The Art of Reading: Forty Illustrators Celebrate the RIF’s 40th Anniversary

Compiled by Dutton Books

The Reading is Fundamental program celebrated its 4oth Anniversary in 2005 several ways including this book, “The Art of Reading:” Forty different illustrators chose their personal favorite childhood books to write about and to illustrate. The illustrations snare the reader immediately. The cover of a calico cat and a fuzzy gray mouse sitting on the page and reading a book together caught my eye and even though I tried to resist checking out yet another book, I had to have it.

Nonfiction text structure lessons dictated that I go through the table of contents, check the glossary and index, and preview all the names of the illustrators before actually reading the text. However, once the book is open-forget text structure and lessons! Each illustrator competed to create art that catches the eye and stirs the imagination. I had intended to read this book quickly, but that just wasn’t possible. Each picture had to be explored then each story had to be read but not in order. Just let the pages fly past you and read whatever appeals. Eventually, all the stories will be read. The artwork is that compelling.

Ahley Bryan loved spirituals and uses primitive art to illustrate his life’s work of promoting African American music. David McPhail, author of “Mole Music” wrote that he now realized that he would not live long enough to read all the books he wanted to read. But he also wrote that, “It’s a comfort to know that I’ll never run out of reading material.” McPhail’s favorite childhood book was “The Five Chinese Brothers.” Lynne Cherry drew a beautiful garden scene perfect for a small child nursery for her favorite book “How the Mole Got His Pockets.” Steven Kellogg chose “Black Beauty” as his favorite book and states that the book changed his life forever focusing his adult passion into a campaign for the humane treatment of animals. One illustrator chose a book that I now must read but had never heard of, “The Thing in Dolores’ Piano”. Peter Sis, a native of Communist Czechoslovakia had no books at all, but once saw a copy of Albrecht Durer’s ‘Rhinoceros’ in a museum. When he immigrated to America, Mr. Sis was passionate about the rhinoceros and wrote and illustrated a book about the animal. Patricia Polacco chose Dr. Seuss’ “Horton Hatches the Egg” and drew a hysterically funny picture of a young girl sitting on the sofa with Horton reading his book.

Animals dominated the illustrators’ choices of favorite books with Charlotte’s Web or other stories that had pigs as major characters. I still do not understand this preoccupation with pigs!

Several illustrators chose childhood favorites from amongst books that I had never heard of which is exciting. “The Art of Reading: Forty Illustrators Celebrate the RIF’s 40th Anniversary” is a wonderful book to show children. They can flip through the pages until something catches their eye. Something will, and a book will be discovered.