David Wiesner (born February 5, 1956) is an American illustrator and writer of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

, known best for

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

including some that tell stories without words. As an illustrator he has won three

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

s recognizing the year's "most distinguished American picture book for children" and he was one of five finalists in 2008 for the biennial, international

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

, the highest recognition available for creators of children's books.

Life

Wiesner was born and raised in

Bridgewater Township, New Jersey Bridgewater Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the heart of the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region. Situated within Central Jersey, Cen ...

, and attended Bridgewater-Raritan High School. He graduated from

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

in illustration. Wiesner currently resides outside of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

with his family.

Career

Wiesner's first book was ''Honest Andrew'', a

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

with text by Gloria Skurzynski, published by

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. It was known at different stages in its history as Harcourt Brace, & Co. and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. From 1919 to 1 ...

in 1980. That year he also illustrated a novel by Avi, ''Man From the Sky'' (Knopf, 1980). After illustrating a dozen or more books with other writers, he and his wife Kim Kahng co-wrote ''Loathsome Dragon'', a picture book with his illustrations that G.P. Putnam's published in 1987. Since then Wiesner has created many picture books solo—as writer and illustrator, or stories without words. ''

Free Fall In classical mechanics, free fall is any motion of a physical object, body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. A freely falling object may not necessarily be falling down in the vertical direction. If the common definition of the word ...

'' (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1988) was a Caldecott Honor Book, a runner-up for the annual

, conferred by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

on the illustrator of the year's best-illustrated picture book. ''Free Fall'' was the first example of the predominant style of his solo books, which tell a fantastical, often dream-like story without words, only illustrations. Subsequently he won three Caldecott Medals for solo picture books—''

Tuesday Tuesday is the day of the week between Monday and Wednesday. According to international standard ISO 8601, Monday is the first day of the week; thus, Tuesday is the second day of the week. According to many traditional calendars, however, Sunda ...

'' (1991), ''

The Three Pigs ''The Three Pigs'' is a children's picture book that was written and illustrated by David Wiesner. Published in 2001 by Houghton Mifflin/Clarion, the book is based on the traditional tale of the '' Three Little Pigs'', though in this story they ...

'' (2001), and '' Flotsam'' (2006)—and he was one of the runners-up for '' Sector 7'' (1999) and ''Mr. Wuffles!'' (2013). In January 2017, Wiesner had a retrospective art exhibition entitled ''David Wiesner & the Art of Wordless Storytelling'' at the

Santa Barbara Museum of Art The Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) is an art museum located in downtown Santa Barbara, California. Founded in 1941, it is home to both permanent and special collections, the former of which includes Asian art, Asian, Visual arts of the United ...

. In the exhibition Wiesner showed his work highlights throughout the years of his career.

Works

As writer and illustrator

*1987 ''Loathsome Dragon'', retold by Wiesner and Kim Kahng *1988 ''Free Fall'' *1990 ''Hurricane'' *1991 ''

'' *1992 ''June 29, 1999'' *1999 '' Sector 7'' *2001 ''

'' *2006 '' Flotsam'' *2010 ''Art & Max'' *2013 ''Mr. Wuffles!'' *2017 ''Fish Girl'' *2018 ''I Got It!'' *2020 ''Robobaby''

As illustrator

*1980 ''Honest Andrew'' by Gloria Skurzynski *1980 ''Man from the Sky'' by Avi *1981 ''Ugly Princess'' by Nancy Luenn *1981 ''One Bad Thing about Birthdays'' by David R. Collins *1981 ''Boy who Spoke Chimp'' by

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 400 books, of which the best known is '' The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. H ...

*1982 ''Owly'' by Mike Thaler *1982 ''Neptune Rising: Songs and Tales of the Undersea Folk'' by Jane Yolen *1983 ''Miranty and the Alchemist'' by

Vera Chapman Vera Chapman (8 May 1898 – 14 May 1996), also known as Vera Ivy May Fogerty, and within the Tolkien Society as Belladonna Took, was a British author and founder of the Tolkien Society in the United Kingdom, and also wrote a number of pseudo- ...

*1984 ''Dark Green Tunnel'' by Allan W. Eckert *1985 ''Wand: the Return to Mesmeria'' by Allan W. Eckert *1985 ''E.T., the Storybook of the Green Planet'' by

William Kotzwinkle William Kotzwinkle (born , or according to different sources) is an American novelist, children's writer, and screenwriter. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for ''Doctor Rat'' in 1977, a ...

; based on the film story by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

and Melissa Mathison *1986 ''Kite Flier'' by Dennis Haseley *1988 ''Firebrat'' by Nancy Willard *1989 ''The Rainbow People'' by

Laurence Yep Laurence Michael Yep ( zh, t=葉祥添, s=叶祥添, p=Yè Xiángtiān, j=Jip6 Coeng4 Tim1; born June 14, 1948) is an American writer. He is known for his children's books, having won the Newbery Honor twice for his ''Golden Mountain'' series. I ...

*1989 ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' by Marianna Mayer *1991 ''Tongues of Jade'' by Laurence Yep *1994 ''Night of the Gargoyles'' by

Eve Bunting Eve Bjørgum Bunting (née Bolton, December 19, 1928 – October 1, 2023), better known as Eve Bunting, was a Northern Irish-born American writer of more than 250 books. Her work covered a broad array of subjects and included fiction and non-fic ...

Other

*1989 Cover for ''The Glass Salamander'' by Ann Downer *1997 Story and Design for CD-ROM adventure game '' The Day the World Broke''

References

External links

*
David Wiesner
at

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Authorities —with 30 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiesner, David American children's writers American children's book illustrators Bridgewater-Raritan High School alumni Caldecott Medal winners 1956 births Living people People from Bridgewater Township, New Jersey Writers who illustrated their own writing Caldecott Honor winners Rhode Island School of Design alumni Writers from Somerset County, New Jersey