SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Goat is the G.O.A.T.
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: www.kelmurphy.com
CITY: Providence
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 312
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born June 1, 1977, in Boston, MA; married Antoine Revoy (author-illustrator).
EDUCATION:Rhode Island School of Design, B.F.A., 1999.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Illustrator, writer, and educator. Freelance illustrator of books, educational products, and films, 1999—. Has taught at Montserrat College of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Cofounder, with Antoine Revoy, of Shybird Studios, 2007. Exhibitions: Work shown at Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA, 2008; Chemers Gallery, Tustin, CA, 2009; Gallery Della-Piana, Wenham, MA, 2010; Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, 2012 and 2018; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts , Washington, D.C., 2013; Museum of American Illustration, New York, NY, 2015; Woods-Gerry Gallery, Illustration Triennial Exhibition, Rhode Island, 2017; Cahoon Museum of American Art, Massachusetts, 2024. Work also included in Original Art Show, Society of Illustrators—Los Angeles, 2008, 2011-14.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
AWARDS:E.B. White Read Aloud Award and Notable Children’s Books designation, American Library Association (ALA), both 2009, both for Masterpiece by Elise Broach; Notable Children’s Book selection, New York Times, 2011, for Secrets at Sea, and 2013, for The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, both by Richard Peck; Gold Medal, Society of Illustrators—Los Angeles, 2012 and 2013; Society of Illustrators Award, 2014, for cover illustration of Ship of Dolls; ALA Notable Children’s Books designation, 2016, for The Door by the Staircase by Katherine Marsh; Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize finalist, 2016, for The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford; honors from Bank Street College of Education, American Illustration, and 3×3 magazine; Best Books of 2017, Middle-Grade Mystery & Suspense, Kirkus Reviews, 2017, and Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children Books of the Year, 2018, both for A Properly Unhaunted Place; 25 Best Children’s Books, New York Times, 2019, and Edgar Awards finalist in Best Juvenile category, 2020, both for All the Greys on Greene Street; Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children Books of the Year (Adventure and Mystery), 2022, for Faraway Things.
WRITINGS
Work represented in books, including A Celebration of Beatrix Potter: Art and Letters by More than Thirty of Today’s Favorite Children’s Book Illustrators, Frederick Warne, 2016; and New Stories for Newtown: Words and Pictures from the Students of Newtown and Their Friends. Work has appeared in numerous periodicals, including Boston Phoenix, New York Times, Cricket, and CNN. Author’s books have been translated into sixteen languages.
SIDELIGHTS
Artist and educator Kelly Murphy has made a name for herself with her whimsical and expressive art, which appears alongside picture-book texts by writers such as Jane Yolen, Kathi Appelt, and Tim Myers. Murphy has also contributed illustrations to several chapter books, including the “Masterpiece Adventure” series by Elise Broach and the “Wollstonecraft Detective Agency” saga by Jordan Stratford.
Raised in southeastern Massachusetts, Murphy earned a B.A. in illustration at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design and then began teaching at the Montserrat College of Art, located north of Boston. She became interested in children’s book art during college, once telling SATA that picture-book illustration is her “true passion.”
Reviewing Murphy’s work for Myers’s whimsical picture book Good Babies: A Tale of Trolls, Humans, a Witch, and a Switch, a Kirkus Reviews contributor cited her “deft, comical watercolors” as a strength of the “warm-hearted” monster story. The artist’s “bouncy illustrations add considerable charm” to Sarah Hager’s Dancing Matilda, according to another Kirkus Reviews critic, while in School Library Journal Luella Teuton dubbed Murphy’s artwork for Teresa Bateman’s folktale adaptation Fiona’s Luck both “richly toned and evocative.”
Murphy’s illustration projects include bringing to life two stories by Boni Ashburn: Hush Little Dragon and Over at the Castle. Both tales show a caring dragon mother and her little hatchling, with Ashburn’s prose anchored to a folk song in each story. The appealing images “glow with subtle colours in Kelly Murphy’s distinctive style,” wrote Jayne Gould in a review of Over at the Castle for School Librarian.
Appelt’s Brand-New Baby Blues recounts a familiar story with the help of Murphy’s artwork: a little girl faces adjustments after a new sibling joins the household. Appelt uses a rhyming scheme with echoes of old-style blues laments for the prose, and School Library Journal writer Anne Beier enjoyed “how well the verses are in sync with the illustrations, layout, and the characters’ facial expressions.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor commended the character development and newfound tolerance that Murphy reveals through her illustrations for Brand-New Baby Blues , “which modulate in palette from angry blues and greens to sunny yellows,” according to the critic.
Working with veteran children’s book author Jane Yolen, Murphy contributed appealingly lovable monster kids to Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters: A Lullaby. While noting that her illustrations sidestep the anxiety-producing elements that might keep impressionable youngsters awake, New York Times Book Review critic Pamela Paul added that they are well-stocked with “slithery, sinister” elements. Booklist contributor Daniel Kraus remarked that “Murphy’s oil, acrylic, and gel illustrations” for Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters “instantly grab attention with their unusual points of view.” Reviewing a companion volume, Romping Monsters, Stomping Monsters, School Library Journal critic Jena Boles wrote that Murphy’s multi-hued images “give the creatures a fuzzy rather than menacing look.”
Murphy collaborated with fellow illustrator Antoine J.D. Revoy on Robert D. San Souci’s Haunted Houses, a book for older readers. Haunted Houses features ten stories about scary dwellings which are inhabited by ghosts or other supernatural phenomena and range from a blighted urban property to a dog house. The “illustrations heighten the fright factor, making San Souci’s collection even more riveting,” asserted Patty Saldenberg in her School Library Journal review of Haunted Houses .
In the “Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist” series Murphy teams up with author R.L. LaFevers to chronicle the adventures of a young creature-seeker during the late 1920s. Murphy’s “period illustrations done in line, including some of Nate’s own sketches, enhance the tale,” declared School Library Journal critic Jane Cronkhite in a review of The Flight of the Phoenix, and her “spot art and occasional full-page drawings” for The Basilisk’s Lair “carry the action along nicely.”
Mystery is also at the heart of the “Wollstonecraft Detective Agency” chapter books written by Stratford. Set in an alternate London in 1826, The Case of the Missing Moonstone follows eleven-year-old genius Lady Ada Byron and her adventurous companion, fourteen-year-old Mary Godwin, as they search for a valuable antique. Murphy’s “stylized, black-and-white illustrations are pleasing,” according to Booklist reviewer Carolyn Phelan. In Mark Steensland’s Behind the Bookcase, a young girl discovers a portal to a strange otherworld located in her late grandmother’s home. According to School Library Journal contributor Brenda Kahn, the work “adds a dash of Edward Gorey through [Murphy’s] moody black-and-white illustrations.”
Murphy also tackled exotic, faraway lands in The Scorpions of Zahir, a story by Christine Brodien-Jones. Zagora accompanies her archaeologist father to Zahir, an ancient city in Morocco to search for a colleague who has been missing for several years. While exploring the local ruins, Zagora comes to realize that she possesses heretofore-unknown unknown powers and that both she and the site have connections to a mysterious planet. This family’s “transformative journey becomes ours,” wrote Mary Beth Rassulo in a School Library Journal review of The Scorpions of Zahir, and Murphy’s “crosshatched sketches perfectly capture the ambiance and setting of this exotic thriller.”
