Book Review: Artist to Artist

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gauch, Patricia Lee; David Briggs; Courtenay Palmer; Kiffin Stuerer Eds. ARTIST TO ARTIST: 23 MAJOR ILLUSTRATORS TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT THEIR ART. New York, NY: Philomel. 2007. ISBN 0399246002

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In this book, 23 important illustrators write personal letters to an audience of children that would like to grow up and illustrate books themselves. The artists talk about themselves as children, how the became illustrators, and also give a little insight into the way they work today. There are also some really neat fold out pages for each essay, hidden by a self portrait. The pictures are a mixture of photographs and illustrations drawn by the coordinating artist.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The most special part of this book is the tone of respect that each artist shows when speaking to the imagined children that read this book. They sound full of confidence that their audience possesses the talent and potential to reach their dreams, just as the artist themselves have. Most of the artists also do a great job of revealing so many parts of themselves that they are able to accomplish the difficult feat of becoming more human and real in the eye of the reader. The self portraits and the pictures of their work spaces, some neat and tidy and some that look tornado torn, offer such an intimate picture that the reader feels like they are enjoying a very special treat.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL "a gorgeous, browsable gallery of international treasures"

5. CONNECTIONS
*Gather books illustrated by the different artists in the book
*Have children practice illustrating a story and have them focus on embracing their own style