Felicia Bond

Felicia Bond
Photo of Felicia Bond, children's book illustrator and writer
Born July 18, 1954 (1954-07-18) (age 62)
Yokohama, Japan
Occupation Illustrator, writer
Nationality American
Genre Children's illustrated books
Notable works If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Illustrator
Poinsettia and Her Family
Writer, illustrator
Big Red Barn
Illustrator

Felicia Bond (born July 18, 1954 in Yokohama, Japan) is an American writer and illustrator of numerous books for children. She is well known as the illustrator of all of the books in the If You Give... Book™series, [1] which are written by Laura Numeroff and published by HarperCollins Children's Books.

Early life

Bond was born to American parents in Yokohama, Japan, where she lived for two years. She grew up in Bronxville, New York and Houston, Texas with her four brothers and two sisters. It was while living in New York that she observed a beam of light coming in her bedroom window at age five and knew that art was her calling.[2] She cites numerous inspirations as a child, among them the covers of The New Yorker, the drawings in her Girl Scout Handbook, the sketches her mother drew for her and her siblings, and the art in children's books. She was especially drawn to the painterly, expressive style of Ludwig Bemelmans in his Madeline books, and the sensitive ink drawings by Garth Williams in Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. For many years she closely examined the work of Charles Schulz, renowned for his Peanuts comic strip, and credits him as making a lasting impression on her.

Education

B.F.A. in painting from The University of Texas, Austin, with continuing studies at The School of Visual Arts, New York City.

Career

At age twenty-two Bond moved to New York City with nine hundred dollars and worked several jobs, including illustrating botanical books, working as a freelance scene painter in a children's museum, and being an art director for Margaret K. McElderry Books.[3] During this time she took classes at The School of Visual Arts and put together a portfolio of work intended for children's books. She was offered five contracts in short order and left behind her original idea of pursuing her painting. By the time she was twenty-six the first book she both wrote and illustrated, Poinsettia and Her Family, had been published. Four more books of her own quickly followed[4] before she illustrated If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in 1985. Bond has also illustrated, among other works, Big Red Barn,[5] written by Margaret Wise Brown, The Big Green Pocketbook,[6] written by Candice Ransom, Little Porcupine's Christmas,[7] written by Joseph Slate and The Right Number of Elephants,[8][9] written by Jeff Sheppard . She is both author and illustrator of numerous other works, including Poinsettia and her Family,[10] Poinsettia and the Firefighters, The Day It Rained Hearts, The Halloween Play, Tumble Bumble,[11][12] and Big Hugs, Little Hugs.[13]

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,[14] the first collaborative work written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond, quickly became established as a popular favorite and is today considered a contemporary classic, with over four million copies sold. A series of seventeen titles[15] followed, with sales exceeding sixteen million. They have been translated into more than thirteen languages. The If You Give... Book™ series has garnered numerous awards, and their popularity is witnessed by their consistent presence on The New York Times Best Seller List. Many of the books were the #1 best-sellers in the picture book category. The If You Give... books have become so embedded in our culture that If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was mentioned in the movie Airforce One,[16] on the television show The L Word and in Mad Magazine. Charles Schulz created two Peanuts strips [17] about If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and Oprah Winfrey chose If You Give a Pig a Pancake as one of her favorite things in 2000.[18] She also included it on her list Oprah’s Favorite Things from A-Z in that same year as well.[19] If You Give a Moose a Muffin was the answer to a question on Jeopardy!. The books have been adapted into plays for children's theaters across the country, The Bronx Zoo in New York featured the art in their Children's Zoo for one year and the artwork has been used to create murals in the wings of children's hospitals. The series has fans of all ages from all over the world including Japan, where an entire Tokyo city bus was painted with images of Mouse. Mouse also made it to the White House; in Laura Bush's Celebration of American Authors at the 2001 Presidential Inauguration Felicia Bond and Laura Numeroff were among those honored for their If You Give... Book™ series,[20] and the former First Lady writes that the Bush family cat India's favorite book was If You Take a Mouse to the Movies.[21] A bronze sculpture of her sleeping on the book is included in the George W. Bush Presidential Library. First Lady Michele Obama read [22]If You Give a Mouse a Cookie on The White house lawn during the 2009 Easter Egg Roll. The website mousecookiebooks.com,[23] posted by its publisher, HarperCollins, is an interactive site for children, parents, teachers, and librarians alike.

Bond continues to write as well as illustrate, and is currently scheduled to create the art for an upcoming book with HarperCollins, A Mother's Goodnight, written by Margaret Wise Brown. A new book in the 'If You Give... Book™ series (If You Give a Mouse a Brownie) is due to be published in 2014.

Style, content and process

From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie


In her illustrations Bond's signature style is characterized by rich, vibrant watercolor, often with a black line used for graphic effect. Her use of white space is often similarly applied, especially in her distinctive design of the books in the If You Give...™ series. Her book Big Hugs, Little Hugs [24][25] uses mixed media collage, which reflects her painting style from her early twenties.

