. The book was well-received without an agent. There were long stretches where I didn’t get any book contracts. I started to think I was washed up! Now I have a wonderful agent, Susan Cohen at Writers House. Things seem to be chugging along.
THE BOOK RESCUER Book Cover
Can you share the main steps you take when creating images for a picture book?
I usually start with a stylistic theme, much like an art director would for a film. That usually determines the color pallet, the texture and the medium I use. For a book about Levi Strauss, I painted the illustrations on blue jeans. Another book focusing on George Gershwin composing Rhapsody in Blue had paintings entirely in blue.
The research is pretty extensive for historical biographies because the details matter. Even though my illustrations aren’t terribly detailed and are painterly, I am accurate about the time and place I’m trying to depict.
My initial sketches are very loose but I try to give the editor/art director a good sense of the composition and flow. If needed, I also send reference materials to ensure historical accuracy. I often send color swatches and more detailed character sketches, too.
I go back and forth with the editor and art director until everyone is on the same page.
Do you have complete control over the style of the illustrations or do publishers and/or authors provide input, recommendations or specific guidelines?
Fortunately, I’ve been doing this for a while so publishers are familiar with my style. I have free reign in conceptualizing and illustrating the stories. Authors are pleased with the result so far!
The wonderful authors I’ve worked with put their trust in editors and art directors to choose the illustrator that they feel is the best match for the story and subject. Ultimately, it’s a collaboration between the author, the artist and the publishing house and I think it works best when everyone brings their own gifts and vision to the process. When there is harmony, it’s a beautiful thing.
The Book Rescuer dumpsterdive
Retrieving Yiddish Books from a Dumpster
Since you were unfamiliar with Aaron Lansky and Yiddish culture, what resources did you use to acquaint yourself with this segment of Jewish history?
I did a lot of my research online, starting with the mountain of online resources at the Yiddish Book Center. Aaron is roughly my age. I had a pretty good idea what his childhood/young adult world looked like. Photos of him as a bearded young man in a T-shirt, jeans, boots, and a bandana came in handy. That was the image that I settled on to depict him in his early book collecting, “dumpster-diving” days. I used artifacts from my own childhood as a model to decorate his room.
To gain an understanding of Yiddish culture I watched a lot of Yiddish films from the 30s and 40s like Green Fields. I studied the book covers of Yiddish novels and plays. Also, I was a history minor in college. I studied a lot of Jewish history because I had a passionate professor whom I respected. He specialized in the subject so I took all of his classes. I ended up with some useful fragments of knowledge that I could apply to the process.
In addition to learning more about Marc Chagall, did your research lead to learning about Eastern European Jewish artists? If so, can you elaborate?
Not so much Eastern European Jewish artists but I’ve always been a fan of the paintings of Jewish artists like Modigliani, Chaim Soutine and Pissaro, to name a few. As a student, I was interested in the Abstract Expressionists. Later, as a draftsman few could match R.B. Kitaj.
Marc Chagall was my touchstone because he offered such a clear look into the poetic, Yiddish world. I was determined to let him visually “translate” some of that experience for me. I also relied for inspiration on Yiddish book illustrations from the digital collection at the YBC. Beautiful stuff.
Many of my readers are not artists. Can you identify images inspired by Chagall’s incredible talent? Why did you select this style and color tones?
Chagall had a way of painting life that incorporated the artistic freedom that I’ve always tried to use in my art. His scenes weren’t bound by gravity and realism. Instead, they had a kind of mystical quality to them. I think kids (and some adults) can really respond to that kind of freedom in pictures.
His color and compositions were incredibly sophisticated and I knew I couldn’t match that virtuosity but I borrowed some of his pallet and motifs like roosters, goats, windows and floating people/objects in my illustrations.
A few of the illustrations borrowed heavily from his painting style. This is seen in my drawings depicting shtetl life, Jews fleeing Europe during the Second World War, and most pointedly the last spread in the book which depicts the handing down of Yiddish culture from the past to the present.
Earlier this year, The Book Rescuer received a Sydney Taylor Award. What other awards have you received for your picture book illustrations and how have these awards impacted your career?
The Sydney Taylor Award is an incredible honor for books which AUTHENTICALLY portray the Jewish experience. For me, it kind of validated the love and effort Sue Macy and I put into the book.
Awards and recognition certainly help propel your career in children’s publishing. Some of them are juried by respected professionals and some by your peers in the business. Either way, they put a spring in your step and allow you to believe that maybe you are pretty good at what you do!
I’ve been fortunate to have received several awards for my books over the years such as a Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award by the New York Times, The Golden Kite Award from the SCBWI, Parents’ Choice Gold Medals, and inclusion on many notable and “best of” book lists.
Can you share information about upcoming book releases? (Titles, types of images, proposed publication dates, etc)
In March 2020, Saving Lady Liberty, a book about how Joseph Pulitzer crowdfunded the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty (by Claudia Friddell) was published. Lincoln Clears a Path, by Peggy Thomas is scheduled for a January 2021 release.
I’m currently working on a few titles, one of which I’m writing and illustrating. I’m also illustrating a story about the first harrowing U.S Airmail flight by pilot Jack Knight, for Boyds Mills Kane ( 2021) and a book about Ben and Jerry of ice cream fame for Abrams Books (2022).
DISCLOSURE
I received a complimentary copy of The Book Rescuers: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to Come.
BIO
Sandra Bornstein is the author of May This Be the Best Year of Your Life. Sandra’s memoir highlights her living and teaching adventure in Bangalore, India. She was a licensed Colorado teacher who taught K-12 students in the United States and abroad. Sandra also taught college-level courses at Front Range Community College and the University of Colorado-Boulder.
In addition to reviewing books and interviewing authors, Sandra is an award-winning author and lifestyle and travel journalist. Many of Sandra’s travel stories appear on the For Readers Page. TheTravelingBornsteins website showcases recent travel and lifestyle stories.
July 14, 2020
Let's Talk Illustrators #149: Stacy Innerst
I was thrilled to get a chance to chat with illustrator Stacy Innerst about his unique illustrations for Claudia Friddell's Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer's Fight for the Statue of Liberty. Stacy's children's book work is always a product of intense research and what can only be described as method-arting: no one commits to a medium like Stacy! Check out his process below.
About the book:
When Joseph Pulitzer first saw the Statue of Liberty's head in Paris, he shared sculptor Auguste Bartholdi's dream of seeing France's gift of friendship stand in the New York harbor. Pulitzer loved words, and the word he loved best was liberty. Frustrated that many, especially wealthy New Yorkers, were not interested in paying for the statue's needed pedestal, Pulitzer used his newspaper, the New York World, to call on all Americans to contribute.
Let's talk Stacy Innerst!
LTPB: Can you talk about your visual research and how you mixed in the realities of that research with your own unique art style?
SI: Because I work across a wide range of subjects in my books, the research methods vary. Sometimes I watch films set in the period I’m trying to depict. The details matter so I research period clothing, furnishings, architecture and so on, but I especially like films because I get an overall experience of living in that world. I’ve illustrated a few books with musical themes so listening to music played a big part in the aesthetic preparation. When I can, I’ll travel to visit museums, libraries, neighborhoods and so on. The internet is a good starting point for research but going to the actual street where your subject grew up is so much more real.