Another book brought to life in Murphy’s art, Richard Peck’s elementary-grade novel Secrets at Sea follows two clans named Cranston—one human, one rodent—that share the same house. When the elder human Cranstons decide to sail for England to find a suitable husband for their daughter Olive, the rodent Cranstons also pack up and go along—in secret, of course. “Peck’s droll take on human and mouse society is exquisite,” remarked Robin L. Smith in Horn Book, and “Murphy’s dandy and detailed pencil illustrations … add just the right air of royalty.” Also set during the Victorian Era, Peck’s companion volume The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail concerns an orphaned rodent that flees some bullies at his academy and winds up at Buckingham Palace. “Murphy’s black-and-white illustrations … add charm in spades,” remarked Ann Kelley in Booklist.
Murphy sketches out another appealing miniature world in Masterpiece, the first installment in Broach’s chapter-book series. Here readers meet James Pompaday, an unhappy Manhattan youth, and Marvin, a young beetle that lives with his family inside the walls of James’s apartment. In a sequel, James to the Rescue!, Marvin turns to his human companion for assistance when his uncle Albert is hurt while foraging through the apartment. “Murphy’s illustrations add perspective and humor,” noted School Library Journal contributor Beth L. Meister in appraising Masterpiece. Smith wrote in Horn Book that the “frequent detailed black-and-white illustrations” add to the enjoyment of James to the Rescue!
Murphy’s artwork brings to life an original story in her picture book The Boll Weevil Ball. Despite his diminutive size, Redd is determined to have a grand time at the Boll Weevil Ball, but the tiny beetle is almost trampled on the dance floor. Retreating to safety in the branch of a tree, Redd meets a cute ladybug named Lily and the pair shares a wondrous dance in the starry sky. A Kirkus Reviews writer noted of The Boll Weevil Ball that “Murphy’s stubby limbed, dot-eyed insects are brightly decorated and pose gracefully in romantically lit nighttime scenes.”
[OPEN NEW]
Goat Is the G.O.A.T., written by Bea Birdsong and illustrated by Murphy, is a picture book that riffs on the acronym for “Greatest of All Time.” In the story a literal goat mishears praise directed at a bull and starts to wonder what makes Goat the greatest. He admits that other animals are faster or stronger or can jump higher or spit farther. When three cats get stranded in a tree, however, Goat comes to the rescue and proves his worth. A reviewer in Kirkus Reviews praised the book as “nicely paced, funny, and appealing.” They singled out Murphy’s illustrations for being “lighthearted and sunny” and for including numerous “humorous details.”
[CLOSE NEW]
An instructor who has taught at the Montserrat College of Art and Rhode Island School of Design, Murphy once told SATA: “The best piece of advice I give my students is to stick in there. Don’t fold, and try not to let the negative critiques get to you. Find what it is that interests you and use that as your driving force. Also, being open to experimentation with your style and concepts will keep your noggin working.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 15, 2008, Thom Barthelmess, review of Masterpiece, p. 51; October 1, 2009, Kara Dean, review of The Flight of the Phoenix, p. 44; November 15, 2009, Andrew Medlar, review of Brand-New Baby Blues, p. 41; March 1, 2010, Patricia Austin, review of Over at the Castle, p. 80; May 15, 2010, Kara Dean, review of The Basilisk’s Lair, p. 51; September 1, 2010, Cindy Welch, review of Haunted Houses, p. 105; April 1, 2011, Kara Dean, review of The Unicorn’s Tale, p. 70; May 1, 2011, review of Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters: A Lullaby, p. 91; September 1, 2011, Melissa Moore, review of Secrets at Sea, p. 122; August 1, 2012, Snow Wildsmith, review of The Scorpions of Zahir, p. 80; May 1, 2013, Ann Kelley, review of The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, p. 78; November 1, 2013, Francisca Goldsmith, review of Cats at Sea, p. 79; December 15, 2014, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Case of the Missing Moonstone, p. 55; March 1, 2016, Angela Leeper, review of The Slowest Book Ever, p 66; May 1, 2019, Ilene Cooper, review of All the Greys on Greene Street, p. 43.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, April, 2007, Hope Morrison, review of Fiona’s Luck, p. 324.
Children’s Bookwatch, October, 2020, review of Together We Grow.
Horn Book, November-December, 2008, Megan Lynn Isaac, review of Masterpiece, p. 697; September-October, 2011, Robin L. Smith, review of Secrets at Sea, p. 96; September-October, 2013, Elissa Gershowitz, review of Romping Monsters, Stomping Monsters, p. 68; September-October, 2015, Robin L. Smith, review of James to the Rescue!, p. 96; July-August, 2017, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Trouble at School for Marvin & James, pp. 127+.
Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2002, review of The Boll Weevil Ball, p. 1039; May 15, 2005, review of Dancing Matilda, p. 589; October 1, 2005, review of Good Babies: A Tale of Trolls, Humans, a Witch, and a Switch, p. 1085; January 15, 2007, review of Fiona’s Luck, p. 69; April 1, 2007, review of Gallop-O-Gallop; July 15, 2009, review of The Flight of the Phoenix; December 15, 2009, review of Brand-New Baby Blues; May 15, 2010, review of The Basilisk’s Lair; July 1, 2010, review of Haunted Houses; August 1, 2011, review of Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters; October 1, 2015, review of The Door by the Staircase; November 1, 2015, review of The Case of the Girl in Grey; February 15, 2016, review of The Slowest Book Ever; November 15, 2019, review of Loony Little: The Ice Cap Is Melting; April 15, 2021, review of Faraway Things; April 1, 2023, review of Dakota Crumb and the Secret Bookshop; November 1, 2024, review of Bulldozer’s Big Rescue; December 1, 2024, review of Goat Is the G.O.A.T.
Kliatt, September, 2008, Janis Flint-Ferguson, review of Masterpiece, p. 8.
New York Times Book Review, March 15, 2009, Barbara Feinberg, review of Masterpiece, p. 12; October 15, 2011, Pamela Paul, review of Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters, p. 19; November 13, 2011, Elisabeth Egan, review of Secrets at Sea, p. 37; October 8, 2017, Benjamin Alire Saenz, “Give Ghosts a Chance,” review of Properly Unhaunted Place, p. 17L.
Publishers Weekly, September 2, 2002, review of The Boll Weevil Ball, p. 75; January 1, 2007, review of Fiona’s Luck, p. 48; December 21, 2009, review of Brand-New Baby Blues, p. 59; August 22, 2011, review of Secrets at Sea, p. 64; June 4, 2012, review of Flying the Dragon, p. 51; September 24, 2012, review of Behind the Bookcase, p. 76; May 13, 2013, review of The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, p. 69; October 20, 2014, review of The Case of the Missing Moonstone, p. 53; May 24, 2021, review of Dakota Crumb: Tiny Treasure Hunter, p. 81; November 24, 2021, review of Happily for Now, pp. 74+; April 24, 2023, review of Ginny Off the Map, p. 67.
School Librarian, summer, 2010, Jayne Gould, review of Over at the Castle, p. 87.
School Library Journal, September, 2002, Kristin de Lacoste, review of The Boll Weevil Ball, p. 202; December, 2005, Linda Staskus, review of Good Babies, p. 119; April, 2007, Luella Teuton, review of Fiona’s Luck, p. 94; June, 2007, Lee Bock, review of Gallop-O-Gallop, p. 128; October, 2008, Beth L. Meister, review of Masterpiece, p. 140; September, 2009, Jane Cronkhite, review of The Flight of the Phoenix, p. 127; February, 2010, Anne Beier, review of Brand-New Baby Blues, p. 73; May, 2010, Amy Rowland, review of Over at the Castle, p. 79; July, 2010, Jane Cronkhite, review of The Basilisk’s Lair, p. 63; September, 2010, Patty Saldenberg, review of Haunted Houses, p. 164; June, 2011, Heather Talty, review of Creepy Monsters, Sleep Monsters, p. 99; September, 2011, Marie Orlando, review of Secrets at Sea, p. 127; June, 2012, Laura Scott, review of Alex and the Amazing Time Machine, p. 116; October, 2012, Mary Beth Rassulo, review of The Scorpions of Zahir, p. 124; December, 2012, Brenda Kahn, review of Behind the Bookcase, p. 132; April, 2013, Teresa Pfeifer, review of Face Bug, p. 150; July, 2013, Jena Boles, review of Romping Monsters, Stomping Monsters, p. 75, and Elaine E. Knight, review of The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, p. 84; February, 2016, Jody Kopple, review of The Slowest Book Ever, p. 120.
