PICTURE BOOK REVIEW: TALKING WITH ARTISTS

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cummings, Pat. 1999. TALKING WITH ARTISTS: VOLUME THREE. New York, NY: Clarion Books. ISBN 0395891329

2. PLOT SUMMARY
TALKING WITH ARTISTS is a compilation of interviews with various children's book illustrators, arranged alphabetically. Each short interview poses the same set of questions to each artist about their day, their families, and their first book. A photograph of the artist as a child and as an adult is included in the interview, and also a drawing they did as a child. The pages offer individual examples of artwork published after the illustrator became successful in their career.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book can be a beneficial resource for use in a vocational class that includes budding artists. The interviews are short--only a few pages each--and gives some description of how to get an artist's work known to publishers. The artist's' answers to the interview questions gives a glimpse into their worlds and their personalities. The inclusion of an illustration example from each artist shows the talent each has and the range of styles.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
BOOKLIST: "Beautifully designed to draw readers, this book will inspire many children..."

5. CONNECTIONS
*This book would work well being used over a period of time, highlighting the work of one illustrator on any given day and adding some of the additional works by them on the same day.
*Children could have a drawing activity and then look at the "first drawings" of the artists Cummings included in TALKING WITH ARTISTS.