I’ve always loved to read and study history so picture book biographies are kind of a natural fit. I didn’t set out to work in the genre but once I had one or two books under my belt, more followed. I really love fiction and poetry, too. It’s all story-telling to me but some of it is about real people and events that need to be told accurately and honestly.
I studied painting, drawing and printmaking in school and I am self-taught as an illustrator so I approach every picture as a painting first and an illustration second.
My illustration style has developed from influences as diverse as expressionism to surrealism to editorial cartoons to costume design to outsider art. I try to strike a balance between the historical reality and a sense of humor and whimsy. I don’t always follow the laws of nature in my illustrations (like gravity, for instance) but kids seem to get it, I’m happy to say, and the editors and art directors I’ve worked with get it, too.
LTPB: What did you use to create the illustrations in Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer's Fight for the Statue of Liberty? Is this your preferred medium? How do you make a conscious effort to tailor your illustration style to each new manuscript?
SI: This book was done mostly in gouache with digital color. I also used letterpress printing for some of the display type and ink for the handwritten elements. I’ve been using gouache quite a bit lately because it combines the fluidity of painting with the control of drawing—it’s like drawing with a brush. I can also render pictures relatively quickly which I like to do. If I labor over something too much, some of life gets drained out of it and I like the immediacy of gouache.
In the past I’ve painted with oils and acrylics which I love very much but it’s a time consuming process so I mainly reserve those for paintings I do on my own. My very first children’s book was painted entirely with oil on board and pieces of cut tin. I grew up in New Mexico and was heavily inspired by the retablos and ex votos that folk artists painted there so I took up that technique. I promise I will never attempt that for a book again! The drying time and the sharp edges and the 3 dimensional pieces sticking out everywhere. The production people at that publishing house must have hated me.
I try to find something unique to each story when I’m choosing a medium for a book. Sometimes the medium is part of the message, if you’ll pardon the expression. For example, for a book about Levi Strauss and the invention of blue jeans I painted all of the illustrations on torn pieces of denim. Again, something I will never do again but it was an interesting experience. When I delivered the final paintings my editor said it was like getting someone’s laundry in the mail.
LTPB: What is the first thing you do when you receive a new project?
SI: The first thing I do is draw thumbnails in the margins of the manuscript as I’m reading it for the first time. Those are my first impressions and sometimes they end up in the book, sometimes not. Those initial little pictures are the foundation for how I’m going to approach the illustrations, however.
I start doing character studies next, and honestly, the way I render the subject’s face has a lot to do with the tone and style of the illustrations. I’ve always been consumed with faces and expressions and that’s where I start. The life and temperament of the subject will usually dictate the pallet, composition and overall aesthetic of the book.
Beyond that, I try to incorporate artifacts from the time period to make the images authentic. In Saving Lady Liberty, I used letterpress printing effects because Pulitzer was most famously a newspaper publisher. I used to work for newspapers and I’ve always had an appreciation for those primitive news printing techniques. We used to call letterpress printing “throwing kerosene at toilet paper at a hundred miles an hour.”
LTPB: How has your illustration technique changed over the course of your career so far? What is your process for approaching each new project with a new creative energy and fresh ideas?
SI: My illustration style is a mystery to me. It’s really been a process of adapting to my own shortcomings and learning to embrace and push them. That’s what style is, in my mind. I used to do detailed, carefully rendered paintings when I was younger, but I was never satisfied because they weren’t perfect so I became frustrated. I began painting in a more expressive, less controlled way, and I was happier. The one constant has always been that I love what paint does on a surface. Even when I’m working digitally I want that sense of surface so I scan what I’ve painted.
I worked as an editorial illustrator for many years so I was constantly doing conceptual images about heavy subjects. I still enjoy that from time to time but picture books are my tonic now. It allows me to see the world a kid again.
Like most artists, I always believe that the next picture or book I make will be the best I’ve ever made. That is how this whole creative endeavor keeps moving. Every subject is entirely new and unique so I’m never bored. I also approach a project with the desire to make the book that I would’ve liked to see when I was a child.
LTPB: What are you working on now?
SI: I’m currently in the sketch phase of two books that I’m very, very excited about. They’re entirely different from one another but both are great stories so well written. One is about the first coast to coast airmail delivery in the U.S. in the 20s and the other is about Ben and Jerry of ice cream fame. It’s kind of early to reveal the pictures but I can say that one involves biplanes and aerial views and the other involves tie-dye!
LTPB: If you got the chance to write your own picture book autobiography, who (dead or alive!) would you want to illustrate it, and why?
SI: GREAT question. It is impossibly hard for me to pick just one so I’ll narrow it down to my top 3. I’m neglecting hundreds of artists working today, of course, but I’m going to go to the wayback machine and choose, in no particular order:
Eva Bednářová because her illustrations were profoundly dark and dense and still managed to be appropriate for children’s books. A true master of expression.
Saul Steinberg because of his visual genius and ability to just let his hand and mind go. His drawings could make even my life story interesting.
Leonard Weisgard because:
1: Everything he touched had heart and was completely accessible to kids.
2: His absolute mastery of using limited color or brilliant full color.
3: His absolute mastery of composition. Every picture was arranged just as it should it be to both serve the story and to stand alone as art.
A million thanks to Stacy for taking time to answers some questions and share some images! Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer's Fight for the Statue of Liberty published earlier this year from Calkins Creek Books!
Special thanks to Stacy and Calkins Creek for use of these images!
Stacy Innerst
Meet Stacy Innerst, adjunct professor of graphic design.
Mr. Innerst is the winner of a 2017 New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award. He teaches courses in illustration, editorial illustration and computer graphics.
What inspired you to pursue a career as an illustrator?
Illustration kind of pursued me, to be honest. I studied fine art in college and was always accused of having an illustrative bent, so at some point I stopped fighting it! I try to bring a fine art sensibility to my illustrations, and I apply a lot of what I learned as a painter and a printmaker.
According to your website, you’ve taken on a wide variety of clients, including the NFL and Major League Baseball. What have been your favorite projects to date?
That’s difficult to say. I think I get the most satisfaction from picture books, though, because of their lasting nature and the great care publishers take in producing them. I’m always pleased with the finished product, and I really like the people who work in the industry.
What do you enjoy most about being an artist?
Having a voice. Being able to comment on life – the good and the bad – and reaching a point where people sometimes actually listen. I don’t take that for granted.
What advice do you have for students who want to enter the field?
Work hard, dig deep and listen closely. Pay attention to the things that others might not see until you point it out to them. Be a good communicator, and become fluent in the languages of art people, word people and your clients, who might be neither word people nor art people.
What brought you to La Roche?
I was aware of the good things going on in the design division here, and I’d had friends who’d taught at La Roche in the past. When I heard they were looking for an adjunct, I jumped on it and, happily, they hired me.
