As Father’s Day approaches, I love to think about all the fathers in the world who have had a positive influence on the children in their lives. In particular, I’m cognizant of several authors/illustrators with adult offspring who are now in the book-making business.
Take, for example, Walter Dean Myers. Walter is well-known for writing such gripping young adult novels as Monster (the very first novel to receive the Michael L. Printz Award) (HarperCollins, 1999) and Fallen Angels (Scholastic, 1988).
One of Walter’s sons is Christopher Myers. He is an award-winning artist for such books as Harlem (written by Walter Dean Myers, Scholastic, 1997) and Jazz (written by Walter Dean Myers, Holiday House, 2006).
In this Original Author Program, Christopher says he loves working with his “pop” and discusses how his art choices intertwine with the text that his dad writes. What fun to have one’s source of professional inspiration be a close relative!
Here are two more family names that come to my mind when thinking of multiple book creators found within a single family: Pinkney and Emberley. What other parent-child book creators can you think of?
Posted by Carin Bringelson, MLS, Information Manager
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