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!
Chris Van Dusen won the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award for If I Built a House. In addition to his own books, Chris has illustrated Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson and Tales from Deckawoo Drive chapter book series.
Author Skila Brown and illustrator Jamey Christoph discuss their picture book, Clackety Track.
Which five words best describe Rocket to the Moon!: Big Ideas That Changed the World? Don Brown: Surprising, provocative, revealing, informative, and funny!
Jasper & Ollie is Alex Willan’s first book. His love of drawing led him to earn a BFA in illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design.
Deborah Freedman is a trained architect who now works as an author/illustrator. She is the author-illustrator of Carl and the Meaning of Life.
Odeta Xheka is an artist and author. Most recently, she has published Here Comes Ingo, a picture book invested in open ended creative experiences.
Which five words best describe New Kid?
Jerry Craft: Funny, Thought-Provoking, Conversation-Starter, Honest, Comforting
Luke Flowers has illustrated over 42 children’s books. In this interview we talk about A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers.
It’s Just a Bunnypalooza, is the third book in the series. Brenda Faatz and Peter Trimarco discuss this latest book here …
Alison Jay is well known for her children’s books—Welcome to the Zoo was selected as one of New York’s Bank Street’s best books of the year in 2009. Here we learn about her newest book with Julia Copus, My Bed is an Air Balloon.