ONLINE
Boston University News Service, https://bunewsservice.com/ (November 6, 2023), Belle Fraser, author interview.
Kelly Murphy blog, http://didyoudrinkmybeer.blogspot.com (February 15, 2017).
Kelly Murphy website, http://www.kelmurphy.com (May 27, 2025).
Rhode Island School of Design website, https://www.risd.edu/ (May 27, 2025), author bio.
Kelly Murphy is a New York Times-bestselling author-illustrator and recipient of the E.B. White Award. She has notably illustrated the works of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Beatrix Potter, as well as book covers for various Newbery Medal winning novels, creating thousands of illustrations and award-winning art for clients worldwide. Her 51 books have been translated in 16 languages, earning countless awards and starred reviews, featuring on "best books of the year" lists by Publishers Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Kirkus and The New York Times. Kelly teaches illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design, is a keynote speaker, competition juror, and leads professional workshops nationwide. She lives in Providence, RI, with her husband, author-illustrator Antoine Revoy, and their many animal companions.
Clients Include:
BBDO / Candlewick Press / Discovery Education / Disney Hyperion / Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Frederick Warne / HarperCollins / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / Little, Brown and Company / Macmillan / Magnolia Pictures / Penguin Books / Puffin Books / Random House / Sesame Street Workshop / Simon and Schuster / TEDMED
Featured in:
Boston Phoenix / Book Links / Cartoon Brew / CNN / Cricket Magazine / dpi Magazine Taiwan / Drawn! / Juxtapoz / Providence Journal / Providence Monthly / The New York Times / WIRED
Select Awards + Recognition
2022 - Bank Street College of Education's Best Children Books of the Year
2020 - Edgar Awards Finalist
2019 - The New York Times 25 Best Children's Books of 2019
2018 - Bank Street College of Education's Best Children Books of the Year
2017 - Kirkus Best Books of the Year
2016 - American Library Association, ALSC Notable Children's Book
2015 - "200 Best Illustrators," Luerzer's Archive
2014 - Society of Illustrators NY
2014 - Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List
2013 - 2 Gold Awards, Society of Illustrators LA
2012 - Gold Award, Bronze Award, Society of Illustrators LA
2011 - Silver Award, 3x3 Magazine
2010 - American Illustration 29 Chosen
2009 - E.B. White Award
2008 - Design All Star, dpi Magazine (Taiwan)
2008 - Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Kelly Murphy, Seattle (2014)
Notable Exhibitions
2024 - Cahoon Museum of American Art / MA
2018 - RISD Museum of Art / RI
2017 - Woods-Gerry Gallery, Illustration Triennial Exhibition / RI
2015 - Museum of American Illustration / NYC
2014 - Original Art Society of Illustrators / NYC
2013 - John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts / Washington, D.C.
2010 - Gallery Nucleus / CA
2009 - Chemers Gallery / CA
2008 - Danforth Museum, Solo Show / MA
Juror
2014 - Illustrators 57 Professional Show, Society of Illustrators NY / NYC
2014 - The Original Art / NYC
Select Speaking Engagements + Workshops
2021 - University of Cambridge / Cambridge, UK
2020 - EAP / Beijing, China
2019 - SCBWI / NYC
2018 - Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors / RI
2017 - MFA program guest lecturer at the University of Hartford Art School / CT
2017 - Northeastern University / MA
2016 - Raab Associates Prize (Human Rights and Children's Literature), The University of Connecticut / CT
2016 - Teen Outreach panelist at the CBC Diversity Initiative with Children's Book Council / Jamaica Plain, MA
2016 - Kindling Words Keynote Speaker / Burlington, VT
2015 - University of Massachusetts Dartmouth / MA
2014 - SCBWI Western Washington Illustrator Retreat / WA
2014 - Keynote speaker at the SCBWI 2014 Writers & Illustrators Working Conference / Austin, TX
2013 - Niigata College of Art and Design / Niigata, Japan
2012 - Advanced Illustrators Workshop Leader for the Highlights Foundation / PA
2010 - Boston College / MA
Kelly Murphy has 24 years of experience as a college teacher in the United States and Italy. She is a senior faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she has taught in the Illustration Department for 17 years, mentoring and collaborating with generations of talented artists.
Kelly previously taught for 12 years at the Montserrat College of Art as an Assistant Professor, and was a teacher at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Massachusetts. She also teaches courses for professional artists and writers, including workshops for the Highlights Foundation, Kindling Words and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She has been a keynote speaker at conferences and universities worldwide, including the University of Cambridge and Boston College.
SELECT COURSES:
RISD, Illustration Concepts 1, Fall 2009–2024
RISD, Illustration Concepts 2, Spring 2009–2021
RISD, The Portfolio, 2015–2025
RISD, Senior Degree Project, 2016–2020
RISD, Art for Children, 2017–2025
Brown-RISD, Dual Degree Capstone Advisor, 2016–2017
Montserrat College of Art, Illustration 2 - 4, 2002–2014
Montserrat College of Art, Children's Book Illustration, 2002–2014
Montserrat College of Art, Illustrating Fiction, 2002–2014
Study Art Abroad, Viterbo, Italy, Journalistic Drawing, Summer 2011, 2014, 2015
MassArt, Media Techniques, Fall 2008
Kelly Murphy
Senior Critic - Illustration
Hailing from the swamps of New England, Kelly Murphy has been illustrating since graduating from RISD in 1999. She is a New York Times bestselling author-illustrator and a recipient of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award. She has notably illustrated the works of Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter, Richard Peck and Jane Yolen, created book covers for various Newbery Medal-winning novels, designed characters for the Sesame Workshop's show Esme and Roy on HBO and created award-winning art for clients worldwide. Her 40+ books have been translated into 15 languages, earning countless awards and starred reviews and getting featured on “best books of the year” lists by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, People Magazine and The New York Times. She has received awards and medals from the Society of Illustrators, the American Library Association, 3x3 Magazine, American Illustration, Luerzer's Archive, the Chicago Public Library and the Bank Street College of Education. Her illustrations have been exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration, the Gallery Nucleus, the Danforth Museum, the Sundance Film Festival and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Murphy’s clients include Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Discovery Education, Disney Hyperion, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Magnolia Pictures, Penguin Books, Random House, Simon & Schuster and the Sesame Street Workshop.
When not confined to the studio for large amounts of time, Murphy enjoys being outside as much as possible. Her favorite hobbies include gardening, birding and sail racing. She lives in Providence, RI with her husband, Antoine Revoy, and their many cherished pets.
Academic areas of interest
Concept development, color theory, story pacing and narrative development, refining pictorial mood and atmosphere, painting.
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design
kmurphy@risd.edu
401-277-4833
Kelly Murphy website
Jamie Michalak and Kelly Murphy collaborate on second Dakota Crumb
November 6, 2023Add Commentby BU News Service
Photo by Belle Fraser/Boston University News Service.
