This October: Design

The most powerful picture books not only meld words and illustrations to tell a story, but also employ innovative design.

In October, we’ll explore the work of P.D. Eastman, Donald Crews, Jon Klassen, and Christian Robinson and their approaches to visual elements like color, typography, images, layout, and space.

Join us this month for Story Hours (ages 3-7) and our adults-only Let’s Take a Dive program to learn more about these creators and celebrate their inspiring work.

P.D. Eastman (1909-1986)

Writer, illustrator, and animator Philip Dey Eastman was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. He graduated from Amherst College in 1933 and later from the National Academy of Design in New York City.

Eastman’s artistic career started at Walt Disney Productions, where he worked as an assistant animator, story-sketcher, and production designer from 1936 to 1941. He also worked for Warner Bros. cartoon unit for a year before he was drafted by the United States Army in 1942. 

In the Army, Eastman was assigned to work for the Signal Corps film unit where he did picture planning for animated sequences in orientation and training films. Theodor Geisel – better known by the pen name Dr. Seuss – was the head of his unit. The two worked together for many years, and Eastman eventually published most of his titles under the Dr. Seuss imprint at Random House. Thanks in part to the Beginner Books series, many of Eastman’s children’s books have become canonical for young readers.

Spread from Are Your My Mother? written and illustrated by P.D. Eastman.

In 1958 Eastman wrote and illustrated his first children’s book, Sam and the Firefly. This was followed by Are You My Mother?—which sold over one-million copies upon publication—and Go, Dog, Go!

In terms of his approach to picture book design, Eastman cleaned up the page with less fuss about backgrounds or color. He used clean, strong lines to create his quirky characters. 

His influence can be seen in contemporary creators, including Mo Willems and Jon Agee. Though Eastman made it look effortless, his style is difficult to emulate unless you are very confident with the colors and design of the page. 

Robert the Rose Horse exhibit at The Rabbit hOle.

At The Rabbit hOle, we have an exhibit for Eastman’s book Robert the Rose Horse. It was written by children’s book author and a librarian Joan Heilbroner, and published in 1961.

During his lifetime Eastman was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union, Westport Artists, the Screen Cartoonists Guild, and the Audubon Society. He wrote eighteen children’s books during his career and died of pneumonia in 1986.

Donald Crews (1938- )

Donald Crews was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1938. He grew up in the greater New York City area, and from a young age, he was encouraged to pursue art. He applied and was accepted to Newark’s Arts High School, and at the insistence of a teacher, continued his post-secondary arts education at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. There he met his wife and collaborator, Ann Jonas. 

In 1963 he was drafted into the army and sent to Frankfort, Germany, where Crews and Jonas started their family. They have two daughters, Amy and Nina, who is also an award-winning children’s book creator.

Inspired by designers including Paul Rand, Bruno Munari, and Charles Eames as well as the spare, abstract approach of the Swiss Design, Crews created the dummy for his first picture book, We Read: A to Z. After the family returned to the United States, both Crews and Jonas worked as freelance designers. In 1967 Harper published We Read: A to Z.

Never without a sketchbook or camera, Crews is always collecting ideas and the subjects of his books are drawn from real life. Once he becomes fascinated with a subject, he’ll begin sketching to explore the visual possibilities.

“Crews has elevated books for very young children to an art form. His bold illustrations raise the ordinary into stylized representations.” — The American Library Association

Transportation is a recurring theme in his work. He won a Caldecott Honor in 1979 for Freight Train and again in 1980 for Truck.

Freight Train is featured in The Rabbit hOle's 13 Windows. To illustrate the moving train, Crews first drew the train then took pictures of while moving his camera to capture the desired effect.

Whether a speeding train or a carousel, Crews seeks to capture the action and will go to great lengths to achieve the effect of motion.

In the 1980s and 90s, Crews' focus shifted to people and more personal stories including Bigmama’s and Shortcut. These stories also gave him the “opportunity to put a physical Black presence in my books.”

Jon Klassen (1981- )

Jon Klassen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and grew up in Toronto and Niagara Falls. As a kid, he initially refused to do any schoolwork that involved drawing. Thankfully, in second grade, he drew an expressive dinosaur that convinced his mother he would become an artist.