What do you enjoy about teaching?
I genuinely get excited when I see students push themselves to do really good work. I value good art and design so much that when I see students creating work that they’re proud of, it makes me happy. I also feel that my role is to make sure they leave their comfort zone a little bit – that’s where the real discovery takes place.
What can students expect in your classes? What is your teaching style?
I prefer individual instruction over lectures. I like to gauge where students are in their development and build on that on an individual basis.
It’s more of a studio experience than anything else. I don’t want students to do it my way, but I try to give them the benefit of my experience with various media and techniques. I’ll do demonstrations and expose them to some of the rich history and contemporary trends in illustration and art.
How do you apply your professional experience to the classes you teach?
I approach the classes as a professional studio. I act as an art director for the most part. The critiques function as a client meeting or an editorial board meeting. Students need to communicate their ideas effectively and artfully, take direction and defend their choices.
Learn more about Mr. Innerst's illustration career and his recent award from the New York Times and New York Public Library.
Stacy Innerst
GRANTEE
Stacy Innerst is an editorial artist and the illustrator of 10 picture books for children. His books have received a host of starred reviews and have been selected for recognition by The New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Books Awards, the NY Society of Illustrators, the Smithsonian Institution, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal and the American Library Association. "The Book Rescuer" (Simon and Schuster) and "Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer's Fight For the Statue of Liberty" (Boyds Mills & Kane) will publish in the coming year. His editorial illustrations have appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines throughout the U.S. and abroad. Born in Los Angeles, he received his bachelor's degree in art and history from the University of New Mexico and studied journalism at Southern Illinois University.
Interview with Stacy Innerst
Author Interviews
Jan 17
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Stacy Innerst is an acclaimed artist, illustrator and arts educator. He was born in Los Angeles and studied Art and History at the University of New Mexico.
His picture books for children have earned a host of starred reviews as well as numerous awards, including a 2017 NY Times/NY Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award (for Ruth Bader Ginsberg), the 2017 SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration (for The Music in George’s Head), the BCCB Blue Ribbon, two Parents’ Choice Gold Medals and recognition by the NY Society of Illustrators, the Smithsonian and the American Library Association, among many others. M is for Music was named a 2003 Best Book of the Year by the School Library Journal and Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2011. His paintings and prints have been exhibited widely in New York, California and throughout the United States and abroad. He lives in Pittsburgh.
The artwork for your pictures books is very unique. How did you develop that style of art?
I’ve always had a painterly, loose style and I studied painting and printmaking in college so that carried over into my work as an illustrator. I never really set out to develop an illustration style, per se, but I suppose I have over the years.
It’s more a function of doing what comes naturally and making pictures that I find pleasing rather than settling on a style. I love the way paint looks when it’s brushed onto a surface so that dictates pretty much everything I do.
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How much planning and research do you do before you actually start painting?
The research component of my nonfiction picture books is actually quite time-consuming, but it’s also quite fun. The historical research leads me in directions that I might not otherwise go in picture-making. Part of my process is watching films that are set in the period I’m illustrating or researching the art and music of the era.
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Which picture book was your favorite to work on?
I’ve liked them all for different reasons, but The Music in George’s Head was especially gratifying. I really liked being able to visually represent Gershwin’s music. It was a kind of visual poetry for me.
Who is your favorite illustrator?
If I have to pick just one children’s book illustrator, I’d say Edward Ardizzone or Leonard Weisgard, I think, but it’s tough! Tough question! It changes from day to day. A few of my favorite artists and illustrators, in no particular order: Vladimir Radunsky, Quentin Blake, Robert Lawson, Carson Ellis, Wanda Ga’g, Sydney Smith, Edward Gorey, Eva Bednářová, Roger Duvoisin, William Joyce, Oliver Jeffers, Lopez Rubio, Leonard Weisgard, Antonin Clave, Pablo Picasso, Edward Ardizzone, Ludwig Bemelmans, Sean Qualls, Willem de Kooning.
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Do you have any upcoming books?
I’ve recently completed two picture books and the cover and interior illustrations for a middle grade chapter book. They should all be out next year. They are:
Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer’s Fight for the Statue of Liberty, by Claudia Friddell, Calkins Creek
The Book Rescuer, by Sue Macy, Simon and Schuster
The Mostly True Story of Pudding Tat, Adventuring Cat, by Caroline Adderson, Groundwood Books.
I’m super excited about all three! They’re wonderfully written books by excellent authors.
Where can your fans find you?
I’m on social media-- mostly on Instagram but also Twitter and Facebook --@stacyinnerst. My website is stacyinnerst.com.
Thanks so much for joining us, Stacy!!
Home Nonfiction picture book THE SWEETEST SCOOP – Interview with illustrator Stacy Innerst (+giveaway)
THE SWEETEST SCOOP – Interview with illustrator Stacy Innerst (+giveaway)
Andrea Wang July 12, 2022
What’s better than ice cream on a hot summer day? A cool new picture book to go with it, of course! I was delighted to have a chance to interview Stacy Innerst, the illustrator of THE SWEETEST SCOOP: BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM REVOLUTION, written by Lisa Robinson.
Chunky Monkey. Cherry Garcia. Truffle Kerfuffle.
Legendary ice cream makers Ben & Jerry are behind some of the wackiest, tastiest flavors we know and love. It all began when two groovy guys, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, met when they were twelve years old. Ben liked art, Jerry liked science, and they both loved food . . . especially ice cream! Chock-full of facts and humor, this entertaining biography about two hardworking partners living their Americone Dream gives readers plenty to chew on. Through their inventiveness, passion, and activism, Ben & Jerry dreamed of making the world a better, more delicious place—one scoop at a time.
Andrea: Hi Stacy! I’m so excited to have you on the Picture Book Builders blog! Congratulations on the release of your latest delicious book, The Sweetest Scoop: Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Revolution!
Your artwork is just as groovy as Ben and Jerry. 😁 What was your approach to the illustrations and how/why did you decide to use watercolor instead of another medium?
Stacy: Thank you so much for hosting me on the wonderful PBB blog!
The art for The Sweetest Scoop was a bit of a departure for me, especially in the choice of palette. I started out by painting tie dye patterns (a Ben and Jerry staple) to get into the 60s vibe of their youth. The bright color and wet-on-wet look of tie dye was a big factor in deciding to use watercolor as the medium for this book. I also like watercolor because it forces me to stay loose and to be somewhat gestural with the illustrations. I wanted the artwork in this book to feel fun and spontaneous.
Andrea: It is so fun! Even the cow looks like she’s wearing tie-dye. I’m always fascinated by the research that goes into a picture book – both the text and the illustrations. Could you tell us about the research you did for The Sweetest Scoop? I hope it involved eating a lot of ice cream!
Stacy: This is the only book I’ve illustrated that required eating ice cream as part of the creative process. I could get used to that!
I actually love to do the research for books. When I illustrated a book about the Beatles I got to listen to Beatles records for months—same process for a book about George Gershwin writing Rhapsody in Blue.