By Belle Fraser
Boston University News Service
While author Jamie Michalak and illustrator Kelly Murphy didn’t initially plan on going into the children’s book industry, they’ve now collaborated on a second story in their “Dakota Crumb” series. Dakota the protagonist mouse, finds herself on mini treasure hunts that young audiences can help solve while reading.
“The more I learned about children’s books, the more I wanted to start writing them on my own,” said Michalak, who was a journalism major in college. “I didn’t start sending stories out until after my son was born. I was reading stories to him a lot and really got a sense of the format and the pacing; everything I liked about children’s books and even the stuff that I didn’t like was educational.”
Murphy, on the other hand, went to the Rhode Island School of Design where her art developed a narrative quality, guiding her to experiment with visual storytelling. The pacing of children’s books –– the need for the ‘what happens next’ feeling –– resonated with her drawing style as she built stories around pictures first, then added words.
“I liked children’s books when I was younger, but I mostly liked the pictures. I actually wasn’t a very good reader as a kid, so I tended to gravitate towards all of the visual stories,” Murphy said.
When putting together a children’s book, Michalak focuses on the mindset and interests of younger readers. She says there has to be an incentive to flip the page and a hook that draws them in from the beginning.
“I do try to keep in mind having a problem to solve; the page turns are super important… Humor is really important and also the word count; you don’t want it to be super long,” Michalak said. “I feel like I’m a second grader inside. I love visiting second graders, they have the same sense of humor as me.”
This also translates to the illustrations, down to what shade of a color a child will recognize the most. Murphy explained that when kids are still learning their colors, you have to use the standard shade in stories, however, as the audience gets older, she adds more variation.
“Depending on the age, you have to guide your illustrations accordingly, but with this book it has such a fun range,” Murphy said. “The younger you get, you have to compensate, or you have to realize the scope of what they’re noticing. Even color palettes have to shift a bit if it’s for a younger audience.”
Michalak and Murphy were able to see how kids reacted to their new “Dakota Crumb” book during an April 29 reading event at the Brookline Booksmith. The author and illustrator did a read along and then set up a treasure hunt in the bookstore similar to the one Dakota went on in the story. The interactive nature of the narrative got all ages involved.
“That’s the best because you work on it in isolation for years,” Michalak said of finally seeing her book in children’s hands.
A majority of Michalak and Murphy’s audience are young kids that are just getting into books and growing an appreciation for storytelling. This gives the creators the opportunity to help them get excited about reading and learning.
The “Dakota Crumb” reading event was part of the Brookline Booksmith’s celebration of Independent Bookstore Day. The national holiday happens every year on the last Saturday in April to recognize and appreciate the impact of local bookshops to their direct communities.
“The bookstores are the soul of the town,” Michalak said. “There are real people that are so passionate about books that work at independent bookstores. They might connect you to a book you never even thought you wanted, but then it ends up being your favorite book.”
For Brookline, the Brookline Booksmith is a congregating place for booklovers and an important unifying piece of the community. Michalak’s next book, “Hazel is a Handful,” comes out in 2025 and ties her directly back to Harvard Avenue–– the story is based on a Brookline dog.
“Kids are the most amazing audience because not only are they incredibly honest, they’re incredibly excited,” Murphy said. “We have them when they’re first learning or seeing something for the first time and there is a certain fire in their eyes.”
Children’s book author and illustrator Kelly Murphy grew up in the swamps of southern New England, so it’s no mystery why mystical and dark things still have a strong hold on her.
In 2009 Kelly Murphy earned an E.B. White Read Aloud Award for illustrating the New York Times Best Seller Masterpiece, and has enjoyed with working with stellar authors such as Richard Peck, Dave Eggers, Jane Yolen, J. Patrick Lewis, Robert San Souci, and R.L. LaFevers. On the side of these numerous and versatile creative achievements, Kelly has engaged in a lasting involvement with art education and is currently a member of the illustration faculty at her alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design.
Although she is a night owl, you can occasionally find Kelly exploring local flora and fauna with her husband and fellow author/illustrator Antoine Revoy and her four legged companions, Lily, Mama, and Matryoshka. Please visit www.kelmurphy.com to see more of her books and projects.
Kelly Murphy
Article
Talk
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Appearance hide
Text
Small
Standard
Large
Width
Standard
Wide
Color (beta)
Automatic
Light
Dark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people with similar names, see Kelly Murphy (disambiguation).
Kelly Murphy is an American author, illustrator and educator. She is based in Providence, Rhode Island.[1]
Early life
Murphy was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in southeastern Massachusetts.[2] She attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, Rhode Island.[3] Her student work receiving distinction from the Society of Illustrators of New York. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration in 1999, Murphy started a freelance career as an editorial and children's books illustrator.
Career
She wrote and illustrated her first picture book, The Boll Weevil Ball, in 2002[4] and has since illustrated more than 50 books for children, including stories written by authors Dave Eggers,[5] J. Patrick Lewis, Linda Sue Park, Richard Peck, Beatrix Potter and Jane Yolen.[6] Murphy has also created artwork for theater,[7] film and animation, including character designs for the Sesame Workshop animated show Esme & Roy on HBO, and the 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals.[8]
She has taught at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Montserrat College of Art, and is a faculty member of the Rhode Island School of Design.[9]
Awards
In 2009 Murphy earned an E.B. White Read Aloud Award[10] for illustrating the New York Times Best Seller[11] Masterpiece, written by Elise Broach. She subsequently illustrated books in a companion series for younger readers, The Masterpiece Adventures, by the same author.
In 2019 All the Greys on Greene Street, written by Laura Tucker and illustrated by Murphy, was distinguished as a best book of the year by The New York Times,[12] Kirkus Reviews,[13] BookPage[14] and Publishers Weekly.[15]
Exhibitions
Murphy was one of 5 artists whose work was exhibited in the 18th Annual Children's Book Illustrators' Show & Signing at the Chemers Gallery in Tustin, CA in 2009.[16]
Murphy's original art was exhibited in the 2010 Children's Book Illustrators Exhibition at the Brush Art Gallery & Studios, with fellow RISD alumni illustrators Christopher Bing, David Macaulay and David Wiesner.[17]
Murphy's work has been exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration in New York City, NY.[18]
In 2012, Murphy's work received a Gold Award in the Illustration West 50 competition and was exhibited at the Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, California.[19] Murphy was also chosen from RISD's illustrious alumni as one of the artists featured in RISD ICONS: A Legacy of Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design[20] exhibit at the Woods Gerry Gallery.