She personalizes many of her illustrations by discreetly writing the names of family, friends, and pets in the art. She has said she started doing this years ago, inspired by the cross-hatched ink artwork in The New York Times by Al Hirschfeld, who hid his daughter's name, Nina, at least once in almost every drawing.[26]

Bond's writing style varies in content but is often narrative and character based. Poinsettia and Her Family and Poinsettia and the Firefighters came about from her own childhood. Other stories began as an aimless doodle, such as the whimsical The Day It Rained Hearts and the playful Tumble Bumble. Her book Big Hugs, Little Hugs is more conceptual in nature and evolved from a dream that she merged with a comforting story her father told her when she was a child and couldn't fall asleep. In interviews she has said her ideas come from an "impulsive and intuitive place", that she "lives a story" instead of tells it. She works to keep the "mysterious third thing" alive in a book while she hones the narrative ark and pacing of the words and design. She often compares the making of a book to cooking, a musical score, or a dance.[27]

Books

Big Hugs, Little Hugs written and illustrated by Felicia Bond

Written and illustrated

Illustrated (selected)

Big Red Barn, illustrated by Felicia Bond and written by Margaret Wise Brown
Interior illustration from Big Red Barn

Illustrator, If You Give... Book™ (series)

written by Laura Numeroff; HarperCollins Children's Books, 1985 onward
If You Give... book jacket medley, illustrated by Felicia Bond
See mousecookiebooks.com

Compilation Editions If You Give... Book™ Series

Awards and recognitions

If You Give... Book™ Series

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

If You Give A Moose A Muffin

If You Give A Pig A Pancake

If You Take A Mouse To The Movies

If You Take A Mouse To School

If You Give A Pig A Party

References

  1. ↑ If You Give... Book™ series - list of all If You Give...™ books
  2. ↑ Early inspiration, The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators, Anita Silvey (Houghton Mifflin, 2002) ISBN 0-618-19082-1
  3. ↑ Early career moves, Alison Peacock on Hutchins and Bond
  4. ↑ Written and illustrated, early books, The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators, Anita Silvey (Houghton Mifflin, 2002) ISBN 0-618-19082-1
  5. ↑ American Bookseller Pick of the Lists choice - Big Red Barn, 1989
  6. ↑ Kirkus Reviews - The Big Green Pocketbook, June 1st, 1993,
  7. ↑ Kirkus Reviews - Little Porcupine's Christmas, written by Joseph Slate, illustrated by Felica Bond, Sept. 15th, 2001,
  8. 1 2 School of Library Journal review - The Right Number of Elephants November, 1990
  9. ↑ The New York Times, April 21, 1991 - The Right Number of Elephants
  10. ↑ Poinsettia and Her Family
  11. ↑ Kirkus Reviews - Tumble Bumble, October 1, 1996
  12. ↑ New York Times Book Review - Tumble Bumble, March 16, 1997
  13. ↑ Felicia Bond - list of all books
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ If You Give...™ books illustrated by Felicia Bond
  16. ↑ The New York Times, Just a Little Turbulence, Mr. President By Janet Maslin Published: July 25, 1997
  17. ↑ Charles Schulz features If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in Peanuts, The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators, Anita Silvey (Houghton Mifflin, 2002) ISBN 0-618-19082-1
  18. ↑ "...written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond is the perfect gift for the little ones in your life. "It just thrilled me," Oprah says."
  19. ↑ Oprah’s Favorite Things from A-Z - If You Give a Pig a Pancake
  20. ↑ Laura Bush read If You Take a Mouse to the Movies to the children over the holidays.
  21. ↑ India "Willie Bush, the family cat's favorite book If You Take a Mouse to the Movies
  22. ↑ If You Give a Mouse a Cookie on the White House lawn on YouTube
  23. ↑ mousecookiebooks.com
  24. ↑ Star Telegram review - Big Hugs, Little Hugs
  25. ↑ The New York Times Sunday Book Review - Big Hugs, Little Hugs, February 10, 2012
  26. ↑ Al Hirschfield re hiding Nina's name, JVS Publishing - Illustrators, 1/21/2003
  27. ↑ Notes on process, Alison Peacock on Hutchins and Bond
  28. ↑ School of Library Journal Best Book - Poinsettia and Her Family, 1981
  29. ↑ Reading Rainbow selection - Poinsettia and Her Family, 1981
  30. ↑ New York Times Best Seller List If You Give a Dog a Doughnut
  31. ↑ If You Give a Child a Book, HarperCollins book donation program
  32. ↑ Alabama Children's Choice Book Award, now named Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Award
  33. ↑ Renaming of award
  34. ↑ California Young Reader Medal
  35. ↑ Colorado Children's Book Award
  36. ↑ Georgia Children's Picture Storybook Award
  37. ↑ Nevada Young Reader's Award
  38. ↑ Buckeye Children's Book Award
  39. ↑ Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
  40. ↑ Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
  41. ↑ Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Blue Chip Classic Award If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
  42. 1 2 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award If You Give a Moose a Muffin
  43. ↑ If You Take a Mouse to School Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Awards
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