Fortunately, the historical reference material for Ben and Jerry was easy to find on the internet. I had to use my imagination to portray them as kids but their rise to fame was pretty well-documented online. I found early photos of the two of them, their first truck, their first shop in Burlington, VT and loads of pictures of the ice cream itself.
And I might have listened to a little Grateful Dead, too.
Andrea: Music seems like a great way to get into the characters’ mindset. This is a story not just about ice cream, but about social and environmental justice. Ben and Jerry are well-known for their activism. How did you incorporate those themes into the art?
Stacy: Well, Lisa’s writing described events so well that my work was easy. The illustrations could be mostly whimsical and imagination-driven. With that freedom, I could depict the ice cream factory as a kind of greenhouse with smokestacks that belched out flowers rather than smoke, and I turned cows into members of their foundation, discussing how they could contribute to various causes.
Andrea: Tell me about the cows! Was it your brilliant idea to have them play such a large part in the illustrations, as well as be the joke-tellers?
Stacy: Well, I personally think that every picture book is better if you can throw an animal or two in there!
Ben and Jerry incorporated dairy cows into their marketing imagery so I was inspired by that, too. It was kind of natural that cows would be the comic relief and feature so prominently as characters because, after all, ice cream wouldn’t exist without them. We owe the cows a lot!
Andrea: I can’t live without butter, so I totally agree with you about how much we owe cows! Was there anything that you wanted to include in the illustrations but couldn’t? I guess I’m wondering specifically about the Pillsbury Doughboy, who was a part of Ben and Jerry’s slogan to try and end the ice cream blockade by Pillsbury. Anything else that didn’t make it into the final art?
Stacy: You’re right, I avoided the Pillsbury Doughboy like the plague because of the adversarial relationship they had with Pillsbury. I’ve depicted the Doughboy once before in an illustration I did of the Betty Crocker/Pillsbury corporate “marriage” (see below) and I really wanted to paint him for the book but I knew from past experience that there might be a trademark minefield there.
The only other thing that I recall leaving out was a picture of a dog eating an ice cream cone. An astute editor pointed out that dogs have a hard time digesting dairy so I nixed that illustration. That’s a good example of the kind of attention to detail that goes into making a picture book!
Food page illustration showing the Pillsbury Doughboy and Betty Crocker getting married with a crowd of food characters such as Aunt Jemima, Green Giant, Quaker, Big Boy and so on attending the wedding.
Andrea: Yes, there’s a ton of stuff to pay attention to in thirty-two short pages, especially nonfiction! You have illustrated quite a few picture book biographies aside from The Sweetest Scoop. Was this by choice, and if so, what is it about biographies that appeals to you?
Stacy: Oh yes, definitely by choice! I’ve always loved history and studying the lives of real people. I majored in history and art in college so I was unknowingly preparing myself for my future job. I think that any human being’s life is interesting enough to be the subject of a book—It just requires a talented author to tell the story. I’ve been fortunate enough to illustrate books about all kinds of people from presidents to musicians, but the best part is the deep dive I get to do into their lives when I’m researching. It’s just so gratifying.
Andrea: It is fascinating — I love figuring out what makes people tick and why they chose to do what they did. What are you working on now — any more biographies?
Stacy: I have several picture books in the pipeline, two of which are fictional works that I’m writing and illustrating. I’m also very excited about the illustration projects that I have lined up. Two are unconventional biographies of artists and one is a creative 180° from what I’ve been doing for the last several years. That’s all I can say for now, but they should be announced soon!
Andrea: Congratulations! That all sounds super exciting! Thanks again for chatting with me today. Where can readers find you on the web?
Stacy: Thank you so much!
You can find me at https://www.stacyinnerst.com/
Stacy Innerst has illustrated many celebrated books for children in a variety of flavors, including The Book Rescuer by Sue Macy, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award; Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Jonah Winter, a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book; and The Music in George’s Head by Suzanne Slide. His favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor is Cherry Garcia. For more about Stacy, visit www.stacyinnerst.com or find him on Twitter and IG at @StacyInnerst.
Welcome, award-winning illustrator (of my new book), Jack Knight’s Brave Flight, Stacy Innerst!
Jill Esbaum April 5, 2022
If you write for children, you can probably imagine how floored I was to learn, a few years ago, that the amazing Stacy Innerst would be illustrating my JACK KNIGHT’S BRAVE FLIGHT – How One Gutsy Pilot Saved the U.S. Air Mail Service (Calkins Creek/Astra), released just last week.
Stacy’s books have been on dozens of Best of– lists over the years and honored with MANY starred reviews and awards, including the NYT/New York Public Library’s Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award and SCBWI’s Golden Kite for Picture Book Illustration. He was kind enough to chat with me about himself and his part in creating our book, but before we get to that I should tell you a bit about it. The book, I mean.
It’s 1921. Biplanes (surplus planes manufactured for use in WW1) all over the country have been flying the mail in short hops during daylight hours, when pilots can see where they’re going. Flying at night is deemed too dangerous, so before dark, mail is transferred onto trains. Still, plane crashes are too common, costing lives and expensive planes, so lawmakers decide to cut funding for the 3-year-old U.S. Air Mail Service. Not worth it, they say.
Outraged air mail officials and pilots want to get the public on their side, rallying to save airmail, so they concoct a daring plan–a nonstop, coast-to-coast relay to prove that keeping the mail in the air, even at night, is the fastest way to move it across America. Newspapers get out the word, and people all along the route vow to keep oil barrels and bonfires alight across the dark prairie to guide pilots through the nighttime portion of the race. At every stop, crowds greet pilots with cheers and encouragement.
Two planes head east from San Francisco. Two head west from Long Island. Pilots will switch out every few hundred miles.
But when Jack Knight touches down in Omaha, he learns that a crash, exhaustion, and a snowstorm have grounded the other three planes. He’s the only one left in the race. The only way it can continue is if he can fly on to Chicago. Over land he’s never covered. Through a blizzard. With (too soon) a nearly empty fuel tank. What could go wrong?
Plenty. What nobody could have predicted, though, was that the wiry Jack Knight, still achy and stiff from a crash the week before, wearing a thin flight suit completely unsuited to the below 0º temps he’ll be facing, is one of those guys who just won’t quit.
Back matter, Jack Knight’s Brave Flight
As you can see by this quote from the back of the book, he made it (and he and his fellow pilots beat the old plane-train cross-country record by 39 hours!). But it was a harrowing test of human endurance. JACK KNIGHT’S BRAVE FLIGHT has had lovely reviews all around:
“….In snappy, climactic prose, Esbaum traces the obstacles Knight encountered, including bodily discomfort and an unavoidable blizzard in Illinois. Innerst’s atmospheric illustrations conjure the rough elements and close quarters in deep blues and cool gray washes, with fluid figures, stamped text, and finely brushed details adding texture. A riveting journey about an undersung aviator. Back matter includes creators’ notes and a timeline sharing highlights in the history of the U.S. mail.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Esbaum retraces Knight’s night with breathtaking pacing and a touch of humor, deftly underscored by Innerst’s equally taut yet waggish mixed media artwork.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“An exciting story ….This historical adventure has great appeal and may renew kids’ interest in the postal service; a valuable addition to nonfiction collections.” —School Library Journal
“The jaunty storytelling and atmospheric illustrations vividly depict the challenges of flying an open cockpit plane in winter with only signal fires to guide pilots through the night and snow impeding opportunities to refuel. The broad strokes of dark watercolor and ink are just detailed enough to evoke the shapes of planes and people on a snowy night. This is a lively read.” —School Library Connection
Opening spread, Jack Knight’s Brave Flight. Knight has a plaster across his nose, which was broken in a crash the week before.
