Synopses & Reviews
A big dog,a tiny ant. Bumpy tree bark,smooth glass marbles. A cheerful shout,a good-night whisper. From morning to night, a child's day is filled with opposites, and Nina Crews's jubilant full-color photographs of a day in the life of two busy, urban siblings will prove it. A celebration of simple opposites (and of summer in the city!) that will have youngsters looking high and low for,and loudly proclaiming contrasting details in their own world.
About the Author
Nina Crews grew up n New York City. After graduating from Yale University in 1985, she worked in commercial animation production and contributed illustrations to magazines, including the
Village Voice and
Parenting. Her first picture book,
One Hot Summer Day, was published in 1995. It was followed by
I'll Catch the Moon and
Snowball. In her own words....
"I look back to move forward on a new children's book. I try to remember a much younger me and recreate some of the things that delighted me then. These pleasures were often quite simple, perhaps the shape or taste of something or the colors that it evoked-and everything was set against a noisy, busy, city backdrop.
"I was raised in New York City. I think I've always loved it. There may have been more tall buildings than trees, but I enjoyed the city and all its variety. The people, the neighborhoods, all of the city's quirkiness were endlessly exciting.
"I started taking pictures at an early age, and the city was my first subject. I grew up in a family of artists and saw the children's-book business firsthand. My parents, Donald Crews and Ann Jonas, always encouraged my sister and me in all our art projects. I had wellrounded art training in high school but became more focused on photography in college. Since then I have been working in commercial animation production and doing freelance photo-collage illustration.
"I love making collages. Some of my favorite artists—Romare Bearden, Hannah Hoch, and Man Ray—combined photography and collage. Collage allows me to use photography playfully and to tell a story on many levels.
"I enjoy photographing children. The interaction always adds something to the project; their performances always give me new ideas. I try to keep the photography session as loose as possible. Collaging the images allows me a great deal of freedom. Basically, almost anything can happen.
"Writing the text is another kind of challenge. I try to find a good balance between the written story and the visual story. Each one should help the other. Picture books are the combination of two forms of poetry, written and visual, and their flow should be musical. I find myself reading a lot of poetry while I work on ideas.
"As a child I loved books and I loved to look. The more there was to see in any one image, the better. I also loved books that were set in city places. I hope that a new generation will get these same pleasures from my books."