He attended Sheridan College in Toronto, graduating in 2005 with a degree in film animation. After college, Klassen moved to Los Angeles. He worked as an animator on feature-length childrens’s movies including Kung Fu Panda and Coraline. 

In 2010, he illustrated his first children’s book, Cats’ Night Out, written by Caroline Stutson. His first solo project, I Want My Hat Back, debuted in 2011 to immediate acclaim. 

I Want My Hat Back exhibit at The Rabbit hOle.

The sequel, This is Not My Hat, came out the following year and won the Caldecott Medal, which accompanied a Caldecott Honor. Klassen was awarded that same cycle for his illustrations in Extra Yarn, written by Mac Barnett. In 2015 Klassen and Barnett published Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, which was also awarded a Caldecott Honor.

Recognizable for his clean and minimal illustration style, Klassen uses ink and watercolour textures to create defined shapes and strong designs. At first his characters can feel inanimate and awkward, but upon closer examination, their eyes and other details show great expression. 

Through both illustration and text, which he often uses to contradict one another, Klassen creates stories that amuse both children and adults. 

“If they're being read to by an adult, I feel that the pictures are the kids’ territory,” Klassen said in an interview. “So if the pictures give out some information that the text doesn’t, there's a secret from the person reading it or maybe even from the person who wrote it”.

Known for having a deadpan and dark sense of humor, Klassen admits that books in his Hat Trilogy drew inspiration from “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe and Hitchcock’s Psycho. 

Klassen’s sensational entrance into the children’s book world has firmly positioned him as one of this century’s most iconic and recognizable illustrators.

Christian Robinson (1986- )

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson was published in 2015 to immense critical acclaim. The book, which tells the story of a young boy and his grandmother who take the bus to volunteer at a soup kitchen, won the 2016 Newbery Medal as well as a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor the same year. At The Rabbit hOle, guests have a chance to take a ride on the bus from the book while experiencing audio and video renditions of the story. 

Robinson found inspiration for the Last Stop on Market Street illustrations from his own childhood. He grew up in Los Angeles and was raised by his grandmother. He lived in a one-bedroom apartment with five other family members for much of his life. He has cited drawing as a hobby that helped him find moments of solitude and escape.

Robinson studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts and has worked with major studios including The Sesame Street Workshop and Pixar Animation Studios. 

In 2012 Robinson published his first book, Harlem's Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, written by Renée Watson. Since then, he has created more than 20 picture books, many of which have earned various awards and accolades.

Christian Robinson’s deep understanding of color and form has set him decidedly in the vanguard of contemporary illustration. A lifelong fan of mid century design work, Robinson’s creative practice extends beyond illustration and animation, as seen with his 2021 Target collection that included homegoods and apparel printed with his designs and patterns. 

Robinson primarily utilizes collage and strong line work in his illustrations, creating a sense of movement and vivacity tethered to a strong sense of place.

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Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson was published in 2015 to immense critical acclaim. The book, which tells the story of a young boy and his grandmother who take the bus to volunteer at a soup kitchen, won the 2016 Newbery Medal as well as a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor the same year. At The Rabbit hOle, guests have a chance to take a ride on the bus from the book while experiencing audio and video renditions of the story. 

Robinson found inspiration for the Last Stop on Market Street illustrations from his own childhood. He grew up in Los Angeles and was raised by his grandmother. He lived in a one-bedroom apartment with five other family members for much of his life. He has cited drawing as a hobby that helped him find moments of solitude and escape.

Robinson studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts and has worked with major studios including The Sesame Street Workshop and Pixar Animation Studios. 

In 2012 Robinson published his first book, Harlem's Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, written by Renée Watson. Since then, he has created more than 20 picture books, many of which have earned various awards and accolades.

Christian Robinson’s deep understanding of color and form has set him decidedly in the vanguard of contemporary illustration. A lifelong fan of mid century design work, Robinson’s creative practice extends beyond illustration and animation, as seen with his 2021 Target collection that included homegoods and apparel printed with his designs and patterns. 

Robinson primarily utilizes collage and strong linework in his illustrations, creating a sense of movement and vivacity tethered to a strong sense of place.

Images from collage and print-making workshops with Christian Robinson last spring. Read the full recap.