Peter Kommer Parnall (born May 23, 1936) is an American artist and writer, best known for his work on books for younger readers. His work has earned him high praise and a number of awards. Some of his books have become collector items.

Biography

Peter Parnall was born in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

on May 23, 1936. He was raised in a little town called Willow Springs in the Mojave Desert. He went to

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

in 1954 because he wanted to become a veterinarian, but got pneumonia and failed his freshman mid-terms. After leaving Cornell he went west to train horses. When his father's birthday came around he drew him a picture of a horse. His father hung it on the wall and told him he should go back to school for art. He attended the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

for two years, until he got bored and left. He had a freelance advertising business (with clients including

Mr. Potato Head Mr. Potato Head is an American toy produced by Hasbro since 1952. It consists of a plastic model of a potato "head" to which a variety of plastic parts can attach; typically ears, eyes, shoes, hat, nose, mustache, pipe (1952–1987), pants (19 ...

and

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

), which he enjoyed but eventually "got tired of convincing people they should buy stuff they don’t need." (An interview)

Works

He has illustrated over eighty books written by others and has authored and self-illustrated several books of his own, often studies of habitat

His favorite Media (arts), medium is

pen and ink PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

of subjects from the natural world. Many of his works have been separately published in

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...

s as signed and numbered prints. As Author and Illustrator * 1973: ''The Great Fish'' (

Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...

) * 1975: ''Alfalfa Hill'' (Doubleday) * 1977: ''A Dog's Book of Birds'' ( Scribner) * 1984: ''Daywatchers'' ( Macmillan) * 1986: ''Winter Barn'' (Macmillan) * 1988: ''Apple Tree'' (Macmillan) * 1988: ''Feet!'' (Macmillan) * 1989: ''Quiet'' (

Morrow Morrow may refer to: Places in the United States and Canada United States * Morrow, Arkansas *Morrow, Georgia * Morrow, Louisiana * Morrow, Ohio *Morrow County, Ohio *Morrow County, Oregon Canada *Morrow Lake, Ontario *Mount Morrow, Northwest Ter ...

) * 1989: ''Cats from Away'' (Macmillan) * 1990: ''Woodpile'' (Macmillan) * 1991: ''The Rock'' (Macmillan) * 1991: ''Marsh Cat'' (Macmillan) * 1991: ''Mountain'' (Doubleday) * 1992: ''Stuffer'' (Macmillan) * 1993: ''Spaces'' ( Millbrook) * 1993: ''Waterpup'' (Macmillan) As illustrator * 1960: ''A Picture Book of Interesting Words'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Judith Klugman (Hart) * 1962: ''Beyond Your Doorstep'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text

Hal Borland Harold "Hal" Glen Borland (May 14, 1900 – February 22, 1978) was an American writer, journalist and naturalist. In addition to writing many non-fiction and fiction books about the outdoors, he was a staff writer and editorialist for ''The New Yo ...

(

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

) * 1965: ''Of House and Cats'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text Eunice De Chazeau (

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

) * 1966: ''A Tale of Middle Length'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

Mary Francis Shura Mary Francis Shura Craig (née Young; 23 February 1923 – 12 January 1991) was an American writer of over 50 novels from 1960 to 1990. She wrote children's literature, children's adventures and Young Adult Romance Literature, young adult romance ...

( Atheneum) * 1967: ''A Dog's Book of Bugs'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Elizabeth Griffen (Atheneum) * 1967: ''Knee-Deep in Thunder'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Sheila Moon (Atheneum) * 1968: ''

Desert Solitaire ''Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness'' is an autobiographical work by American writer Edward Abbey, originally published in 1968. It is his fourth book and his first book-length non-fiction work. The book follows three fiction books: ' ...

'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

Edward Abbey Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the nov ...

(

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

) (subsequent editions illus. by Lawrence Ormsby) * 1968: ''Tall Tales of the Catskills'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Frank L. DuMond ( Atheneum) * 1969: ''A Beastly Circus'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

Peggy Parish Margaret Cecile "Peggy" Parish (July 14, 1927 – November 19, 1988) was an American writer known best for the children's book series and fictional character '' Amelia Bedelia''. Parish was born in Manning, South Carolina, attended the Univers ...

(

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

) * 1969: ''Apricot ABC'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Miska Miles (

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

) * 1970: ''But Ostriches'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

Aileen Fisher Aileen Lucia Fisher (September 9, 1906 – December 2, 2002) was an American people, American writer of more than a hundred children's books, including poetry, picture books in verse, prose about nature and America, biographies, Bible-themed book ...

( Crowell) * 1970: ''Doctor Rabbit'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

Jan Wahl Jan Boyer Wahl (April 1, 1931 - January 29, 2019) was an American children's author. He was a prolific author of over 120 works, and was known primarily for his award-winning children's books, including ''Pleasant Fieldmouse'', ''The Furious Fl ...

( Delacorte) * 1971: ''A Squirrel of One's Own'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Douglas Fairbairn ( McCall) * 1971: ''Big Frog, Little Pond'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; George Mendoza (McCall) * 1971: ''Annie and The Old One'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Miska Miles (Little, Brown) * 1971: ''The Nightwatchers'', illustrated by Peter Parnall ; text Anugus Cameron (Four Winds Press) * 1973: ''A Little Book of Beasts'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Mary Ann Hoberman (Simon & Schuster) * 1974: ''Everybody Needs A Rock'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

Byrd Baylor Byrd Baylor (March 28, 1924 – June 16, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and author of picture books for children. Four of her books have achieved Caldecott Honor status. Background Byrd Baylor was born in March 1924 in San Antonio, Te ...

(Scribner) (Note: This was included as a promotional book in Cheerios boxes in 2007.) * 1976: ''The Desert is Theirs'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

(Scribner) (

Caldecott Honor 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 ...

) * 1976: ''A Natural History of Marine Mammals'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

Victor Blanchard Scheffer Victor Blanchard Scheffer (November 27, 1906 – September 20, 2011) was an American biologist and the author of eleven books relating to natural history. He was born in Manhattan, Kansas and moved to Washington state at a young age. His father, ...

( Scribner) * 1977: ''Hawk, I'm Your Brother'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

( Scribner) (

) * 1978: ''The Other Way to Listen '', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

( Scribner) * 1979: ''The Way to Start a Day'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

( Scribner) (

) * 1980: ''If You Are a Hunter of Fossils'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

( Scribner) * 1981: ''Desert Voices'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Byrd Baylor ( Scribner) * 1985: ''Between Cattails'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

Terry Tempest Williams Terry Tempest Williams (born September 8, 1955) is an American writer, educator, conservationist, and activist. Williams' writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of Utah. Her work foc ...

(Atheneum) * 1986: ''I'm In Charge of Celebrations'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

( Scribner) * 1986: ''Cat Will Rhyme With Hat'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Jean Chapman ( Scribner) * 1992: ''Become A Bird And Fly'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text: Michael E. Ross (Millbrook) * 1994: ''The Table Where Rich People Sit'', illustrated by Peter Parnall; text:

( Scribner)

References

;Citations * *

External links

*
Peter Parnall Biography
a
The Greenwich Workshop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parnall, Peter 1936 births American children's book illustrators American children's writers Living people