Back matter includes notes from both Stacy and me, photos, a timeline: Highlights in the History of the U.S. Mail (more fascinating than I would have believed!), and more. Okay, let’s get to the chat!
JE: First, Stacy, a basic question: Why did you want to be a picture book illustrator?
SI: I’ve been making pictures since I was very young and I’m the child of a librarian and a writer, so I suppose it was meant to be. I studied fine art in college—painting and drawing and art history, but I really became an illustrator when I started having a family and I had to make a living. I was doing editorial illustrations for newspapers and magazines when my kids were little, but every night we were reading picture books at bedtime. It was the best part of my day and I think theirs, too. We talked about the stories we were reading and evaluating the pictures as we went. It became a kind of laboratory for me on the whole world of picture books. They told me what they liked and didn’t like about the illustrations, and I was amazed at how affected they were by the art.
Every couple of weeks we’d leave the library with as many books as we could carry. Among the pile were some of the books that were read to me as a child — Books by Margaret Wise Brown or Leo Politi or E.B. White. I had a sort of epiphany when we were reading Little Fur Family, with those fantastic illustrations by Garth Williams. I hadn’t seen the book since I was very young, and on the cover there is a little fur child playing with a red ball. When I saw that picture, I had an immediate sense memory of my child-self looking at that red ball. I remembered what it felt like to be small, and to look at pictures in a book while someone who loved you read the words. That was an indication to me of the communicative power of picture books.
JE: It’s astounding how one small thing can bring back such vivid memories … and all through our lives.
I live only 45 minutes from the Iowa City airport, so I fell for this story hard. Could you tell our readers what about this project made you want to take it on?
SI: Well, first of all it’s a book about flying! I couldn’t resist making those pictures from a bird’s eye view. As an illustrator, that’s the kind of unusual vantage point that you love and the writing was so wonderful in the way it described the experience of flying.
I was also drawn to the story of a group of people who risked their lives to do something that they felt was needed at the time. Jack Knight was a pilot — It’s what he did — So naturally he felt that he was the one that had to fly the mail in a blizzard at night. He was at the right place at the right time to accomplish something great.
That kind of thinking is truly heroic and far too rare. We take so much for granted these days and often expect immediate gratification and same-day drone delivery. It wasn’t that way just 100 years ago.
JE: As the timeline at the end of the book details! We’re so spoiled these days. What technique do you use, Stacy, and how has your work changed/evolved during your career?
SI: I tend to paint with watercolor and gouache and draw a bit with ink these days. I’ve come to really like the way I can draw expressively with a brush when I’m using that medium. For Jack Knight, I also used a rubber stamps to create the sense of mail postmarks and so on. Ultimately I scan the paintings and refine the color and compositions on the computer.
Sketch
Finished spread
Over the years I’ve also painted with oils and/or acrylics and used collaged paper and fabric.
I’ve used whatever I thought I needed to best convey the story. For example, I painted with acrylics on blue jeans for a book about Levi Strauss.
JE: That sounds inventive — and fun! How much revision was involved in this project?
SI: There is always a fair amount of revision in picture book biographies. The details matter so I do a lot of research to make sure everything is period-correct. The biggest challenge for this book was finding just the right model of airplane and locating reference photos of the airport hangars and so on. I actually found biplane flight simulators online that I used to get a sense of the controls and open cockpit flying.
Biplane simulator shot
Most of the revisions were in the sketch phase of the book—getting the page breaks and pacing right in the spreads and making sure the clothing, vehicles and architecture are authentic. We went back and forth with the early sketches.
Pilots who took part in the relay
JE: What’s next for you, Stacy?
SI: I’ve got another fun book out later this spring about Ben and Jerry, of ice cream fame, written by Lisa Robinson. I’m also working on a few other projects, two of which I’m writing and illustrating and I’ve just started the sketches for a book about the painter, Gilbert Stuart, and his portrait of George Washington, written by Sarah Albee.
JE: Excellent! We’ll be watching for those. Thanks for much for visiting with us, Stacy! Readers, you can learn more about Stacy here, on his website.
We hope you’ll check out our new book! ENTER OUR BOOK GIVEAWAY by commenting below! Winner will be chosen Friday, April 15th, 2022. U.S. residents only, please.
The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny)
by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer; illus, by Stacy Innerst
Primary Harcourt 40 pp.
3/13 978-0-547-50991-4 $16.99
Since the early sixties, the Beatles have defined the musical landscape of the world, influencing generations of listeners and musicians. Beatlemania, from its beginning in Liverpool to the band's final public concert in San Francisco's Candlestick Park in 1966, gripped the world. Krull and Brewer tell the story not just of international superstars but of four friends who enjoyed a joke and made one another laugh. Jellybeans on the end pages set the stage for illustrations that bring the Fab Four alive as regular guys who are just a little bit surprised by their fame: a roller coaster (about to plunge down the edge of a giant guitar case) lets the reader know exactly what kind of thrilling ride this band was on. Drawn with exaggerated features, the lads are all legs and bowl-cut hair, with their ample noses serving to distinguish one from the others. Even Ed Sullivan, who is practically a caricature anyway, has that same leggy and oversized potato-head look--marking this as a lighthearted book, not the final word. Youngsters wondering why the band is still beloved by their parents and grandparents will understand after reading the many humorous anecdotes. The only thing missing is the actual music. Download some tunes or crank up the turntable to remind yourself just how lab these four really were. Sources and a timeline are appended.
Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer on The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny)
ROBIN L. SMITH: What was the first Beatles song you memorized?
KATHLEEN KRULL AND PAUL BREWER: The first, for both of us, apparently, was "She Loves You," so we decided we had to be different and branch out. Paul picked "I Saw Her Standing There," and Kathy landed on "In My Life." Memorization was a breeze at first, more tricky as Beatles songs got more complex, but we probably have them all down except maybe for "I Am the Walrus."
