We caught up with Paul Zelinsky at Books of Wonder at a reading the other day and i just had to do this review as my girls are mad about his two pop-up/moving parts books, The Wheels on the Bus, and Knick-Knack Paddywhack (which was a NY Times Best Illustrated Book and a Parenting Magazine Best Picture Book) In fact, The Wheels on the Bus was one of the very first books Oona recognized and would enjoy at storytimes when she was a baby, so of course it has a special place in our hearts. They play with these books and sing along with them constantly and are intrigued at how all the parts move.
Paul also won the Caldecott Medal for his masterpiece, Rapunzel, which is a book full of incredibly masterful paintings, inspired by early French and Italian paintings and the Brothers Grimm- he also retold this classic as well as illustrating it. I love this book myself just to take in the illustrations and Oona also enjoys it as she is liking longer reads now. Paul was also a Caldecott Honor Medalist for Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin and Swamp Angel, the list goes on…He also has a very nice website where you can find an animation of Wheels on the Bus, among other things.
And now for our little interview with Paul:
Jeanne: What led you to be an illustrator of children’s books? Did you come to it via something else or was it always your passion?
Paul: I always drew obsessively, loved to read, and loved illustrated books, but I didn’t grow up intending to make books. I didn’t know that this was something that living people did. When I was deciding to major in art in college, and thinking I ought to look for some real-world occupation that could support me if I became a painter, I saw a course that looked very interesting: a seminar on picture books, co-taught by an English professor and Maurice Sendak. The things we covered in that course felt so right and natural to me that I began to consider book illustration as a career, having no idea that most people maintain a career in order to support their children’s-book-making. Despite this inspiration, I continued on to earn an M.F.A. in painting, which qualified me for a career as college art teacher. Shortly after I began in that line of work, I decided I belonged elsewhere, moved to New York (Brooklyn, actually), and hit the streets with my portfolio. Several months later I got my first assignment: a novel by Avi.
Jeanne: After a long and very successful career, what keeps it interesting for you? What is the best thing about your job?
Paul: I think the numbers must be lying: it doesn’t feel that long to me. There are different best things about what I do. One is the feeling I get when I’ve finished a piece of art, look at it, and see that it really works– especially if it’s surprising me in some way. This doesn’t usually happen, but it’s amazing when it does. Then– the ability to collaborate with like-minded editors and art directors, and to see the result as a book you can hold in your hands: that excitement hasn’t faded. And last but not least there’s the children’s book community, which is a wonderful. (And more and more of it seems to have moved to Brooklyn, where I arrived 34 years ago!)
Jeanne: What is your next project?
Paul: My next project is under wraps for the moment. But coming out early this year are two books I illustrated: Z is for Moose, is a first book, by Kelly Bingham, and the other, very sadly, is a last book: Earwig and the Witch, a book by the late, great Diana Wynne Jones. I’m also starting work on a goose egg for an auction to benefit the Open Fields School in Vermont. I’ve painted a couple of other eggs for this auction in the past, as have many other known illustrators. I really liked my last one which you can view here.