Illustrator Interviews
It's time to get to know your favorite (or soon to be favorite) illustrators by reading our exclusive interviews! Get ready to feast your eyes on some truly super artwork.
Artwork is a very important part of children’s books, especially picture books and graphic novels, and now many chapter books too. When you read an illustrator interview on The Children’s Book Review, you’ll often get an insiders look or a behind the scenes visit of the illustrator’s studio and creative process. You could also learn how the illustrator’s own life experiences shaped their artwork and storytelling abilities, or what their most used art supply is, or which children’s book character they would love to create artwork with. With so many featured illustrators, there is certainly something for everyone here, but we wonder which illustrators will be or are your faves. Be sure to let us know through our Twitter handle, and share your thoughts with us on Instagram or Facebook with #thechildrensbookreview.
To get you started, here are some of our more recent illustrator interviews:
Illustration Inspiration: Renée Graef, Illustrator of Thérèse Makes a Tapestry
Caldecott Honor-Winning John Rocco Talks About Blizzard
Deborah Underwood and Claudia Rueda Discuss Here Comes the Easter Cat
Be sure to peruse through the illustrator interviews below, you’ll be so glad you did!
Featuring an adorable cast of characters and vibrant, playful art by Ben Clanton, We Are the Dinosaurs transports readers back in time to when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.
For Soldier Song (by Debbie Levy), on top of a lot of visual research on the Civil War, I wanted to create a silkscreen and woodblock print effect for the entire eighty pages of the book.
You’ve never seen a book like this before! It’s the story of a train moving across the American landscape—but with an actual three-dimensional miniature train that loops up and down and across each spread.
When he is not writing and illustrating, Thomas Docherty spends much of his time visiting schools and libraries to meet his readers and help them create their own stories.
Go Inside the Studio wth Nancy Tillman, Creator of You and Me and the Wishing Tree, and Discover her Creative Process.
They All Saw a Cat is Brendan Wenzel’s debut picture book as both the author and illustrator. It is a celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination.
Mike Wohnoutka illustrated This is NOT a Cat. He has previously teamed up with David LaRochelle on the book Moo! (Bloomsbury), which was awarded ALA Notable Book, a Junior Library Guild Selection, a CBC Blue Ribbon Book, and several state awards.
Gareth Lucas studied illustration at Brighton and has been published internationally, often collaborating with his wife, who is also an illustrator.
Go inside the art studio of Amy Young, author and illustrator of A Unicorn Named Sparkle.
MARK CRILLEY is the author of Mastering Manga, Mastering Manga 2, and The Realism Challenge, as well as several manga novels, including the Akiko, Miki Falls, Billy Clikk, and Brody’s Ghost series.