Illustrator Spree - Jeanette Winter

Birthday: October 6
Lives:
Family

I love her illustrations, the way her books "look," and always, always enjoy her subject matter.   I love the folky feel to Jeanette Winter's illustrations. I love all the clever touches she includes. Yup, one of my top five artists of all time.

She wrote AND illustrated these books:

Angelina's Island (2007)
Beatrix (2003)
Biblioburro:  A True Story from Colombia (2010)

Calavera Abecedario, A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book (2004)
Jeanette Winters's art, her illustrations, the way she depicts this happy Mexican celebration, evoke really good feelings for me. Lots of blacks and fiesta colors. Black-backed illustrations framed to the edge of the page with yellows, pinks, purples, aquas, greens.....
          The first nine pages tell of a family in Mexico City that have made calaveras (paper mache skeletons) for generations. Then the alphabet begins. Angels, witches, doctors, farmers, musicians, bride and groom, shoemaker, unicorn, chemist, queen.... all are depicted as calaveras using the SPANISH name. The translation for each is in the back as well as a bit of information about the day.

Christmas Tree Ship,The (1994)
Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell (1995)

Elsina's Clouds (2004)  This book is about the "Basotho women of southern Africa." My research shows that Basotho is a part of South Africa, perhaps in and around the area of modern-day Lesotho. I'll have to look into this a little more.
          Jeanette Winter shares the custom of the Basotho women painting their houses as messages to their ancestors to bring the rain. A nameless young girl paints the addition to her family abode that will house her soon-to-be-arriving baby sibling. She goes to bed at night and dreams about the rain coming to moisten her mother's crops.
          This is the third time I've read that it's the WOMEN who plan, plant, care for, and sow the crops in many parts of Africa.

Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World (2002)
Follow the Drinking Gourd (1988)
Henri's Scissors (2013)
Hey Diddle Diddle (1999)
House That Jack Built, The (2003)
Itsy-Bitsy Spider, The (2000)
Josefina (1996)
Kali's Song (2012)
Klara's New World (1992)

Librarian of Basra, The: A True Story from Iraq (2005)
Simply told, beautifully illustrated, here is another version of the bombing of the central library in Basra, Iraq. Ensconced in rich purples and yellows and blues, Winters' recognizable artwork accentuates the story beautifully. A great companion book to Alia's Mission.







Magic Ring, The (1987)
Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan/Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan: Two Stories of Bravery (2014)
MAMA, A True Story, In Which a Baby Hippo Loses His Mama During a Tsunami, But Finds a New Home and a New Mama (2006)
Mr. Cornell's Dream Boxes (2014)

My Baby (2001)  There are THREE reasons why this book is a "5" for me (the illustrations, the bogolan cloth, the great author). And there are THREE different reasons to read it:
          One: The story. Nakunte learns the art of painting bogolan cloth from her mother. Years later she paints a special cloth for her baby that will come when the rains come. As she paints, she speaks of all the creatures that live in her African village.
          Two: The culture. Mali, Africa. You get a feel for the place.
          Three: The painting of the cloth. I have some of this beautiful black cloth, myself. To see how it starts with white cloth, then specially prepared mud is painted on, leaving the lovely white design, is a treat.

          When, as a young adult, Nakunte begins her painting, the borders of the illustration become strips of the bogolan cloth she's working on. The colors are bright and cheerful, different colored borders on each and every page, with very little white. And, Ms. Winter is a lyrical writer: "Listen, my baby, do you hear mama crocodile creeping across the savanna on her short legs? Will she find the water she is looking for?"

My Name is Georgia: A Portrait (1998)
Nanuk, the Ice Bear (2015)
Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan (2009)
Nino's Mask (2003)
Rock-a-Bye Baby (1999)
Sebastian: A Book about Bach (1999)

September Roses (2004)  This is a lovely book that memorializes this terrible occurrence with a connected story.  I now use it in my classroom each year, but fourth graders now, 13 years later, don't yet know much about this day.  So I have to talk to them about what happened before I share the book  I keep it simple.  After reading the book we talk about gratitude.  Nine year olds have enough time in the future to talk about the nitty gritties of the day as well as the repurcussions, but I've found this gentle, simple book is a really nice way to talk about this day with my kids.




Tale of Pale Male, The: A True Story (2007)
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (2000)

Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa (2008)
When Wangari returns from six years of schooling in America, she realizes that a huge amount of Kenya's trees have been cut down. She starts by planting and nurturing nine seedlings. And then she begins to give them away to the village women to grow, care for, and protect. "The women spread out over their village, planting tiny trees in long rows, like a green belt stretching over the land." She protects old growth threes and is even arrested. But she does not give up. "The umbrella of trees returns."
          Excellent author's note. Wangari won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and is now a member of the Kenyan Parliament! Wonderful storytelling.


Watcher, The: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps (2011)

The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid (2017)
It's no secret that I adore anything and everything that Jeanette Winter writes and/or illustrates,  but what I really appreciate is the diversity of people that she chooses to research and share with kids!  This book highlights another amazing woman in our world and will inspire kids (and architecture buffs!) in many, many ways.  Bravo!





She illustrated thes books but they were written by someone else:

Changling, The (Selma Lagerlof) (1992)
Cotton Mill Town (1993)
Day of the Dead (by Tony Johnston) (1997)
Diego (by Jonah Winter) (1991)
Eight Hands Round (by Ann Whitford Paul) (1991)
Fruit and Vegetable Man, A (by Roni Schotter) (1993)
Once Upon a Time in Chicago (by Jonah Winter) (2000)
Secret Project, The (by Jonah Winter) (2017?)
Secret World of Hiildegard (by Jonah Winter) (2007)
Shaker Boy (Mary Lyn Ray) (1994)
Snow (by Steve Stanfield) (1995)
Tortilla Cat, The (by Nancy Willard) (1998)
Witch Goblin and Ghost in the Haunted Woods (by Sue Alexander) (1981)
World's Birthday, The, A Rosh Hashana Story (by Barbara Diamond Goldin) (1990)