In 2014, Murphy was a keynote speaker at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators 2014 Writers & Illustrators Working Conference in Austin, Texas.[21]
Murphy is one of the illustrators and authors presenting at the Lincoln School's 2018 Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors.[22][23]
Bibliography
Chapter books
Masterpiece (2008, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach)
Flight of the Phoenix (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book 1) (2009, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers)
The Basilisk's Lair (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book 2) (2010, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers)
The Wyverns' Treasure (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book 3) (2010, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers)
Haunted Houses (Are You Scared Yet?) (2010, Co-illustrated with Antoine Revoy, written by Robert D. San Souci)
The Unicorn's Tale (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book 4) (2011, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers)
Secrets at Sea (2011, Illustrator, written by Richard Peck)
Alex and the Amazing Time Machine (2012, Illustrator, written by Rich Cohen)
The Scorpions of Zahir (2012, Illustrator, written by Christine Brodien-Jones)
Behind the Bookcase (2012, Illustrator, written by Mark Steensland)
The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail (2013, Illustrator, written by Richard Peck)
Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea (2013, Illustrator, written by Lisa and Valerie Martin)
The Miniature World of Marvin and James (2014, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach)
The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 1: The Case of the Missing Moonstone (2015, Illustrator, written by Jordan Stratford)
James to the Rescue (2015, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach)
The Door by the Staircase (2016, Illustrator, written by Katherine Marsh)
The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 2: The Case of the Girl in Grey (2016, Illustrator, written by Jordan Stratford)
Anton and Cecil: Cats Aloft (2016, Illustrator, written by Lisa and Valerie Martin)
The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 3: The Case of the Counterfeit Criminals (2017, Illustrator, written by Jordan Stratford)
Trouble at School for Marvin & James (2017, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach)
A Properly Unhaunted Place (2017, Illustrator, written by William Alexander)
The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 4: The Case of the Perilous Palace (2018, Illustrator, written by Jordan Stratford)
A Festival of Ghosts (2018, Illustrator, written by William Alexander)
All The Greys on Greene Street (2019, Illustrator, written by Laura Tucker)
A Trip to the Country for Marvin & James (2020, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach)
Happily for Now (2021, Illustrator, written by Kelly Jones)
Ginny Off the Map (2023, Illustrator, written by Caroline Hickey)
Bulldozer and Friends Vol 1: Bulldozer's Big Rescue (2025, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach)
Picture books
The Boll Weevil Ball (2002)
A Place To Grow (2002, Illustrator, written by Stephanie Bloom)
Loony Little (2003, Illustrator, written by Dianna Hutts Aston)
Dancing Matilda (2004, Illustrator, written by Sarah Hager)
Good Babies (2005, Illustrator, written by Tim Myers)
Fiona's Luck (2007, Illustrator, written by Teresa Bateman)
Gallop-O-Gallop (2007, Illustrator, written by Sandra Alonso)
Hush, Little Dragon (2008, Illustrator, written by Boni Ashburn)
The Peach Boy (2009, Illustrator, written by Alex Frith)
Brand-New Baby Blues (2009, Illustrator, written by Kathi Appelt)
Over At The Castle (2009, Illustrator, written by Boni Ashburn)
Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters (2011, Illustrator, written by Jane Yolen)
Face Bug (2013, Illustrator, written by J. Patrick Lewis, photographs by Fred Siskind)
Romping Monsters, Stomping Monsters (2013, Illustrator, written by Jane Yolen)
The Slowest Book Ever (2016, Illustrator, written by April Pulley Sayre)
Together We Grow (2020, Illustrator, written by Susan Vaught)[24]
Faraway Things (2021, Illustrator, written by Dave Eggers)[25]
Dakota Crumb: Tiny Treasure Hunter (2021, Illustrator, written by Jamie Michalak)
Dakota Crumb and the Secret Bookshop: A Tiny Treasure Hunt (2023, Illustrator, written by Jamie Michalak)
Goat Is The G.O.A.T. (2025, Illustrator, written by Bea Birdsong)
Marsh, Katherine THE DOOR BY THE STAIRCASE Disney-Hyperion (Children's Fiction) $16.99 1, 5 ISBN: 978-1-4231-3499-2
Will bravery, kindness, and perceptiveness be enough to earn 12-year-old orphan Mary Hayes a permanent home with Madame Zolotaya, the elderly woman who rescues her from a terrible Buffalo orphanage? Even if readers don't know Baba Yaga, they will probably recognize that Mary's savior is a witch whose delicious meals are designed to fatten her up for the oven. "I am no one's mother" the wrinkled old woman says. Can she become one? is the underlying question, and the answer will be heartwarming to any reader. Madame Z lives in the woods outside Iris, a town full of people who profess to be masters of the occult: "con artists, fakes, and charlatans" she calls them. But there is real magic there, too, and Mary and her new friend, Jacob Kagan, son of a traveling illusionist, are determined to find it to ensure that they both will have permanent homes. There is suspense throughout and heart-stopping moments early on to draw readers into this immensely satisfying story. Woven into the traditional third-person narrative are intriguing details about magicians' secrets and mouthwatering descriptions of Russian foods: blini, mushroom and potato dumplings, kulich with farmer's cheese, and rye bread with holodetz, this last eaten on a peekneek. Well-drawn characters, an original setting, and a satisfying resolution are the ingredients that make this carefully crafted middle-grade adventure a highly rewarding read. (Fantasy. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Marsh, Katherine: THE DOOR BY THE STAIRCASE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2015. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A430104221/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f9b0ea51. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Stratford, Jordan THE CASE OF THE GIRL IN GREY Knopf (Children's Fiction) $16.99 1, 5 ISBN: 978-0-385-75444-6
More spurious adventures with those crime-solving minxes Ada Byron (Lovelace) and Mary Godwin (Shelley). They are joined by their sidekicks from series opener The Case of the Missing Moonstone (2015), "Charlie" Dickens and Percy Bysshe "Peebs" Shelley, as well as two new characters, their younger sisters, impish Allegra and prim Jane, respectively. In this frolic, the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency is hired to investigate a young lady's intended groom. High jinks ensue. As in the previous volume, Stratford plays so fast and loose with historical fact that readers familiar with it will wonder why he bothers. In addition to closing up the 18-year gap between Ada and Mary, he resurrects Allegra from the dead (she died at the age of 5) and erases the fact that Jane was the illegitimate Allegra's mother. (All of this is revealed in the historical notes at the conclusion.) It's a shame that Stratford has built his novel on such a heap of lies, as it's not otherwise a bad book. The mystery itself is no more contrived than many middle-grade whodunits; the character development (independent as most of it is of actual history) is snappy; and at a sentence level, it can be downright lovely: a release of breath "lift[s Ada's] stray brown bangs in a wave hello to the dust motes in the air." A tragically flawed premise results in a lamentable waste of excellent writing. (Historical mystery. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Stratford, Jordan: THE CASE OF THE GIRL IN GREY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2015. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A433047931/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c1e5345c. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Sayre, April Pulley THE SLOWEST BOOK EVER Boyds Mills (Children's Nonfiction) $16.95 4, 5 ISBN: 978-1-62091-783-1
Sayre beckons kids to investigate and ruminate on slow-moving animals, slow-growing plants, slow motion, and plenty more. In loosely arranged sections, the author adopts a conversational style to both inform and amuse curious students. She covers expected topics, such as the centuries-old sequoia tree, the land snail, and slow-forming geologic wonders like the Grand Canyon. But refreshing, often fleeting twists of topic, delivered with repeated exhortations for kids to slow down, ponder, and study, combine for a galloping volume that respects children as capable scientific thinkers. Sayre examines time's effect on natural materials, from the Statue of Liberty's copper to the erosion of gravestones. The origins of the air and water that compose human bodies get a look, as does the biology of intentionally slow practices such as tai chi and yoga. The concept of "slow" in art and culture--evidenced in the slow-food movement, the art of bonsai, and John Cage's composition "As Slow as Possible" (which will last about 639 years)--is playfully introduced. Current scientists and their work are interwoven. Murphy's cartoonish illustrations provide more humor than elucidation. The whole shebang winds up in outer space, where Sayre introduces concepts like light-years and dark matter and calls on kids to think "big, slow, chewy thoughts" about the expanding universe. Anecdotal, loopily organized, but engaging. And chewy! (glossary, acknowledgments, endnotes with resources, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Sayre, April Pulley: THE SLOWEST BOOK EVER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2016. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A443086485/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ce40056d. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Trouble at School for Marvin & James [Masterpiece Adventures]
by Elise Broach; illus. by Kelly Murphy
Primary Ottaviano/Holt 104 pp.
