Featured Authors or Illustrators are selected each month and archived here. Check back often to find more suggestions for great reading.
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August 2009
Hudson Talbott
Brief Biography
Hudson Talbott was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, the youngest of four children. He has been drawing since he could first pick up a pencil. After graduating from the Tyler School of Art in Rome, Hudson remained in Europe, first staying in Italy, and then living for two years in Amsterdam. He then worked in Hong Kong and traveled throughout southeast Asia for a year before moving to New York, where he has lived and worked since 1974. In his ten years as a freelance illustrator, his work was commissioned by such clients as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bloomingdale's, and New York Magazine. Hudson's first book for young readers, called How to Show Grown-ups the Museum, was commissioned by New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1985. Since then he has written and illustrated more than twelve books for the child in all of us. Hudson's interest in other cultures and his genuine appreciation for all types of people have contributed enormously to the development of his work as both artist and story-teller.
O'Sullivan Stew is possibly The Children's Bookstore Staff's favorite original fairytale. When the prince steals the Crookhaven witch's horse, none of the villagers come to her aid. As punishment, the witch curses Crookhaven. The brave and clever Kate O'Sullivan convinces her father and her two brothers that they must steal back the witch's horse. As the story goes, "The O'Sullivan's had many skills, but horse thieving was not one of them." The O'Sullivan's find themselves under threat of hanging. Kate comes to the rescue with wit and bravery by offering the Prince a bargain and with her clever storytelling she manages to gain the freedom of all four O'Sullivans. This beautifully illustrated book offers up not one, but five exciting and amusing tales full of Irish flavor and one unforgettable heroine.
United Tweets of America: 50 State Birds Their Stories, Their Glories (Penguin Putnam, May 2008)
(A 2008 Favorite Picture Book of The Children's Bookstore Staff)
Each page of this book is a miniature masterpiece of beautiful artwork, humor, and information about states and about birds. Each bird has its own distinct personality true to its natural behavior and the birds often interact with each other across and through pages.
The Lost Colony of Roanoke (Penguin Putnam, $16.99)
Illustrated by Hudson Talbott; Written by Jean Fritz
This is a gripping story of tragedy, intrigue, treachery, and the unsolved mystery of Roanoke island. The island was actually settled twice. The first group of settlers returned to England after extreme hardship and near starvation. They had also managed to completely alienate the Native Americans. When the second group of settlers arrived, the natives were already their enemies. But they had numerous other enemies to contend with: the weather, treacherous and greedy seamen, and courtiers back in England. Although the mystery of Roanoke continues, Fritz and Talbott provide the reader with some insight into the story as well as a number of interesting hypotheses.
Leonardo's Horse written by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Hudson Talbott (Penguin Putnam)
500 years ago, in 1498, Leonardo da Vinci's years of labor to create a bronze horse for the duke of Milan came to nothing because of French invasion. In 1977, American Charles Dent vowed to complete the project da Vinci began and make it a gift from the American people to the residents of Italy. He too did not live to see its completion. Jean Fritz tells the story of Leonardo's horse from the inception of the idea in the 15th century to its final completion in 1999. Hudson Talbott's beautiful paintings and meticulous attention to detail bring the story of Leonardo's Horse to life between the covers of a book.
River of Dreams by Hudson Talbott (Penguin Putnam)
This gorgeously illustrated tribute is a wonderful introduction to the Hudson River's strategic, economic, and cultural significance. With art and word, Talbott celebrates this national treasure and the many dreamers inspired by its power and beauty. Beginning with the formation of the Hudson Valley at the end of the last Ice Age, to the tribes of Native Americans who made their homes along its banks, through Henry Hudson's exploration in 1609 to European colonization. From civil Revolution into Industrial Revolution and the foundation of the first American-based art movement to today. The story of the Hudson River is the story of American History in miniature.
Forging Freedom by Hudson Talbott (Penguin Putnam)
Hudson Talbott tells the inspiring story of Jaap Penraat, a young Dutchman who risked his life to save the Jews of his country. Black and white and color paintings bring visual reality to this dark time in our world's history with images of burning books, Nazi graffiti, armed Nazi soldiers, reproductions of forged documents, and Jaap Penraat as he first conceives and then carries out his plan to transport hundreds of his Jewish countrymen to safety.
Show Way written by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbott (Penguin Putnam)
Hudson Talbott uses the quilt motif in fascinating ways to illustrate Jacqueline Woodson's personal and historical story of how the women of her family used quilted maps and secret messages to guide slaves to freedom. The quilting-themed illustrations follow Woodson's narrative through the times of slavery, emancipation, freedom marches and the fight for literacy. Show Way was awarded a Caldecott Honor in 2006.
Although only one of Hudson Talbott's Tales of King Arthur series remains in print (The Sword in the Stone), the entire group of four beautifully illustrated and well-told tales of the legendary king and his Knights of the Round Table deserve recognition as some of the best introductions to Arthurian Lore for younger readers and listeners.