Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett by Steven Kellogg

What intrigues you about writing and illustrating picture books?Ī.

I was overjoyed when I received some concrete encouragement and even more thrilled when my first books were published. There were some disheartening rejections, but I kept trying to improve the quality of my work. I began writing stories and submitting them to major publishers and traveling to New York to show them samples of my artwork. I decided to combine my love of creating stories and pictures with my strong feelings about the importance of books and education, and to make an all-out effort to establish a career in children's books. I returned from Italy determined to find a way to make a living that would be in harmony with the person I was then discovering myself to be. With my own adulthood looming before me, I recalled my disquieting childhood observation that most of the grown-ups in my neighborhood were not happy with their jobs. I was fascinated by everything that I saw and learned and experienced there, and I came back with the feeling that I had been given a wonderful gift. But the highlight of that college period came when I was awarded a fellowship that sent me to Italy for my senior year.

I enjoyed illustration classes as well as courses in history, literature, and art history. I continued to draw compulsively throughout my years at school, and then I entered the Rhode Island School of Design on a PitneyBowes scholarship. And since then, you have persisted in 'telling stories on paper!' How did that come about?Ī. We called this activity 'telling stories on paper.' The drawings were passed alternately to my audience of two, and the story rattled along nonstop until my poor sisters were buried under piles of paper. I would sit between my younger sister with a stack of paper in my lap concocting a convoluted tale while busily scribbling illustrations to accompany the narration.

I wallpapered my room with my pictures, continually replacing the older ones with my latest work until finally, to my parents' dismay, the walls were peppered with thousands of thumbtack holes.Īs a boy I was also an enthusiastic storyteller. I began collecting magazines and books about wildlife, and the illustrations inspired me to turn out drawings and paintings of animals from all over the world. Other formative memories center around a beautiful woodland that was near my house in Connecticut where I spent countless tranquil hours sketching birds, animals, and trees. I remember being fascinated with the chance to study each illustration spread out before me, and how excited I got when the page turned and a new picture appeared. As a child, I loved the times when an adult would read a story to me. HarperCollins asked: Steven, what are some recollections from your childhood that might explain the fact that you've created over one hundred popular children's books? Is there anything in your background that would explain your career choice?Ī.

Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett by Steven Kellogg