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| Hobby Forum Index » Arts - Books - Childrens » Happy 80th, Ann Grifalconi! (1987 Caldecott Honor:... |
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| Lenona... |
 Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:12 am |
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She lives in NYC.
Her mother was Mary Hays Weik, whose book "The Jazz Man" was
illustrated by Grifalconi and nominated for the Newbery Medal in
1967.
She's illustrated books by Lucille Clifton, Betsy Byars, Walter Dean
Myers, Ann McGovern, and Langston Hughes.
http://members.authorsguild.net/agrifalconi/
(short bio, with photo)
http://childrensauthors.in.gov/index.php?page=Grifalconi,%20Ann
(booklist and longer bio)
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=ann%20grifalconi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=vi
(book covers)
From "Contemporary Authors":
Grifalconi was interested in the wonderful pictures that accompanied
her favorite books, such as the "Red," "White," and "Violet" story
books, with illustrations by Howard Pyle and others. "When I was a
little girl, my mother gave me Arthur Rackham's beautiful book of
illustrations for A Midsummer Night's Dream--that thrilled me!" A
comic book reader at an early age ("not that my mother approved!"),
Grifalconi especially liked the ones that were "very realistic, such
as Tarzanand Flash Gordon, all of which were done by very good
illustrators of their period." Another source of excellent artwork was
the Saturday Evening Post, which her brother sold. "Because I didn't
have the money to buy it myself," the author once related, "I used to
read it the day before he gave it out to the people--without bending
the paper! There were a lot of very, very fine illustrators in there
at that period whose work was painted, atmospheric, full of character.
They simply don't have that sort of work in magazines anymore.".......
.......Meanwhile, Grifalconi's mother was having trouble finding a
publisher for her book. "The Jazz Man was sent to a number of people
and often it was regretfully rejected and turned back. Sometimes
editors literally had tears in their eyes because they liked it so
much, but it was a bit controversial--it was not entirely upbeat,"
Grifalconi once explained. "Finally Mother said, 'Would you please
take it with you while you're taking your portfolio around?'"
Grifalconi took the book to Atheneum, who accepted it. "So Mother and
I got to work on this project together, which was one of the great
satisfactions in both of our lives." While she was working on The Jazz
Man, Grifalconi realized that "it was a work of love, and I think it
was then that I began to realize that I liked doing this more than
teaching." She decided to leave her teaching job. "I felt I was
shortchanging the kids."
In addition, Grifalconi saw a need in children's books that she could
fill. "I was aware that there were no really attractive black children
or black families. It seemed they would make little white faces and
smear them black," she remarked. Unhappy with this situation,
Grifalconi decided to start making her own contributions. "I had a
very good background in life drawing and figure drawing, so I felt
that I could do it. I also thought that black people were truly
beautiful. Many of my friends were black, and I saw them as real
people, and I hated these sort of imitation white people drawings. So
when I left, I had finally decided, 'Now!' I just did it.".......
......... Grifalconi uses Africa as a setting for so many of her books
because she believes its cultures have had a great influence on
American culture. Africa is "an originating culture," she once said.
"Many of us have come from that culture, and for many others, even if
we're not black ourselves, nevertheless our music, our clothing, the
idea of being cool, the jazz music--a lot of our originating art has
come from Africa. Why did they come, where did they come from, what
was the atmosphere like, you want to know the answers to those
questions. How do people live in different places in the world? Why do
they live differently? You want to know how, and why. So you start
creating stories that present the life there, and yet you also give
them human characteristics that are true of all human beings."
Lenona. |
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