Picture books aren’t merely for the youngest children in our homes, they are for young and old alike. Over the next two months I will highlight ten of my favorite picture book illustrators, a few of which you may be unfamiliar with.
Today’s author/illustrator is the beloved Barbara Cooney. If you listened to my interview on the Read Aloud Revival Podcast (Listen here.) then you heard me swoon over the (unfortunately) unrelated Mrs. Cooney. Additionally, if you’ve perused my list of picture books highlighting orphans and celebrating adoption, you’ve seen many of Barbara Cooney’s works listed there. (Find the list here.)
This American writer and illustrator of 110 children’s books, which were published over sixty years, was the mother of four. Although she didn’t write an autobiographical account of her life, it has been said that Miss Rumphius, Island Boy, and Hattie and the Wild Waves are as close as she came to doing so. Mrs. Cooney received two Caldecott Medals for her work on Chanticleer and the Fox and Ox-Cart Man, and a National Book Award for Miss Rumphius. Her charmingly illustrated books have been translated into 10 languages.
Barbara Cooney is such a treasured illustrator on our shelves that it was hard to narrow down my favorite books that she either illustrated, or both wrote and illustrated; however, below are my top 12.
America and the world is a better place because of her contributions to children’s literature. Barbara Cooney is an illustrator that you should know and I hope you come to love.
