Petra Mathers
Petra Mathers (born 1945) is an author and illustrator of children’s picturebooks.
Life and work
Born in Todtmoos Germany, Petra Mathers served as an apprentice in the book business before moving to the United States at the age of 23.[1] Upon her arrival to the U.S., she worked with a friend who owned a children’s bookstore in Oregon.[2] After that, Mathers worked in bookstores, for Brockhaus (a German encyclopedia company), had several waitressing jobs, and worked as a freelance artist and illustrator before creating her own picturebooks. Mathers published her first book at age 40 in 1985. She is the author and illustrator of over thirty picturebooks, and currently resides in Astoria, Oregon.[1]
Style
Mathers is a self-taught artist and has a very distinct artistic style. Critic H. Nichols B. Clark describes her formal aesthetic, explaining that Mathers “[creates] simplified forms that comprise flat shapes. She assembles a carefully articulated formal arrangement whose visual dynamics are as integral to the production as the pictorial narrative.” [3] Linnea Hendricks explains that Mathers’ picturebooks “combine a flat, naive, folklike style with wit and a strong sense of design” and are “praised for their freshness, originality, subtlety, and genuine feeling.” [4]
Awards and honors
Petra Mathers’ work has earned much acclaim, including the following accolades:[5]
- 1985—Ezra Jack Keats Award [2] for Maria Theresa
- 1986—New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year for Molly's New Washing Machine (by Laura Geringer).
- 1988—New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year for Theodor and Mr. Balbini.
- 1990—New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year for I'm Flying (by Alan Wade).
- 1991—Boston Globe-Horn Book Award [3] for Sophie and Lou.
- 1995—Society of Illustrators Silver Medal:[4] for Kisses from Rosa.
- 1999—New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year for Lottie's New Friend.
- 1999—Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award for Illustration for Lottie's New Friend.
- 1999—Society of Illustrators Silver Medal for Lottie's New Friend.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Petra Mathers (1945-).Children’s Literature Review. Ed. Rebecca Blanchard. Vol. 76. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. 108-135. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. 1 April 2010 [1] Retrieved 1 April 2010
- ↑ http://www.trumpetclub.com/early/authors/mathers/
- ↑ Hearn, Michael Patrick , Trinkett Clark, and H. Nichols B. Clark (1996). Myth, Magic, and Mystery: One Hundred Years of American Children’s Book Illustration, p. 114. Roberts Rinehart, Boulder, CO.
- ↑ http://eclipse.rutgers.edu/petra/interview.jsp
- ↑ http://eclipse.rutgers.edu/petra/biography.jsp
External links
- 1945 births
- American women illustrators
- American children's writers
- Living people
- People from Waldshut-Tiengen
- German emigrants to the United States
- American women writers
- 20th-century American writers
- 21st-century American writers
- American children's book illustrators
- 21st-century women writers
- 20th-century women writers
