SCBWI Podcasts
The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conversations with publishing pros, and award-winning and bestselling writers and illustrators who inform and inspire about the ins and outs of the children's book industry. Find out about the craft and creative process behind young adult novels, picture books, middle-grade fiction, graphic novels, and nonfiction.
SCBWI Podcasts
The Life of an Artist with Paul O. Zelinsky
In this episode we are joined by Paul O. Zelinsky!
Paul O. Zelinsky grew up in Wilmette, Illinois, the son of a mathematics professor father and a medical illustrator mother. He drew compulsively from an early age, but did not know until college that this would be his career. As a Sophomore in Yale College he enrolled in a course on the history and practice of the picture book, co-taught by an English professor and Maurice Sendak. This experience inspired Paul to point himself in the direction of children's books. His first book appeared in 1978, since which time he has become recognized as one of the most inventive and critically successful artists in the field.
He now lives with his wife in Brooklyn, New York. They have two grown daughters.
Among many other awards and prizes, he received the 1998 Caldecott Medal for his illustrated retelling of Rapunzel, as well as Caldecott Honors for three of his books: Hansel and Gretel (1985), Rumpelstiltskin (1987), and Swamp Angel (1995). In 2018, Paul was given the Carle Honor Award for Illustration.
Check out his books here: https://www.paulozelinsky.com/
