Jerry Pinkney

Jerry Pinkney, recipient of five Caldecott Honors and five Coretta Scott King awards, is truly a masterful children’s book illustrator. He has illustrated at least six of Julius Lester’s books, another author mentioned in this blog. He has also illustrated several fairy tales and more recently, bible stories. I read his version of Noah’s Ark, a book written and illustrated by Pinkney.

The biblical story of Noah’s Ark is reproduced in Pinkney’s picture book and while the words are well-written, graceful in their flow, the pictures outshine anything else on the page. The animals and characters are not cartoon-ish, a style very popular in children’s books, but are instead realistic. The realism, however, does nothing to diminish their magic. The watercolors are extremely detailed and this detail keeps the reader from simply flipping the page once the prose is read.

In one scene, the viewer is able to see underneath the ark and into the ever-rising ocean. Whales and other sea creatures are swimming through sunken cities. The double page layout of this scene is enchanting. As a child, I was always captivated by Noah’s story and the story of Atlantis. I was drawn to the idea of cities beneath the ocean, buried treasures, and I know I would have wanted to display this picture in my room! I showed this book to my mom and when she reached the image, she smiled and said I would have loved the picture.

Most of Pinkney’s works contain African-American protagonists and he works in conjunction with many famous African-American authors such as Mildred D. Taylor and Julius Lester. His has illustrated the following books:

-The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South
-Mirandy and Brother Wind
-Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry
-Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales
-John Henry
-Sam and the Tiger

Pinkney, J. (2002). Noah’s ark. San Francisco, CA: SeaStar Books.