Work
Young’s first book, The Mean Mouse and Other Mean Stories, was published by Harper & Row in 1962. He expected it to be his first and last book, but it won an American Institute of Graphic Arts award and launched a career that has resulted in over eighty books for children. Most of his books are visual masterpieces using colors and images to convey hidden symbolism. His meticulously rendered works have utilized pencil, pastel, cut paper, collage, ink, and found materials.
“A Chinese painting is often accompanied by words. They are complementary. There are things that words do that pictures never can, and likewise, there are images that words can never describe. I feel the story has to be an exciting and moving experience for a child. Before I am involved with a project, I must be moved, and, as I grow, I try to create something exciting. It is my purpose to stimulate growth in the reader as an active participant. To get the story across for me, mostly it’s the feeling. I think that if the book evokes a reaction of some sort, either positive or negative, I think it would have done what it is supposed to do.”
The subject and style of each story provide Young with the initial inspiration for his art and with the motivation for design, sequence, and pace. Accuracy in research is essential to his work, too – whether he is illustrating fantasy, folk tale, or fact. According to Young, a strong foundation of credibility must be established in order to create new and exciting images. Through such images, he hopes to capture his readers and ultimately expand their awareness.
In 1990, his book Lon Po Po, a Red-Riding Hood story from China, was awarded the Caldecott Medal. He has also received two Caldecott Honors – for The Emperor and the Kite and Seven Blind Mice – and was twice nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition given to children's book authors and illustrators who have made a lasting contribution to children's literature.
According to Young, “Producing a book becomes part of the spirit of each person who touched it and those who’d touched them.” During a Horn Book acceptance speech, Young spoke about the “Eight Matters of the Heart,” the place where he said that he puts his mind before he does his work (for more information, read Young’s book, Voices of the Heart.) When asked to elaborate, he said, “We put ourselves in jeopardy in life if we don’t have our mind and body in the right place. The eight matters must accompany me wherever I tread so that I know the time that I have in this world is well spent.”
Read more about this topic: Ed Young (illustrator)
Famous quotes containing the word work:
“We work harder than ever, and I cannot see the advantages in cooperative living.”
—Lydia Arnold, U.S. commune supervisor (of the North American Phalanx, Red Bank, New Jersey, 1843- 1855)
“This life is a war we are not yet
winning for our daughters’ children.
Don’t do your enemies’ work for them.
Finish your own.”
—Marge Piercy (b. 1936)
“Because I have work to care about, it is possible that I may be less difficult to get along with than other women when the double chins start to form.”
—Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)