Side by Side: Five Favorite Picture-Book teams Go to Work - review

Virginia Caldwell
Book Review Week 1
TWU assignment
LS 5603 - 20


Side by Side: Five Favorite Picture-Book teams Go to Work


Bibliographic Data:
Marcus, Leonard S. 2001. Side by Side: Five Favorite Picture-Book Teams Go to Work. Walker Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 0395687039


Plot Summary:
The book looks at the different ways that authors and illustrators of picture-books work together. Five different teams are studied and interviewed about things like how the team first got together, how they work together, and in one case how the team’s collaboration ended.


Analysis:
Side by Side is recommended for readers age 8 and up. This book shows how picture books get made; it tells the story of each team, along with interesting facts about how one or both of them do things. There is a lot that goes into making a picture-book, and this book reveals the methods, work, failures, and successes in an interesting way. This is accomplished by using a combination of interviews, narratives, and illustrations.


Review Excerpts:
Publishers Weekly, 11/19/2001
Marcus (A Caldecott Celebration; Author Talk) describes the creative collaborations of five author-artist teams whose processes prove as varied as their books. Though, for most projects, author and illustrator never meet, Marcus focuses on collaborators who "prefer or need to be in the thick of a freewheeling give-and-take with their partners." For each collaboration, he zooms in on one book in particular, and the pairs range from Arthur Yorinks and Richard Egielski, who struggled early on to get the attention of a publisher and broke through with their second book, Louis the Fish, to the fluid work style of husband-and-wife team Alice and Martin Provensen (using the Caldecott Medal-winning The Glorious Flight as the central example) who for 40 years shared both the writing and illustrating; in Alice Provensen's words, "Martin and I really were one artist." Although Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney had worked together for years, a more complicated, intensive discussion was required for Sam and the Tigers, a retelling of the racially stereotyped Little Black Sambo. Early thumbnail sketches, snapshots of dummies and finished artwork help capture the evolving process. Readers snared by their interest in the teams behind favorites such as the Magic School Bus series and The Stinky Cheese Man will appreciate the insights into the inner workings of bookmaking, and may well end up appreciating the books more for the energy and ingenuity it takes to create them. Ages 8-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

BookList, 11/15/2001
Gr. 4-7. This inviting volume introduces five sets of collaborators in the field of picture books: Arthur Yorinks and Richard Egielski, Alice and Martin Provensen, Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney, Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, and Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith, and Molly Leach. Each chapter discusses how the writer and artist (and in Leach's case, designer) got together, and highlights their collaboration during various projects, as well as providing a wealth of interesting details about these creative individuals and their books. The clearly reproduced illustrations, many in color, include photographs, sketches for book illustrations, and finished art. Each chapter ends with a bibliography of books created by the team. A glossary includes entries such as "coming-of-age story," "Kafka, Franz," and "parody [also, spoof]." Clearly, Marcus isn't talking down to his audience. He's just telling interesting stories and making them accessible to young people. Teachers and librarians who want to promote collaboration in the classroom or just share their enthusiasm for the creative process and those who practice it will find plenty of good material in this well-written and beautifully designed book. -- Carolyn Phelan. Booklist, published by the American Library Association.


The above reviews are from Book Index with Reviews. 2007 EBSCO Publishing, Powered by The Title Source TM (Accessed through http://online.twu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_142_1 on August 8, 2007).


Connections:

Some books with similar themes:
Roberto Innocenti : the spirit of illustration by Steven L. Brezzo, with an essay by Leonard S. Marcus; 75 Years of Children’s Book Week Posters : Celebrating Great Illustrators of American Children’s Books by Leonard S. Marcus; Pass it Down : Five Picture Book Families Make their Mark, by Leonard S. Marcus.

Activities:
Students could read this book and then team up to make a children’s book of their own.