4/17 978-1-62779-318-6 $15.99 e-book ed. 978-1-62779-319-3 $9.99
The pair of unconventional friends--human boy James and beetle Marvin (The Miniature World of Marvin & James, rev. 5/14; James to the Rescue!, rev. 9/15)--share another adventure when James tucks Marvin into his pocket to go with him to school. Marvin is especially enthusiastic about meeting the blue-haired art teacher, Mr. Chang, who tells the class,
"There are no mistakes, just happy accidents," words that Marvin has taken to heart in his own artwork.
The story is told from a present-tense beetle's-eye point of view, and it's all fun and games until cafeteria time, when Marvin accidentally winds up in the garbage. Broach writes short, punchy sentences ("The sneeze sweeps Marvin into the air. He is turning over and over in the wind, when he lands on a cafeteria tray. Ow!"), and the type is large, so although the book is over one hundred pages long, it will be accessible to children making the transition from easy readers to chapter books. Murphy's lively pen-and-ink drawings in shades of orange and brown add to the entertainment and will assist new readers in figuring out meaning. More than slapstick adventure, this series revolves around a warm, supportive, and trusting relationship between a boy and a beetle. SUSAN DOVE LEMPKE
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Lempke, Susan Dove. "Trouble at School for Marvin & James [Masterpiece Adventures]." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 93, no. 4, July-Aug. 2017, pp. 127+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A500260355/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2720f479. Accessed 4 May 2025.
PROPERLY UNHAUNTED PLACE By William Alexander Illustrated by Kelly Murphy182 pp. Margaret K. McElderry Books. $16.99(Middle grade; ages 8 to 12)
''A Properly Unhaunted Place'' begins evocatively, in a setting that is strange and full of questions. This fifth book from William Alexander, who won a National Book Award for ''Goblin Secrets,'' creates an unsettling tone of mystery. The book's protagonist, Rosa, and her mother arrive at their new abode already defeated, though we don't know why defeat permeates their lives. They have come to reside in a place where nothing is going on, but there should be something going on, and in fact there is something. But that something lies just beyond what Rosa is experiencing as she examines her new residence in the basement of the Ingot Public Library. Her room has no windows to view the outside world, but there is a landscape painting on the wall that represents (falsely) what lies beyond the wall. Rosa has no wish to unpack, as she feels this place could never be home. It has no use for her and her gifts, or the things she carries. It's not until the end of the novel that we understand the belongings she has brought with her and their significance, but clearly, we are in the hands of a gifted storyteller. You may be asking: What exactly is happening here? But you turn each page, wanting, needing, to know.
Rosa and her mother, a well-known ''appeasement specialist librarian'' who helps keep ghosts calm and unthreatening to the living, have moved to a place that is apparently free of the ghosts that inhabit all other towns and cities. The spirits of the dead have been banished. Though some see the town as a perfect place to live, unencumbered by ghosts that represent an unresolved past, Alexander suggests that a place like that will only fool us into believing we are safe. Rosa, for her part, simply does not understand why her mother has been given a job where her talents are neither wanted nor necessary. In lieu of ghosts it is Rosa who feels like a specter in this place that is ''not home,'' but rather ''just an underground room she happened to be haunting.''
There is a true art to writing mysteries -- especially mysteries that involve ghosts and the people who understand the necessity of their presence in the ''real'' world. On the surface, Alexander's plot is uncomplicated. Rosa and her mother arrive on the eve of the town's Renaissance Festival, the only thing that ever happens there. Rosa and her new friend, Jasper, come to understand that banishment always backfires, as it has with the ghosts of Ingot. ''The ghosts don't go very far,'' Rosa says. ''I think they're still here. All of them.''
Investigating the true purpose of the festival, they find that the only way to save the town from itself is by reintroducing the ghosts, who simply cannot be sent into a permanent exile. A proper relationship with ghosts must be established so that the past and present, the living and the dead can coexist in a balanced universe that is neither violent nor destructive. After all, as they realize, every place has a history and, as such, it is inconceivable to live somewhere that is unhaunted.
As Rosa comes to understand the reasons behind the founding of the Renaissance Festival, she discovers the price the town has to pay to hold onto its myth of being unhaunted. The citizens of Ingot gather each year to ''mourn a history they don't have and don't even remember losing.'' The town ''might not know what it had lost, or why it was gone, but Ingot pressed against that absence like a tongue where a tooth used to be,'' as Alexander puts it in one of his many concise, poetic images.
Helped by Kelly Murphy's provocative illustrations, peppered throughout the book, Alexander has created a cautionary tale and a profound and beautiful work. (My only complaint is that there are not enough illustrations to make them absolutely necessary -- I'd have liked more of them, but this is a rather small criticism). This novel explores the very idea of books, the purpose of libraries and the rather large theme of why the present must embrace a relationship with the past. It reminds us that if we are not brave enough to live alongside the haunting past, then we risk becoming nothing more than ghosts, haunting the earth but never inhabiting it.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
SAenz, Benjamin Alire. "Give Ghosts a Chance." The New York Times Book Review, 8 Oct. 2017, p. 17(L). Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A508510528/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=152f7c12. Accessed 4 May 2025.
* All the Greys on Greene Street. By Laura Tucker. Illus. by Kelly Murphy. June 2019. 320p. Viking, $ 17.99 (9780451479532). Gr. 4-7.
Ollies parents are artists. Her mother is an innovative sculptor; her father, along with his friend and partner, Apollo, does meticulous restoration work. But to Ollie's distress, neither of them is present at the moment. Her father has disappeared, perhaps to France with his new girlfriend, on some obscure mission. Her mother, as she did once be too depressed to eat, wash, or focus on her daughter's worries. That leaves Ollie, an artist in her own right, free to roam a pregentrified Manhattan Soho with friends Alex and Richard, seeking clues to her father's whereabouts. The story isn't much of a mystery in the traditional sense. By the time readers discover what's happened to the father, key elements about his disappearance are almost forgotten. As Ollie herself notes about mysteries, the clues in books are all "tidy arrows pointing toward a logical conclusion," and meandering reality just isn't like that. What this is, however, is a brilliant meditation on the artistic life, the way shapes and color infuse perception, how concentration can lead to illumination, and how creation is a gift available to all in myriad forms. These messages don't present heavily, they shimmer, mostly because Tuckers writing is exquisite and as precise as brushstroke. A remarkable debut.--Ilene Cooper
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Cooper, Ilene. "All the Greys on Greene Street." Booklist, vol. 115, no. 17, 1 May 2019, p. 43. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A587366718/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d942a63e. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Aston, Dianna Hutts LOONY LITTLE Charlesbridge (Children's Fiction) $16.99 1, 14 ISBN: 978-1-62354-117-0
"Chicken Little" for the environmentally aware.
When Loony Little feels a drop of water hit the top of her head, she wails, "The polar ice cap is melting! I must go tell the Polar Bear Queen!" She meets a dovekie, a puffin, and an arctic hare along the way, several commenting about the effect: "the sea will rise, and my den might flood!" But when the group meets Sealy Sally, they rethink meeting the Polar Bear Queen, who recently ate Sealy Sally's cousin. Foxy Loxy offers to safely escort them, but Loony Little puts paid to his nefarious plan when she stumbles across the sign pointing to his den. A well-aimed piece of ice convinces Foxy Loxy the group is right, and he takes the news to the Polar Bear Queen…who promptly solves a more immediately pressing need than a melting ice cap. The four friends head off across the ice dolefully wondering what they can do. "It's up to us to find out," says Loony Little. "All of us." Backmatter explains climate change and the greenhouse effect, gives some ideas for ways kids can help--though many are either educational/research-based or work-intensive (grow a garden, plant trees)--and provides additional info about each of the animals. The textured paintings don't always match this information, often showing the loon on solid surfaces standing upright as a goose would, which is physically impossible.
