Side by Side: Five Favorite Picture-Book Teams Go to Work [Paperback]

Leonard S. Marcus (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Have you ever wondered how a picture book is made? The process is similar to the way we play a team sport, put on a play, or build a sandcastle-through collaboration. Writers and illustrators collaborate in a variety of ways. Sometimes they start as friends who choose to work together. Sometimes they become friends through the work they do. And sometimes they find that their feelings and styles change to the point where they can no longer work together. Each collaborative team and venture is unique.

Side by Side focuses on five famous author/illustrator teams and favorite books they have published:

- Arthur Yorinks/Richard Egielski & Louis the Fish

- Alice Provensen/Martin Provensen & The Glorious Flight

- Jon Scieszka/Lane Smith/Molly Leach & The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

- Julius Lester/Jerry Pinkney & Sam and the Tigers

- Joanna Cole/Bruce Degen & The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses

Personal anecdotes, edited manuscripts, sketches, and dummy book pages show the give-and-take that goes on between authors, illustrators, editors, and designers as they are working on projects they feel passionate about. By taking readers behind the scenes of these works in progress, Marcus gives us insight into how teamwork, cooperation, and friendship play a role in shaping the creative process, and will inspire readers to view their own team effort in fresh new ways.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Gr 3 Up-In this fascinating look at the collaborative process involved in creating picture books, Marcus examines how and why five different teams work together. In each case, he focuses on one book but shares plenty of information about the careers of the writers and artists. These collaborative experiences vary a great deal. For example, Jerry Pinkney and Julius Lester produced several books together before Sam and the Tigers, but that title truly joined them as collaborators, while Alice and the late Martin Provensen worked so closely that it is hard to tell who contributed what. Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen were brought together by an editor who thought they would be perfect for The Magic School Bus. The chapter on Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith devotes equal time to Molly Leach, the designer of The Stinky Cheese Man and several of their other books. Illustrations include thumbnail sketches, manuscript notes, dummy pages, and finished pages. Humorous anecdotes and personal comments make the figures come alive. Richard Egielski, who teams with Arthur Yorinks, vividly relates how he was unable to find a picture of a salmon for Louis the Fish and wound up peeling a label from a grocery-store can. Many of the titles described will be familiar to readers. However, even those who have not seen some of the featured books will be engaged by the creativity and cooperation exhibited here.

Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens (December 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802796168
• ISBN-13: 978-0802796165
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,350,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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