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
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Smith, Robin L. "The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny)." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 89, no. 3, May-June 2013, pp. 108+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A349902154/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=aee45f75. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
Huser, Glen THE ELEVATOR GHOST Groundwood (Children's Fiction) $14.95 8, 12 ISBN: 978-1-55498-425-1
Rumors abound that the Blatchford Arms is haunted--just the kind of place where a quirky babysitter like Carolina Giddle can brew her ghost tales for a cauldron of young apartment dwellers. This middle-grade spookfest from Governor General Award winner Huser (Stitches, 2003) promises goose bumps and chills but comes up a bit unseasoned. Carolina Giddle arrives at the Blatchford Arms with a bang. She drives a knickknack-laden VW Bug (aptly named Trinket), carries around her companion tarantula, Chiquita, in his cage, and holds heartwarming conversations with her beloved aunt Beulah and her friend Grace, who both happen to be ghosts. The apartment building overflows with young trick-or-treaters in need of attention and supervision. With her gift for storytelling and setting the right mood, Carolina Giddle enchants them with eerie stories they can't resist. Each tale mirrors the children's woes or flaws, such as Hubert's fear of the dark or Galina's habit of ruining her artist father's canvasses. Although the tales are well-told, entertaining stand-alone stories, they offer predictability (the children become more well-behaved after listening) instead of a sense of memorable wit and enlightenment. The ending may leave readers wondering if they've missed something.This creepy gathering of stories creates buzz and possibility but in the end falls short. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Huser, Glen: THE ELEVATOR GHOST." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2014. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A374693381/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8c1677bf. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
Thomas, Peggy THOMAS JEFFERSON GROWS A NATION Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills (Children's Picture Books) $16.95 9, 8 ISBN: 978-1-62091-628-5
Using Thomas Jefferson's own admissions of passion for both his new country and agriculture, details are given about a few of his activities, inventions, and accomplishments, beginning after the Revolutionary War. A muted, gouache image of a large-headed Jefferson plowing with the help of a large brown mule spans two early pages, under which is this text: "After planting the seed of freedom writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas had something new to nurture. And like any farmer imagining the harvest of a newly tilled field, Thomas envisioned a nation of farmers. But one weed threatened Thomas's vision." Said weed is Count Buffon, a Frenchman whose disparaging lies about the New World eventually resulted in Jefferson's arranging for the man to receive a moose via cargo ship. This unusual and amusing tale begins a series of revelations that continue to show Jefferson's intense desire to boost his nation's status and to improve its agriculture. The text is dense and contains sophisticated ideas and vocabulary, and numerous quotations appear in the entertaining artwork and the text itself. The seed metaphor is not extended to Jefferson's known progeny, but the final section, "Thomas Today," wisely invites readers to ponder Jefferson's slave ownership. It is no small feat to choose but a few facts about such a well-documented life; the choices made and the method of telling are both exemplary. (timeline, further information, notes) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Thomas, Peggy: THOMAS JEFFERSON GROWS A NATION." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2015. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A415493955/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=02a69b68. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
The Music in George's Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue. By Suzanne Slade. Illus. by Stacy Innerst. Sept. 2016.48p. Boyds Mills/Calkins Creek, $17.95 (9781629790992). 780.92. Gr. 3-5.
One of American music's masterpieces, Rhapsody in Blue, is introduced here, along with its composer, George Gershwin. George, growing up in turn-of-the-century New York, hears music in the clackety-clack of trains and the noise of crowded city streets. He listens for hours to the tunes pouring from supper clubs and dives in nearby Harlem. After his family gets a piano, he begins mingling what he hears with the classical music he loves. The result? Jazzy popular tunes. When bandleader Paul Whiteman plans a concert--"An Experiment in Modern Music"--to introduce a wider audience to jazz, Gershwin is on the bill, and all the rattles and rhythms he loves turn into a concerto, first in his head, then on paper. Slade and Innerst work beautifully together to create a book that builds to a crescendo, just as Rhapsody does. The swirling text wraps around the inventive (and mostly blue) art, both literally and figuratively, capturing the time period as well as the dazzling musical piece. Purists may note that the clarinetist at the concert is black, though in reality a white man played; Innerst notes in the back matter that the orchestra is an amalgamation of Gershwin's musical influences. This is a fitting celebration of a musical milestone--keep a copy of the song cued up for curious listeners.--Ilene Cooper
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Cooper, Ilene. "The Music in George's Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue." Booklist, vol. 112, no. 19-20, 1 June 2016, p. 98. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A456094288/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ce8a9259. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality. By Jonah Winter. Illus. by Stacy Innerst. 2017. 48p. Abrams, $18.95 (9781419725593). 347.73. Gr. 1-4.
Though the inimitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg may, at first glance, seem an odd subject for a picture book, this biography, cleverly framed as a court case, is focused primarily on empowering young readers from an early age. In his opening statement, Winter (The Secret Project, 2017) delivers an indictment of the world in which a young Ruth was raised: "You will see the unfair world she was born into--where boys were valued more than girls, where women were not encouraged to achieve and aspire." After a brief overview of Ruth's early life--she was born to a mother who loved learning and wanted her daughter to have an education* and to a father who believed "a woman's place was in the home"-the book delves into the skills Ruth possessed that would make her a good lawyer, her successes in school, and the persecution she faced as a woman, a Jew, and a mother. Examples of the "outrageous nonsense Ruth endured" are presented as evidence, but through toughness, determination, and intelligence, Ruth persevered, paving the way for a new generation of women. Innerst's digital gouache-and-ink illustrations are as matter-of-fact as the text, clearly offering up facts that showcase what Ruth faced throughout her life. A smart, sometimes biting biography that proves it's never too early to start teaching kids about justice.--Maggie Reagan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
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Reagan, Maggie. "Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality." Booklist, vol. 114, no. 1, 1 Sept. 2017, pp. 88+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A509161643/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7d25ba71. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
The Book Rescuer: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to Come. By Sue Macy. Illus. by Stacy Innerst. 2019.48p. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman, $17.99 (9781481472203). Gr. 1-3.020.75.
Yiddish was a dying language (it's still not robust) when a young man, Aaron Lansky, decided to save it. Macy begins the story several generations back, with Lansky's grandmother arriving in America: her suitcase was thrown in the ocean by her brotherout with the old, in with the new. Flash-forward to the 1970s, and Aaron is in college, studying Jewish history, and he wants to read books in the common language of European Jews in past centuries, Yiddish. But after the Holocaust and the diaspora of European Jewry, the number of people speaking Yiddish plummeted. Yiddish books were also disappearing, so Lansky decided to make it his mission to rescue them and his ancestors' heritage. Macy's text details how Lansky's pursuit took him out in all kinds of weather, to all kinds of places, where elderly Jews gave him an education in their lives and the importance of their books. An afterword by Lansky tells readers about the Yiddish Book Center, a vibrant organization that, among many other things, fosters learning the language. The story comes alive through the bold acrylic and gouache art, which illustrator Innerst says was inspired by the "exuberant motifs" of Marc Chagall. He finds drama in faces, profundity in the weight and number of books. The most outstanding spread places a shtetl on Yiddish pages that resemble matzo. Yiddish appears throughout the text; a glossary explains the words.---Ilene Cooper
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 American Library Association
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Cooper, Ilene. "The Book Rescuer: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to Come." Booklist, vol. 116, no. 6, 15 Nov. 2019, p. 51. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A608183780/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=25831857. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer's Fight for the Statue of Liberty. By Claudia Friddell and Stacy Innerst. June 2020. 48p. illus. Boyds Mills & Kane/Calkins Creek, $18.99 (9781684371303). Gr. 2-4. 974.7.
