A Thousand Times No

 

 InTheNo 5: Illustrator Matt Phelan [58:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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After learning that the optioned screenplay he had quit his job to write would never be made into a movie, Matt Phelan took the opportunity to set his sights elsewhere. Now he has the dream job he’s wanted ever since he was young: illustrating children’s books, including this year’s recipient of the Newbery Medal. He talks about his approach to illustration, shares some behind-the-scenes glimpses of how words and pictures are brought together in children’s books, and reflects on the unique joy that children’s books bring to readers of all ages.

Among the topics we touch on in this show:

• The Newbery Medal
• Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
• Phelan’s website at www.mattphelan.com
• Phelan’s sketch blog, Planet Ham
• The Flash Gordon series by Alex Raymond
• The Delaware Art Museum
• Dr. Seuss
• Wite-Out
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

In addition, several of the books Phelan has illustrated are mentioned. Among his works are:

• The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, written by Betty G. Birney (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2005)
• The New Girl…and Me, written by Jacqui Robbins
  (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2006)
  
• The Higher Power of Lucky, written by Susan Patron
  (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2006)
• Rosa Farm, written by Liz Wu
  (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2006)
• Floridius Bloom and the Planet of Gloom, written by Lorijo Metz
  (Dial Press, 2007)
• A Box Full of Kittens, written by Sonia Manzano
  (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2007)
• Where I Live, written by Eileen Spinelli
  (Dial Press, 2007)
• Very Hairy Bear, written by Alice Schertle
  (Harcourt Children’s Books, 2007)

Listen in and spend some time in the land of storybook endings. . .and beginnings.

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