SILL, John 1947-

PERSONAL: Born November 22, 1947, in St. Pauls, NC; son of Charles Frank (an artist) and Mary Louise (a homemaker; maiden name, McGoogan) Sill; married Cathryn Powell (a teacher and author), March 16, 1975. Education: North Carolina State University, B.S. Religion: Christian.

ADDRESSES: Home—North Carolina. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Peachtree Publishers, 1700 Chattahoochee Ave., Atlanta, GA 30318.

CAREER: Author and illustrator. Viking Penguin, New York, NY, bird calendar artist, 1978—; South Carolina Wildlife magazine, Columbia, SC, illustrator, 1991—; freelance author and illustrator, 1987—. Exhibitions: Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum (Wausau, WI), 1992, 1993.

AWARDS, HONORS: First-place awards in North Carolina and Georgia art shows.

WRITINGS:

illustrator

Peter C. Alden and Roger Tory Peterson, A FieldGuide to the Birds Coloring Book, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1982.

A Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume 2, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1983.

Cathryn Sill, About Birds: A Guide for Children, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 1991.

Cathryn Sill, About Mammals: A Guide for Children, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 1997.

Lang Elliott, Backyard Bird Walk (with audiocassette or compact disc), Northwood Audio, 1998.

Cathryn Sill, About Reptiles: A Guide for Children, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 1999.

Richard K. Walton and Robert W. Lawson, Birding byEar: Western North America (with audiocassette or compact disc), Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1999.

Cathryn Sill, About Amphibians: A Guide for Children, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 2000.

Cathryn Sill, About Insects: A Guide for Children, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 2000.

Cathryn Sill, About Fish: A Guide for Children, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 2002.

Cathryn Sill, About Arachnids: A Guide for Children, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 2003.

Also illustrator of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's 1998 Migratory Bird Day poster.

adult humor

(With wife, Cathryn Sill, and brother, Ben Sill; and illustrator) A Field Guide to Little-Known and Seldom-Seen Birds of North America, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 1988.

(With Ben Sill and Cathryn Sill; and illustrator) Another Field Guide to Little-Known and Seldom-Seen Birds of North America, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 1990.

(With Ben Sill and Cathryn Sill; and illustrator) BeyondBirdwatching: More than There Is to Know about Birding, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 1993.

SIDELIGHTS: Illustrator and author John Sill has collaborated with his wife, author and educator Cathryn Sill, on several books for young naturalists that each focus on a specific part of the natural world. From birds to reptiles to spiders and other creepy-crawlies, books by the Sills have been praised by critics as "inviting, informative, and eye-catching," to quote School Library Journal critic Patricia Manning in her review of About Amphibians: A Guide for Children.

Complementing his wife's simple, direct text and a selection of black-and-white photos, Sill's water-color paintings take center stage in each of the "Guide for Children" books. Karey Wehner praised the full-page illustrations in About Insects: A Guide for Children as "bright, attractive, and nicely varied in composition" in a favorable School Library Journal review, while Booklist's Gillian Engberg described Sill's artwork as "beautiful" and "naturalistic." "The artwork shows a sensitivity to young children's interests," observed Carolyn Phelan in a review of About Mammals: A Guide for Children for Booklist.

Sill once told CA: "I truly enjoy birds. Their beauty, their songs, and their behavior are a continual source of both pleasure and inspiration." He added: "I was very fortunate to have been able to learn a great deal from my father, whose main love was watercolor." Sill and his wife make their home in the mountains of North Carolina, where he was raised. In addition to book illustrations, his non-commissioned work has appeared on calendars, posters, and at numerous juried art shows. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's 1998 Migratory Bird Day poster was designed and painted by Sill.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Birder's World, February, 1999, "The Artist behind the Paintings: John Sill," p. 52.

Booklist, June 1, 1997, Carolyn Phelan, review of About Mammals: A Guide for Children, p. 1714; June 1, 1999, Carolyn Phelan, review of About Reptiles: A Guide for Children, p. 1835; February 1, 2000, Gillian Engberg, review of About Insects: A Guide for Children, p. 1026.

Childhood Education, spring, 2000, Emily A. Johnson, review of About Reptiles, p. 172.

School Library Journal, June, 1997, Susan Oliver, review of About Mammals, p. 113; July, 1999, Karey Wehner, review of About Reptiles, p. 90; June, 2000, Karey Wehner, review of About Insects, p. 98; June, 2001, Patricia Manning, review of About Amphibians: A Guide for Children, p. 141; June, 2002, Jean Pollock, review of About Fish: A Guide for Children p. 126.*