Unable to spark sufficient financial support from government or wealthy donors to complete a pedestal on which to place Frances centennial gift to the U.S., newspaper owner Joseph Pulitzer turned to the public for what Friddell dubs "the worlds first crowdfunding effort" and raised more than $100,000. In this soaring account, which spans Pulitzers birth in Hungary to Lady Liberty's debut in 1886, the author highlights both Pulitzer's rags-to-riches personal success story and his profound idealism: he "had always loved words. And the word he loved best was liberty Innerst adds to the high tone of this celebration with impressionistically brushed scenes of Lady Liberty's grand features, her frail-looking champion bouncing back from multiple reverses, and ordinary people pitching in coins and small bills to see the iconic statue raised at last. Along with a spread of letters (presumably real ones) that arrived with these contributions ("I am a little girl only eight years old. I send 10 cents"), supporting matter includes an afterword, period photos, a time line, lists of basic facts about both the statue and Pulitzer, and a generous reading list. Though histories of the Statue of Liberty often mention Pulitzers campaign, this is the most detailed presentation for younger audiences to date. Just another immigrant getting the job done. --John Peters
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 American Library Association
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Peters, John. "Saving Lady Liberty: Joseph Pulitzer's Fight for the Statue of Liberty." Booklist, vol. 116, no. 16, 15 Apr. 2020, p. 42. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A623790335/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4c6529a9. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
Thomas, Peggy LINCOLN CLEARS A PATH Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills (Children's None) $18.99 1, 19 ISBN: 978-1-68437-153-2
This biography of President Abraham Lincoln focuses on his lasting impact on the use of the land.
Beginning with his family’s creation of a farm out of woodland when he was 7 and ending with the Emancipation Proclamation, the narrative follows Lincoln’s life experiences as farmer, entrepreneur, and self-educated statesman, all the way to the presidency. The support American farmers sent to the troops in the Civil War apparently prompted Lincoln to “clear a path for America’s future” with several acts of legislation: creation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the Homestead Act, which granted 160 acres to “any citizen or immigrant, farmer or merchant, man or woman, who wanted a fair chance to make it on their own”; and the Pacific Railway Act. The creation of land-grant colleges is also given a full spread; the Emancipation Proclamation is given one page of two sentences. Innerst creates engaging, sepia-toned scenes with watercolor-based artwork, and the design of the spreads, with dark paper and handwritten lettering for quotations from Lincoln’s writings, gives the feel of old documents. Sadly, the story feels dated as well; the brief backmatter mentions of the devastation settlers and the railroads caused to Indigenous nations and ways of life are grossly inadequate; the racist definition of citizens and immigrants is not addressed; and the attempt to include the contradiction of slavery within the ideal of “liberty to all” falls short, as the glorification of Lincoln as land-use innovator causes those who were excluded to fall through the gaps. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 58.5% of actual size.)
This interesting history lacks nuance and perspective. (author’s note, historical facts, websites, selected bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Thomas, Peggy: LINCOLN CLEARS A PATH." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A643410585/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e8c6e645. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
The Sweetest Scoop: Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Revolution. By Lisa Robinson. Illus. by Stacy Innerst. May 2022.40p. Abrams, $18.99 (9781419748035). PreS-Gr. 3.338.7.
In 1963, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield met as 12-year-old boys and became friends who enjoyed biking, camping, and eating pizza together. One summer during their highschool years, Ben drove an ice-cream truck accompanied by Jerry, who sold the frozen treats while telling jokes to the customers. Jobless after college, they brainstormed business ideas and decided to open an ice-cream shop in Burlington, Vermont. After developing their own recipes and trying many potential flavors, they opened their business, which drew crowds. They met challenges with original thinking, fought back against unfair trade practices by a corporate giant, and started a foundation that supports social and environmental justice. Sprinkled with anecdotes, the lively text tells of two men who worked well together, pursuing an entrepreneurial goal with imagination as well as determination. Some of the colorful, expressive illustrations include fanciful drawings of cows sitting at a board table, eating ice cream, and telling kid-friendly jokes in speech balloons. This picture book offers an entertaining account of how Ben and Jerry founded Ben and Jerry's.--Carolyn Phelan
YA Recommendations
Adult titles recommended for teens are marked with the following symbols: YA, for books of general YA interest; YA/C, for books with particular curricular value; and YA/S, for books that will appeal most to teens with a special interest in a specific subject.
Did You Know?
We flag books published for adults with notable teen appeal. Look for YA, YA/C, and YA/S in the Adult Books section for titles we recommend for YA readers.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 American Library Association
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Phelan, Carolyn. "The Sweetest Scoop: Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Revolution." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 15, 1 Apr. 2022, p. 30. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A701067453/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4f84e091. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
Jack Knight's Brave Flight: How One Gutsy Pilot Saved the U.S. Air Mail Service
by Jill Esbaum; illus. by Stacy Innerst
Primary Calkins/Astra 40 pp. g
3/22 978-1-68437-981-1 $18.99
e-book ed. 978-1-63592-567-8 $11.99
In 1921, a perilous coast-to-coast airplane relay pushed a handful of pilots to their limits. If successful, the publicity stunt would prove that the U.S. Air Mail Service was superior to its locomotive counterpart, quelling concerns of cautious politicians. Esbaum's conversational present-tense narration places readers in the middle of the action alongside Jack Knight, the only pilot able to complete two legs of the relay (before being relieved), from Nebraska to Illinois, all the while braving frigid temperatures, snowstorms, and unfamiliar terrain. "Jack wipes slush from his goggles. He peers ahead, but can no longer see the horizon through the swirling snow... Will he find it before the plane runs out of fuel and crashes?" Harrowing details, such as snow-covered runways, miscommunication between airfields, and Knight literally freezing to his biplane's seat, amplify the ultimate success of the daring pilot. Innerst's mixed-media illustrations, primarily rendered in watercolor, ink, and pencil, are expressive and atmospheric. Rather than depicting objects and characters realistically, he manipulates their sizes, shapes, and colors to accurately reflect the mood of any given scene. Tight framing of Knight crammed into his cockpit is informative and discomforting, and effectively portrays the rudimentary nature of aircraft at the time. A thrilling and well-told moment in the history of information distribution across the United States. Back matter includes an author's note, highlights of U.S. mail history, a bibliography, an illustrator's note, and photo credits.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Gall, Patrick. "Jack Knight's Brave Flight: How One Gutsy Pilot Saved the U.S. Air Mail Service." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 98, no. 3, May-June 2022, pp. 161+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A704090451/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=17a21751. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
Bird Rehearsal. By Jonah Winter. Illus. by Stacy Innerst. May 2024. 32p. Cameron Kids, $18.99 (9781949480320). PreS-Gr. 2.
