Sarah Mackenzie (readaloudrevival.com) is an enthusiastic reader of picture books and host of the Read-Aloud Revival (R) podcast. She lives in Eastern Washington with her husband and six kids, where she homeschools, reads aloud, and collects every book by Barbara Cooney that she can get her hands on.

Eileen Ryan Ewen (eileenryanewen.com) is a freelance artist with a background in Fine Art and Creative Writing. After spending years painting portraits, she decided to delve headfirst into children's book art and hasn't looked back since. Eileen lives in Cleveland Heights, OH, with her husband, four young children, and two very old cats.

"As a child, Barbara Cooney and her family spent each summer in Maine, surrounded by the beautiful landscape and the sea. Back home in New York, she watched her mother paint pictures and practiced making her own. As an adult, she decided to become an illustrator. 'And because Barbara did whatever she set her mind to' (a phrase often repeated within the text), she started illustrating children's books. Color printing was expensive in the mid-twentieth century, so her publisher initially limited her to creating black-and-white illustrations, though she longed to use colors. But after Chanticleer and the Fox, her first book featuring full-color art, won the Caldecott Medal, her picture books featured lively, colorful paintings. Like the main character in her Miss Rumphius, Cooney spent her later years living by the sea, traveling, and making the world a more beautiful place. Mackenzie succeeds in conveying a strong sense of Cooney's childhood as well as her approach to her work, her children, and her guiding principles. Created with graphite, watercolor, and gouache, Ewen's lovely illustrations capture the spirit of Cooney's art. The narrative flows well and will intrigue many adult readers as well as children, particularly those familiar with Cooney's timeless picture books." -Carolyn Phelan (Booklist Starred Review)

"Barbara Cooney saw her mother painting as a little girl, and wanted very much to be able to make the world beautiful the way her mother did. Because Barbara did everything she set her mind to, she dedicated the rest of her life learning to bring beauty into the world-through painting, and through the family and community she built around her. Her hard work paid off, and she became an award-winning illustrator, travelling the world and painting the magical places she saw. However, she always returned home again, to where children, and seaside, and picnics were waiting for her. This biography of the Caldecott-winning illustrator Barbara Cooney tells the story of Barbara's life-long search for beauty through painting. Although it describes her struggle to become a recognized artist, the emphasis of the narrative is on both her determination to grow and improve and on the elements of her life and personality that enabled her to create such beautiful pictures. The message from the story is clear: one becomes a great artist by living and experiencing life fully, not through dwelling on problems and setbacks. Beautiful, softly colored illustrations fill each page, complementing the story's emphasis on the intersection between real-world beauty and magical imagination. Because Barbara is a lovely, inspirational biography with an empowering growth-mindset message." -The Children's Book Review

Publisher: Waxwing Books

Pub date: 2024-05-28

Length: 40 pages