Trina Schart Hyman

1. Trina Schart Hyman Meg Cichantk LIS 721 17 October 2011

2. About Trina • April 8, 1939-November 19, 2004 • Mother- joy of books and reading • Father- tales of the origins of the universe • Wore a red cape and believed she was Little Red Riding Hood (her favorite story) • Studied at Philadelphia Museum College of Art • Married in 1959 to Harris Hyman; moved to Boston • Graduated School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston in 1960

3. More About Trina • 1960-1962 Lived in Stockholm Sweden with Harris • Studied at Konstfackskolan (Swedish State Art School) • Illustrated first children’s book in Sweden • Toffeoch den lillabilen (Toffe and the Little Car) by Hertha von Gebhardt, 1961 • Spent months translating from Swedish and two weeks illustrating • Back in Boston met Helen Jones, a children’s editor of Little, Brown publishing • Became Trina’s mentor • 1963, KatrinSchart is born • 1968 Trina and Harris divorce • Trina, Katrin and friends move to Lyme, New Hampshire • 1971, editors of Cricket, a new children’s magazine, ask Trina to be the art director • Helped form the early style of the magazine and was a contributor for the rest of her life

4. From 1960 to 2004, illustrated over 100 books and wrote six • Illustrated 8-9 books a year until rheumatoid arthritis cut it back to one book a year • Caldecott Honor winner 1984, Little Red Riding Hood; 1990 Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins • Caldecott Medal winner 1985, Saint George and the Dragon • Died in 2004 from breast cancer • Last book Trina illustrated was published in 2006 • Changing Woman and Her Sisters: Stories of Goddesses from Around the World by Katrin Hyman Tchana

5. In Her Own Words • About her mother: “Gingery, independent, capable lady with red hair” • About her father: “quiet, funny man who liked to go fishing and play the accordion” • About her childhood: “I would be an artist, and I would be the sort who made pictures that told stories” • “I believed in that kind of good and evil and that magic could happen” • “I liked best to be under the kitchen table with the dog” • About her daughter: Katrin was the most “stubborn, aggressive, opinionated baby”

6. Select Works Written and Illustrated • How Six Found Christmas by Trina Schart Hyman 1969 • The Sleeping Beauty retold by Trina Schart Hyman 1977 • Self Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman by Trina Schart Hyman 1981 • Little Red Riding Hood retold by Trina Schart Hyman 1983 • A Little Alphabet by Trina Schart Hyman 1980 • All in Free But Janey by Elizabeth Johnson 1968 • King Stork by Howard Pyle 1973 • Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink1973 • Snow White translated by Paul Heins 1974 • Why Don’t you Get a Horse Sam Adams? By Jean Fritz 1974 • On to Whitcomb Fair by Patricia Lee Gauch1978 • How Does it Feel to be Old? By Norma Farber 1979

7. More Illustrated Works • Peter Pan by James Barrie 1980 • Rapunzel by Barbara Rogasky 1982 • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 1983 • Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges 1984 • A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas 1985 • Swan Lake by Margot Fonteyn 1989 • Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel 1989 • The Fortune-Tellers by Lloyd Alexander 1992 • The Golem by Barbara Rogasky 1996 • A Child’s Calendar by John Updike 1999 • The Serpent Slayer and Other Stories of Strong Women by KatrinTchana 2000 • Sense Pass King: A Story from Cameroon by KatrinTchana 2002 • Changing Woman and Her Sisters by KatrinTchana 2006

8. Influences • The Unfaithful Shepherd c. 1587 • Pieter Brueghel the Elder • Housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art • Favorite from childhood; represented Little Red Riding Hood Story

9. More Influences from Childhood • Most children’s books during her childhood did not have illustrations • Very influenced by her copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales • Enjoyed Howard Pyle’s illustrations and Jessie Willcox Smith’s illustrations in Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses

10. More Artists Who Influenced Trina • Arthur Rackman • Edmund Dulac • Charles Robinson • N.C. Wyeth • Goya • Rembrandt • Enjoyed these artists because they “all have the same kind of storytelling art, very romantic, dramatic”

11. “Books and illustrations are part of me; They’re not just what I do; they’re what I am” • Range of artistic style; early work was “black-and-white line art or hand-separated limited color” • “Color was something I had to learn” • Light- Garth Williams commented on Trina’s work one day that she should look more at light in her work • One of the hardest things she had to do in her art, but also one of the most important components • Used red (her favorite color) to punch up other colors • Painted generally in acrylic paint, using them like watercolors, as well as black or sepia India ink • Last book is an experimental form; done in collage

12. How Trina Worked • All ideas came from the story • Read each manuscript 5 to 25 times • Mood of story, research • Worked chronologically, start to finish and then did the cover • Became “totally immersed in the ‘world’ of that story”

13. Characters • Does not use models or pictures • Characters are often family or friends, drawn from memory • Villains “most fun to draw” • “I usually use my ex-husband, or a highly respected children’s book editor whom I happen to loathe, or a reviewer of children’s books who I actually like but also think is a pompous ass or else a friend who is really a lovely guy but who looks like a villain”

14. Characters Continued • Katrin married a man from Cameroon • Caused Trina to realize her characters were mostly white • Began incorporating multicultural characters into artwork • After Caldecott Award in 1985, hit “artistically low point” • “I realized that I was drawing the same figure over and over again”

15. Reviews and Reception • Not always positive but generally well reviewed • Criticized for not leaving “the story well enough alone” • Known for “unusually wide range of emotions” portrayed and for her “powerful full color sequences” • Horn Book Review, Sense Pass King • “[Hyman’s] legendary sense of mischief provides lively accents”

16. Reviews and Reception • School Library Journal Review, Self-Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman • “Figures are posed for action” • “Trees supply naturalistic yet decorative frames”

17. Reviews and Reception • School Library Journal Review, The Fortune-Tellers • “Colors so rich and clear that they invite readers to touch the fabrics and breathe the air” • “visual details . . . Add an authenticity” • “These illustrations are obviously a labor of love”

18. For More Information • Boyles, Linda. “Book Review: Preschool & Primary Grades.” School Library Journal 38.9 (1992): 196. Ebsco. Web. 6 Oct. 2011 • Bush, Margaret A. “Sense Pass King.” Horn Book Magazine 78.6 (2002): 770-771. Ebsco. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. • Crago, Hugh. “Trina Schart Hyman.” American Writers for Children Since 1960: Poets, Illustrators and Nonfiction Authors. Ed. Glenn E. Estes. Detroit: Gale Research, 1987. Web. 4 Oct. 2011 • “Hyman, Trina Schart.” Eighth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators. 2000. Biography Reference Bank. Web 7 Oct. 2011. • Marantz, Kenneth. “Self-Portrait (Book Review).” School Library Journal 28.4 (1981): 65. Ebsco. Web. 6 Oct. 2011 • Ortakales, Denise. Women Children’s Illustrators: Trina Schart Hyman. N.P., August 2002. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. http://www.ortakales.com/Illustrators/index.html • “Trina Schart Hyman, 65: Acclaimed Illustrator of Children’s Books.” Chicago Tribune. 23 November 2004: 6.