Readers are cordially invited to a concert of astonishing variety and beauty, with encore performances happening daily: beautiful birdsongs by local artists! As day breaks, a robin breaks the silence with a poodle-hoo, and soon others join in. Mourning doves coo, a tiny Carolina wren serves up a shockingly noisy refrain, and a chickadee croons its own name. A break in the ballad is cleverly provided by a silent, serious hawk observing the proceedings from a powerline, seeking an easy snack. The quiet doesn't last long, as anxious crows clock the threat and chase it off with a cawing cacophony. Sunset brings the soft hoots of owls, while a mimicking mockingbird imitates several of the previous performers in the middle of the night. Another dawn sees the avian ensemble gather to greet the day and blend their calls into one delightful din. The unconventional story is told entirely through birdsong, offering a glimpse of a day through their eyes (and our ears). Readers will delight in sounding out the creatively conceptualized chirps and squawks, and a hilarious concluding cast list offers identification of the noisy neighbors. Dazzling collaged illustrations are a glorious mishmash of bright colors and varied textures, capturing the exuberance of the noisy birds and the ever-shifting glow of daylight. Gather the flock and revel in a rambunctious read-aloud with new fabulous feathered friends. --Emily Graham
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 American Library Association
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Graham, Emily. "Bird Rehearsal." Booklist, vol. 120, no. 17, 1 May 2024, pp. 52+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A804016124/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ff144b01. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
Albee, Sarah THE PAINTER AND THE PRESIDENT Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers (Children's None) $18.99 8, 27 ISBN: 9781662680007
An account of the rocky relationship between the U.S.'s first president and his most famous portrait painter.
"They did not," as Albee puts it in a nutshell, "hit it off." Dubbed an "infernal chatterbox" by the grumpy elder statesman, Gilbert Stuart was in the habit of reeling off amusing stories and "corny jokes" to relax his subjects as he worked. Still, both painter and sitter well understood "the power of art"--and the two stuck with each other long enough for the former to break through the latter's reserve, which was exacerbated by the pain of bad dentures, to capture a more animated expression so well that the unfinished image of 1796 has remained by far the best-known portrait of Washington or any president. Stuart went on to paint portraits of five more chief executives, which Innerst incorporates, with the painter's "selfie" and other works, into droll caricatures of 18th-century dignitaries and the busy artist adroitly wielding his brush with many a vigorous "dab" and "swish." A timeline at the end daubs in further biographical details about the disparate duo, and the whole not insignificant historical anecdote is capped by closing comments on Washington's "tooth troubles" and why his picture on the dollar bill has him facing the other way. The result is a humorous yet enlightening work that humanizes seemingly distant or imposing figures.
A lighthearted, illuminating, and thought-provoking look at a brief but meaningful historical moment. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 7-10)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Albee, Sarah: THE PAINTER AND THE PRESIDENT." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A795673934/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=61f0f81b. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart's Brush with George Washington. By Sarah Albee. Illus. by Stacy Innerst. Aug. 2024. 40p. Astra/Calkins Creek, $18.99 (9781662680007). Gr. 2-5. 757.
The face that stares out a bit grimly from the one-dollar bill is, of course, that of George Washington, and this rollicking story centers on how, in 1796, the famous portrait painter Gilbert Stuart got around Washington's massively bad mood to produce this iconic painting. As --Albee points out, part of the problem was that, thanks to a brandnew, poorly fitting set of false teeth, the first president's teeth and jaw ached throughout the long sittings. Readers get two character portraits here: that of impatient, action-oriented Washington and that of the freewheeling Stuart, who broke from the "sit still" school of portraitists and encouraged his subjects to eat and drink, roam around the room, and socialize with family and friends. The illustrations, done with acrylics and pencils, have a whimsical, cutout quality, with swirling brushstrokes in the background emulating Stuart's signature brushwork and putting the emphasis on the characters, while occasional sidebars convey a wealth of historical information. Readers will gain an appreciation of the arduous art of portrait painting, with the added humor of Stuart's psychological tricks. Extensive back matter includes time lines for both Washington's and Stuart's lives, a chronicle of Washington's tooth troubles, and a bibliography. A captivating exploration of the making of one of history's most famous portraits.--Connie Fletcher
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 American Library Association
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Fletcher, Connie. "The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart's Brush with George Washington." Booklist, vol. 120, no. 19-20, 1 June 2024, p. 70. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A804018311/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3f8eb94b. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
Innerst, Stacy JOAN MITCHELL PAINTS A SYMPHONY Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers (Children's None) $18.99 2, 25 ISBN: 9781662680373
An exploration of Joan Mitchell's passionate, color-drenched, large-scale abstract paintings.
Focusing on 21 paintings that Mitchell completed in 1983 and 1984, inspired by France's Grande Vallée, Rogers notes that the U.S.-born Mitchell never visited the scenic valley, though she lived in France. It was a beloved childhood place for the painter's dear friend Gisèle Barreau. "Joan envisions the valley .She senses it, smells it, hears, it, feels it." She "uses oil paint and canvas to create this valley of her mind." Rogers beautifully conveys the artist's intentions in ways young readers will understand: By abstracting nature, Mitchell captures her feelings about it. On the monumental size and multiplicity of Mitchell's works, Rogers writes: "One canvas is not big enough to contain her mind's picture." Innerst's illustrations are fittingly exuberant, rendering Mitchell in grayscale against expressionistic brush strokes and drips in warm yellows, blues, deep greens, and pinks. Readers see multiple images of the artist on one spread, her black bob, large eyeglasses, and elongated arms embodying her energy and drive. Mitchell's black ladder is sometimes rickety looking, sometimes paint-covered: a partner in her up-and-down painter's dance. Innerst's paintings of paintings sometimes suggest a specific work from the period, such asLa Grande Vallée II (Amaryllis). The penultimate spread celebrates the extraordinary series in its gallery opening: "Joan is ready to share her valley with the world." In the last, two kids contemplate an enormous painting from "La Grande Vallée."
Simply marvelous. (author's note, childhood poem by Mitchell, timeline, selected museums for viewing Mitchell's work, selected bibliography, photographs, picture credits)(Picture-book biography. 6-10)
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"Innerst, Stacy: JOAN MITCHELL PAINTS A SYMPHONY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A817945741/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c6944dc7. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart’s Brush with George Washington
Sarah Albee, illus. by Stacy Innerst. Calkins Creek, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-6626-8000-7
Albee and Innerst wittily render the backstory of the portrait of George Washington (1732–1799) that graces the U.S. one-dollar bill. Premier American portraitist Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) wields a “dancing brush” that “captures the very soul of the person he is painting,” but his initial encounter with the president left much to be desired by both parties. Washington begrudgingly agrees to give Stuart another chance, though the president would “rather sit on a horse than sit in a chair,” and considers Stuart an “infernal chatterbox.” The two men share an understanding of “the power of art” to capture not just likeness but legacy, and when Stuart sees Washington looking delightedly at a horse, conversation fodder is found and a famous portrait is born. Elegantly economic, always accessible prose gives a sense of the era’s decorum, while sculptural acrylic, pencil, and digital artwork captures both the artistic process and the wrangling of two unique historical personalities. Secondary characters are portrayed with pale skin. Ages 7–10. (Aug.)