Not the most satisfying, accurate, or entertaining entree to climate change. (resources) (Picture book. 5-9)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Aston, Dianna Hutts: LOONY LITTLE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A605549586/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d839a2d9. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Together We Grow
Susan Vaught and Kelly Murphy
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
1230 Avenue of the Americas, 4th floor, New York, NY 10020
www.simonandschuster.com/kids
9781534405868, $17.99 HC, $10.99 Kindle, 40pp
https://www.amazon.com/Together-We-Grow-Susan-Vaught/dp/1534405860
Together We Grow joins an award-winning novelist and a New York Times bestselling illustrator in a lovely picture book story of farm animals that are driven indoors by a storm. The fox family isn't part of their circle, but they too are threatened by the weather. Where will they seek refuge? Ages 4 to 8 receive a picture book story of generosity, sharing, and adversity that excels in gorgeous drawings and a message about opening one's home and heart to those in need. Together We Grow promotes the benefits of unity and caring which parents will find to be important lessons for the very young.
Candlewick Press 99 Dover Street, Somerville, MA 02144 www.candlewick.com
Five new arrivals are highly recommended picks for young picture book readers and adults looking for original, bright productions. Jane Clarke's Leap Frog (9781536212051, $14.99) is one such example, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup with beautifully bright drawings as it invites kids to look for Felix the tree frog, who is unlike the other frogs in the pond.
Kids learn fun facts about tree frogs, couched in the story of Felix, who is fearful about his environment and the sounds, sights, and other creatures that inhabit it. The fictional overlay of the nonfiction facts make for a particularly inviting story line.
Mara Rockliffs Jefferson Measures a Moose (9780763694104, $17.99) is illustrated by S.D. Schindler, who provides engaging drawings to accompany the biography of Thomas Jefferson and his passion for numbers and learning. When faced by European ignorance of America's attractions, he uses these numbers to prove his points and help non-Americans better understand the country's natural history. Kids with good reading skills who are interested in lively biographical sketches will find this story unusual in its focus and presentation.
Ann Stott's Nana Says I Will Be Famous One Day (9780763695606, $16.99) is illustrated by Andrew Joyner, who provides a fine story of a Nana who never misses her grandson's shows, games, or concerts. Nana is a positive, forthright supporter and fan of her grandson, but when she's injured, it's up to him to support her, in turn. But, how? This fine story of family support and relationships is bright, colorful, and highly recommended.
Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Choo-Choo School (9780763697426, $14.99) is illustrated by Mike Yamada and features seven train cars that make tracks to their first day of school. As the train theme blends with school objectives ("Gym is for blowing off steam"), train-crazy youngsters will appreciate the playful approach to classroom learning and how it translates to the train children's world.
Philip Ardagh's Bunnies on the Bus (9781536211160, $16.99) benefits from illustrator Ben Mantle's work in animation and provides an engaging set of experiences and insights about a set of wild bunnies on the bus. A rollicking rhyme ("Bunnies on the bus!/Bunnies on the bus! No wonder there's a fuss/about the bunnies on the bus!") lends whimsical atmosphere to the bunnies who take different approaches to the bus ride.
All are engaging stories that stand out from the crowd, making for highly recommended library or at-home reading picks.
Penguin Young Readers Group www.penguin.com/kids
Three new picture books are standout picks for schools and parents looking for exceptional leisure reads for kids.
Eric Carle's Happy Halloween from the Very Busy Spider (9780593097106, $12.99) provides at-home readers with a lovely rhyming lift-the-flap board book about a busy spider who is looking for her friends. An inviting format and Eric Carle's bright, appealing drawings pack a story that lends to read-aloud fun as questions are asked, spider perceptions are gathered, and kids use the flaps and bright, hidden answers to join in on the fun of a busy spider's seasonal enjoyments.
Tina Cho's The Ocean Calls (9781984814869, $17.99) presents a haenyeo mermaid story that will require good reading skills or parental assistance. Dayeon wants to be a haenyeo like Grandma: a Korean woman diver who gets treasures from the sea. There's only one problem: a frightening memory keeps Dayeon from fulfilling her family destiny. Can she learn to overcome her fears and join in a long-held tradition? Lovely drawings by muralist Jess X. Snow bring this gentle folk tale to life.
Deborah Underwood's Every Little Letter (9780525554028, $17.99) receives whimsical, fun, colorful drawings by Joy Hwang Ruiz as it tells of a little letter who lives in a city surrounded by walls made of big letters designed to keep out other, different letters. These big letters feel side behind this wall, hidden from the differences in the outside world, but one small, curious letter wonders about that world. When she finds an opening and other letters, she realizes their fears may be unfounded in this intriguing story of friendship and discovery.
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Together We Grow." Children's Bookwatch, Oct. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A642011121/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5243531f. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Eggers, Dave FARAWAY THINGS Little, Brown (Children's None) $18.99 6, 8 ISBN: 978-0-316-49219-5
A found “faraway thing” becomes a turning point in the life of a boy.
“Lucian live[s] with his mother on a windswept shore.” His father has been absent from their lighthouse home for long enough that Lucian worries his real memories of him are fading. After a storm, Lucian combs the beach for what his father had called “faraway things”—objects tossed up by the sea—and finds a cutlass. Thrilled, he plays with it, sweeping and slashing the air. The next day dawns foggy, but when it lifts Lucian spies a stranded sailing ship. As he watches, a rowboat is lowered from the ship and moves toward him. The captain steps ashore, wearing a sheath that matches the cutlass. He tells Lucian the cutlass belongs to him, but in trade, the captain will let Lucian select anything from his treasures. Lucian reluctantly realizes the cutlass belongs to the captain and agrees. At the ship, the captain shows Lucian wonderful things and advises him to “choose wisely.” Lucian does. This bildungsroman’s timeless and slightly otherworldly feel is underscored by its illustrations’ muted, effective palette of earth, sea, and sky tones. Unusual perspectives—an ingenious choice for a muted palette—create visual stimulation, showing views from both above and below the horizon line. Satisfyingly, the endpapers allegorically start and finish the story. The captain has dark skin; Lucian and the others have light skin.
