Language English Parents Jo Spier Role Illustrator | Name Peter Spier Nationality Dutch and American | |
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Occupation children's writer and illustrator Notable works Island City: Adventures In Old New York (1961)The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night (1961)London Bridge Is Falling Down! (1967), in the Mother Goose Library SeriesTo Market! To Market! (1967) Notable awards Noah's Ark won:Caldecott Medal from the American Library Association1982 National Book Award in the Picture Book category1978 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award Awards Caldecott Medal, National Book Award for Children’s Books (Picture Books, Paperback) Nominations National Book Award for Children’s Books (Nonfiction, Hardcover) Books Noah's Ark, The Fox Went Out on a Chill, Oh Were They Ever Happy, Peter Spier's Christmas!, Peter Spier's Rain Similar People Jo Spier, Christian Poslaniec, Randolph Caldecott | ||
Building My First Edition Book Collection - Part 10 (Noah's Ark, Chanticleer And the Fox)
Peter Spier (June 6, 1927 – April 27, 2017) was a Dutch-born American illustrator and writer who created more than thirty children's books.
Contents
- Building My First Edition Book Collection Part 10 Noahs Ark Chanticleer And the Fox
- Book Review Peter Spiers CIRCUS CC ENGLISH CC DEUTSCH
- Biographical information
- Medium and artistic style
- Copyrights
- Publishers
- Awards
- As illustrator
- References
Book Review: Peter Spier's CIRCUS! [CC] ENGLISH + [CC] DEUTSCH
Biographical information
Spier was born in Amsterdam, North Holland, and grew up in Broek in Waterland, the son of Jo Spier, a popular artist and illustrator, and Tineke van Raalte. Jo Spier was Jewish, and, during the Second World War, Peter and his father were two of nine prisoners of Villa Bouchina and were later imprisoned in Theresienstadt. After the war he studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and joined the Royal Netherlands Navy for four years. The entire Spier family emigrated to the United States in 1950. Spier started his career as a commercial artist for advertising agencies and only later focused on writing and illustrating children's books. He died on April 27, 2017 in Port Jefferson, New York.
Medium and artistic style
Like other children's illustrators such as Beatrix Potter or Christopher Wormell, Peter Spier demonstrates his talent and skills as an artist/illustrator using pen, ink and watercolour on paper. Many of Spier's illustrations are extremely detailed and historically accurate. Close examination will often yield a humorous scene not readily apparent at first glance the finding of which often delights readers of all ages.
Copyrights
Spier reserved all rights and retained the copyrights to his works. In correspondence he noted that many of the original publishing plates used to reproduce his work were not available though the original works were thought to survive.
Publishers
The Doubleday & Company, Inc., of Garden City, New York originally published many of Spier's works including The Mother Goose Library Series: "London Bridge Is Falling Down!". More recent publications can be found under the labels Double Day Books For Young Readers, Dragonfly Books and Random House.
Awards
Noah's Ark (1977) won the annual Caldecott Medal from the American Library Association, recognizing the illustrator of the year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". In its first paperback edition, it won a 1982 National Book Award in category Picture Books. The book was named to the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list in 1978.
People (1980) won a Christopher Award and was one of five finalists for the 1981 National Book Award in category Children's Nonfiction.
The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night (1961) was named a Caldecott Honor Book by the American Library Association in 1962.