Mercer Mayer (born December 30, 1943) is an American children's author and illustrator. He has published over 300 books, using a wide range of illustrative styles. Mayer is best known for his Little Critter and Little Monster series of books.[1]
Mayer was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. His father was in the United States Navy, so his family moved many times during his childhood before settling in Honolulu, Hawaii. There, Mayer graduated from high school in 1961. While attending school at the Honolulu Museum of Art, Mayer decided to enter the field of children's book illustration. To that end, he created a portfolio of sketches and peddled them wherever he could. Though his professors feared the young artist would never be good enough to make a living as an illustrator, Mayer was not dissuaded.[citation needed]
Mayer moved from Hawaii to New York City in 1964, pursuing further instruction at the Art Students League of New York, where he met an artist named Marianna who became his first wife. He also met an art director who told Mayer that his portfolio was so bad that he needed to throw it away.[citation needed] Though offended, Mayer did.[citation needed] During his spare time from his job at an advertising agency, the artist created a completely new portfolio. These new sketches persuaded editors at Dial Press and Harper & Row to give him some illustration work.[citation needed]
Mayer published his first book, A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog, at Dial Press in 1967.[2] It was notable for being a completely wordless picture book—one that tells its story entirely through the use of pictures. Mayer was one of the first illustrators to be credited with using this format. Five more books in this series followed. He also produced If I Had a Gorilla about the advantages of ape ownership.[3]
The book There's a Nightmare in My Closet drew on Mayer's childhood fears of monsters in his room at night. Critics compared the book unfavorably to Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are (ironically Sendak himself found no such comparison and enjoyed Nightmare; having been a friend of Mayer's),[4] but children and their parents loved the story and it became very popular, with at least 14 editions being released since its publication in 1968, and was featured on Reading Rainbow. An animated special was made, which faithfully followed the book and added two small sections where the boy is playing outdoors at sunset and reflects how the monster will soon come, as well as arranging his planes and toy soldiers around the closet to form a "defense force". The inner monologue of the boy was voiced by Michael J. Fox. The titular nightmare monster also starred in a music video for Alice Cooper's "Welcome to my Nightmare".[5]
Mayer joined Golden Publishing, the creators of Little Golden Books, in 1976. Through them he has sold his "Little Critter" and "Little Monster" series, which are popular with beginning readers.
In 1978, Mayer divorced Marianna. The following year, he married his second wife, Jo. The couple had three children: two sons, Len and Arden as well as a daughter named Jessie.[citation needed] Mayer and his third wife Gina, had two sons of their own (Ben and Zebulon). He currently lives in Roxbury, Connecticut. Gina collaborated with him on many of his books since the early 1990s. Gina died November 27, 2017, at age 51 due to illness.
Goodnight Moon is an American children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It was published on September 3, 1947, and is a highly acclaimed bedtime story.
Maurice Bernard Sendak was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, first published in 1963. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was affected by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Sendak also wrote works such as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, and illustrated many works by other authors including the Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik.
Ruth Ida Krauss was an American writer of children's books, including The Carrot Seed, and of theatrical poems for adult readers. Many of her books are still in print.
Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published in hardcover by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short film in 1973 ; a 1980 opera; and a live-action 2009 feature-film adaptation. The book had sold over 19 million copies worldwide as of 2009, with 10 million of those being in the United States.
Meindert De Jong, sometimes spelled de Jong, DeJong or Dejong was a Dutch-born American writer of children's books. He won the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1962 for his contributions as a children's writer.
Randolph Caldecott was a British artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honour. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognised by the Royal Academy. Caldecott greatly influenced illustration of children's books during the nineteenth century. Two books illustrated by him, priced at a shilling each, were published every Christmas for eight years.
Jan Boyer Wahl was an American children's author. He was a prolific author of over 120 works, and was known primarily for his award-winning children's books, including Pleasant Fieldmouse, The Furious Flycycle, and Humphrey's Bear. Wahl sometimes jokingly referred to himself as "Dr. Mouse," a nickname given him by a young fan.
Guy Billout is a French artist and illustrator. In 1989, Billout received the Hamilton King Award and in 2016, he was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.
In the Night Kitchen is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, first published in hardcover in 1970 by Harper and Row. The book depicts a young boy's dream journey through a surreal baker's kitchen where he assists in the creation of a cake to be ready by the morning. In the Night Kitchen has been described by Sendak as part of a trilogy of books based on psychological development from In the Night Kitchen (toddler) to Where the Wild Things Are (pre-school) to Outside Over There (pre-adolescent). It was a Caldecott Honor recipient in 1971. It was adapted into a five-minute animated short film on January 1, 1987, directed by Gene Deitch and released by Weston Woods. The book drew controversy in the US due to depictions of nudity.
The Snowy Day is a 1962 American children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. It features Peter, an African American boy, who explores his neighborhood after the season's first snowfall. Keats’ illustrations helped pave the way for more inclusive and diverse children's literature. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his collage artwork, which made The Snowy Day the first picture book with an African American protagonist to win a major children's award. The book's reception was largely positive, although some critics pointed out subtle stereotypes, such as how Peter's mother was portrayed. Since its publication The Snowy Day has sold millions of copies and has been translated, adapted, and honored leaving a lasting impression on generations of readers.
Laura Joffe Numeroff is an American author and illustrator of children's books who is best known as the author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
Dan Yaccarino is an American author, illustrator, and television producer, who is known for his animated series, children's books and award-winning imagery. Yaccarino created the Nick Jr. preschool series Oswald.
Marie Hall Ets was an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books.
This is a list of the works of Mercer Mayer.
Tedd Arnold is an American children's book writer and illustrator. He has written and illustrated over 100 books, and he has won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor for his books "Hi! Fly Guy!" (2006), "I Spy Fly Guy" (2010), and "Noodleheads See the Future" (2018). He currently lives outside of Gainesville, Florida.
The Monster Bed is a 1987 children's book by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Susan Varley that revolves around the twist on the common "monsters under the bed" story that frighten children. The book is a young reader, normally aimed for 4 years or older. The main character, the monster Dennis, believes that human children are under his bed and will get him as he falls asleep. His mother, however, tries to get him to go to sleep. Eventually, a human child accidentally ventures into their home cave, and both the human and Dennis discover each other, frightening both.
Marc Tolon Brown is an American author and illustrator of children's books. Brown writes as well as illustrates the Arthur book series and is best known for creating that series and its numerous spin-offs.
Kōji Ishikawa is a Japanese children's book author and illustrator. His work includes advertisements, magazine illustration, web, character design and book design. In recent years he has made children's books. He lives in Tokyo with his wife and two children.
Marianna Mayer is a well-known children’s book writer and artist from Roxbury, Connecticut. Her early education was in the field of the visual arts. After one year of college, she became a student painter at the Art Students League in New York City. Her first book was published when she was nineteen years old. She is known for her retellings of folk and fairy tales. She is the author of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave and her written versions of Pegasus, and The Twelve Dancing Princesses. She was the first wife of the famous illustrator, Mercer Mayer.
B. K. (Bob) Taylor is an American illustrator, cartoonist, writer, production designer, costume designer, puppeteer, and musician known for his work on the Odd Rods collector stickers of the late 1960s, his covers for Sick magazine, his comics in National Lampoon, and for his work as a staff writer on ABC’S popular sitcom, Home Improvement. He lives in Metro Detroit and continues to work as an illustrator and writer, performing occasionally in a local rock band.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