An evocative picture-book bildungsroman with equally atmospheric illustrations. (Picture book. 6-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Eggers, Dave: FARAWAY THINGS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2021. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A658194472/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=13187b21. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Dakota Crumb: Tiny Treasure Hunter
Jamie Michalak, illus. by Kelly Murphy. Candlewick, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-5362-0394-3
In this Night at the Museum-leaning picture book, an intrepid gray mouse, dressed in a red turtleneck sweater and utility belt, uses her nocturnal prowl to scour a big-city museum for treasures--which readers will recognize as things left behind by human visitors. Dakota Crumb creeps and rappels, scooping up a left-behind action figure in a statue gallery, and bravely maneuvering past a feline statue in the antiquities hall until reaching her objective: "the Purple Jewel of Egypt," a gumdrop that someone has stuck to a stone temple. Michalak (Frank and Bean) drums up the lengthy expedition's drama, and Murphy's (Together We Grow) digitally colored pen and ink drawings are both adventure-story cinematic and wonderfully evocative; bathed in pale purples and blues, they capture the after-hours stillness and spooky chill of marbled interiors. The payoff reveals that Miss Crumb's treasures are holdings for her own magnificent Mousehole Museum, which is open to city critters. And why shouldn't pigeons and insects be culture vultures, too? Final pages invite readers to find more treasures that Miss Crumb missed. Ages 3-7. Author's agent: Victoria Wells Arms, Wells Arms Literary/HG Literary. (July)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Dakota Crumb: Tiny Treasure Hunter." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 21, 24 May 2021, p. 81. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A663666142/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=97f88188. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Kelly Jones, illus. by Kelly Murphy. Knopf, $16.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-593-17952-9
Jones (Sauerkraut) delivers a witty play on traditional fairy tales with a healthy dose of emotional maturity. White, redhaired protagonist Fiona would rather help her mother at home than journey to live with unfamiliar telatives in a "creepy old house" in a town called Cold Hope. But when her mom enters treatment for addiction, Fiona--with the help of social worker Ms. Davis, cued as Black--channels her worries about both situations into "fairy-godperson training," which involves helping others navigate their circumstances. Through Fiona's frank narrative voice, Jones offers humorous allusions to familiar fairy tales with a timely slant--about Cinderella, "When you read about some girl going around covered in ashes... it's pretty clear somebody should get that girl some help." As Fiona attempts to work her magic with her tired relatives, who run a failing bakery, she inadvertently starts a war between their most creative alchemist, Aunt Becky, and a competing operation. Whimsical without being treacly, this on-point fairy tale handles its subject matter sensitively as Fiona learns that helping people isn't as easy as it seems. Occasional illustrations by Murphy (Faraway Things) include detailed maps of the town. Ages 8-12.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Happily For Now." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 48, 24 Nov. 2021, pp. 74+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686559683/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=dab5b111. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Michalak, Jamie DAKOTA CRUMB AND THE SECRET BOOKSHOP Candlewick (Children's None) $17.99 5, 2 ISBN: 9781536223309
In this follow-up to Dakota Crumb (2021), a request from her cousin Julien sends a mouse investigator to Paris to hunt down a most important book.
As oblique, rhymed hints lead Dakota into a shop called Le Mystére and then through a series of book-filled rooms, Murphy's precisely drawn interiors, festooned with small details, invite readers to follow along and, perhaps, be first to spot the next clue. A clue located on the collar of a sleeping canine "monster" sparks a merry chase, but then a thrilling climb up to a high shelf reveals a small doorway in a volume labeled "Albert Camouse." What's behind the door? A surprise birthday party for Dakota, complete with the gift of a book whose pages are filled with tiny objects (a marshmallow, a sticker, a boomerang) for readers to go back and find in previous scenes! Aside from a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower on the title page, there isn't much to see that is distinctively Parisian in the pictures, but the quest's the thing--and the rewards are in taking close looks at the books, toys, and even delicious-looking pastries (it's thatsort of bookstore) on display. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An engaging offering for sharp-eyed young adventurers. (Picture book. 5-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Michalak, Jamie: DAKOTA CRUMB AND THE SECRET BOOKSHOP." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A743460918/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=008b514f. Accessed 4 May 2025.
* Ginny Off the Map
Caroline Hickey, illus. by Kelly Murphy. Little, Brown/Ottaviano, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-316-32462-5
In the early 2010s, 11-year-old Ginny, an aspiring geoscientist, works to cope with a summer of change in her frequently moving Army family. She anticipates that their next move, from North Carolina to Maryland, will be difficult, but she's gutted when her ER doctor father--"the one person who really, truly gets me"-is immediately deployed to Afghanistan. Things get even worse when her muchanticipated geography camp is canceled and she's enrolled in a disastrous jewelry course instead; meanwhile, an already contentious relationship with her athletic 12-year-old sister Allie turns venomous as Allie seems to make friends with ease. Constantly taking in geography facts, doodling maps, and adulating oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp, Ginny nevertheless grows more miserable, worrying about her father and fearing she'll never understand his parting advice that she follow her "true north." Through Ginny's experiences, Hickey (Heroes and Horses) portrays the full emotional cycle of deployment with accuracy and compassion. Immersive first-person chapters, which each open with a geography fact, accurately convey the comfort and the isolation that can accompany an intense special interest alongside Ginny's broadening recognition of the needs of the people around her. Occasional fine-lined b&w illustrations by Murphy depict pivotal scenes. Protagonists cue as white; the secondary cast is racially diverse. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Alex Glass, Glass Literary Management. (June)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Ginny Off the Map." Publishers Weekly, vol. 270, no. 17, 24 Apr. 2023, p. 67. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A748228008/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=df21f334. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Broach, Elise BULLDOZER'S BIG RESCUE Christy Ottaviano Books (Children's None) $6.99 1, 21 ISBN: 9780316564175
Broach and Murphy rev up for a promising new series starring a lonely anthropomorphic construction vehicle.
Bulldozer's usually on his own: His older sisters have their own social lives, and a pair of older twins who live nearby don't want to play. He worries about making friends when school starts. His mom (a human, like the other characters) maneuvers him into welcoming the new family across the street--"a terrible idea," in Bulldozer's opinion, because meeting strangers is scary and hard. He really does want a playmate for his racetrack, so he complies--then contends with shy but bossy Millie Patel and her annoyingly voluble little brother, a cat in a tree, a pile of boxes that need to be moved, and feeling underappreciated. By book's end, though, he's made a friend; he'll also garner a loyal following of readers who will eagerly anticipate his next adventure. Bulldozer's monologue and the characters' dialogue are spot-on, beautifully conveying the protagonist's doubts and fears, irritations and resentments, hopes and wishes, and pride at stepping out of his comfort zone. Murphy's graceful, two-color line drawings depict our hero as small (for a bulldozer) but sturdy, with a saffron-colored cab. He has "big black tires that get hot in the sun" and an expressively mobile mouth on his windshield. The characters are realistically portrayed against minimal backgrounds; Mom is light-skinned, while the Patels are cued South Asian.
An enthralling tale about doing the heavy lifting of making friends. (grammar activities)(Chapter book. 5-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Broach, Elise: BULLDOZER'S BIG RESCUE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A813883550/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e6764802. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Murphy, Kelly GOAT IS THE G.O.A.T. Nancy Paulsen Books (Children's None) $18.99 2, 18 ISBN: 9780593405420
Goat hopes to be worthy of the titular acronym.
A gray-coated, blue-eyed goat, first seen on the title page munching greenery up in an apple tree, overhears some barnyard residents speaking admiringly. "He's the G.O.A.T.," they say, "Greatest of all time!" Goat, listening around the corner, doesn't realize that the object of their praise is a blue-ribbon-wearing bull on a poster. Goat is delighted to be appreciated, imagining a trophy, a parade, some yummy confetti. "But what makes me the greatest?" Goat wonders. Could it be that he is the fastest of all time? Actually, the dappled horse is faster. Strongest? The donkey is demonstrably stronger. Greatest leader, loudest, farthest spitter, highest jumper, muddiest, fuzziest? None of these. Goat is not even the bravest! The farm denizens (sheep, border collie, llama, frog, pig, rooster, cat, mouse) in this sequence have lively, friendly, earnest animal faces. But when a trio of cats strand themselves in a tree, Goat has the talent (tree-climbing) and resources (a strong head and sturdy horns) to rescue them. So, maybe not greatest of all time, but certainly greatest for today. Murphy's lighthearted, sunny, full-color illustrations and humorous details convey a busy, happy farm. The very youngest listeners might not get the wordplay, but they will be cheering for Goat.
Nicely paced, funny, and appealing, and full of optimism and goodwill.(Picture book. 3-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Murphy, Kelly: GOAT IS THE G.O.A.T." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A817945758/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=97110611. Accessed 4 May 2025.