Slavin, Bill

PERSONAL:

Born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada; son of William Joseph (a teacher) and Dorothy Slavin; married Esperança Melo (an artist), June 2, 1990. Education: Attended Sheridan College (now Sheridan Institute), 1978-79.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Millbrook, Ontario, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Illustrator and children's author. Worked as art director and layout artist for a small Canadian publisher; founder of Kinder Box.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Illustration awards include Alberta Book Award, 2000, for The Bone Talker; Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize, British Columbia Book Awards, and Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award, Canadian Association of Children's Librarians, both 2004, for Stanley's Party; book of the year award, picture book category, ForeWord, 2006, for Stanley's Wild Ride.

WRITINGS:

AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR

The Stone Lion, Red Deer College Press (Red Deer, Alberta, Canada), 1996.

(With Jim Slavin) Transformed: How Everyday Things Are Made, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

ILLUSTRATOR:

Brian McFarlane, Hockey: The Book for Kids, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1990, revised edition, 1994.

Paulette Bourgeois, Too Many Chickens!, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1990.

Bob King, Sitting on the Farm, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1991.

Ben Brooks, Lemonade Parade, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1991.

Ethan Miles, Otto's Tricks, Silver Burdett & Ginn (Morristown, NJ), 1991.

The Cat Came Back, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992.

Nathan Zimmerman, How the Second Grade Got $8,205.50 to Visit the Statue of Liberty, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1992.

Catherine Ross, Circles, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992.

Linda Granfield, Extra! Extra!, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993.

Amanda Lewis and Tim Wynne-Jones, Rosie Backstage, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

Claire Mackay, Touching All the Bases, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

Catherine Ross, Triangles, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson, Earthdance, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

Linda Granfield, 1987: The Year I Was Born, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

Liz McLeod, The Phone Book, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

Linda Granfield, 1988: The Year I Was Born, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

Paulette Bourgeois, The Sun, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

Paulette Bourgeois, The Moon, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

Catherine Ross, Squares, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson, The Earth, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Liz McLeod, Get Started: Stamp Collecting, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Linda Granfield, 1984: The Year I Was Born, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Pat Hancock, 1986: The Year I Was Born, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Pat Hancock, 1985: The Year I Was Born, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Tim Wynne-Jones, reteller, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Ted Staunton, Morgan Makes Magic, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 1996.

A.W. Cockerill, Emma on Albert Street, Black Cat Press (Cobourg, Ontario, Canada), 1997.

Howard Engels, A Child's Christmas in Scarborough, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1997.

Truly Scary Stories for Fearless Kids, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Ted Staunton, Morgan and the Money, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 1998.

Jane Drake and Ann Love, A Kid's Guide to the Millennium, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson, The Planets, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson, The Stars, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Shelley A. Leedahl, The Bone Talker, Red Deer College Press (Red Deer, Alberta, Canada), 1999.

Maxine Trottier, One Is Canada, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

Ann-Maureen Owens and Jane Yealland, The History of Canada's Flag, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson, Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

Alannah Hegedus and Kaitlin Rainey, Shooting Hoops and Skating Loops, Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY), 1999.

Ted Staunton, Morgajn's Secret, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2000.

Linda Bailey, Adventures in the Middle Ages, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Linda Bailey, Adventure sin Ancient Egypt, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson, Exploring Space, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Frieda Wishinsky, A Quest in Time, Owl Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Ted Staunton, Great Play Morgan, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2001.

Chills and Thrills, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Linda Bailey, Adventures with the Vikings, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Alannah Hegedus and Kaitlin Rainey, Bleeps and Blips to Rocket Ships: Great Inventions in Communications, Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY), 2001.

Ruth Miller, The Bear on the Bed, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Ted Staunton, Morgan's Birthday, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2002.

Linda Bailey, Stanley's Party, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Linda Bailey, Adventures in Ancient Greece, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Christopher Moore, The Big Book of Canada, Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY), 2002.

Roy MacGregor, A Loonie for Luck, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Ted Staunton, Morgan's Pet Project, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2003.

Linda Bailey, Adventures in Ancient China, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

Linda Bailey, Adventures in the Ice Age, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

Eileen Spinelli, Something to Tell the Grand Cows, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2004.

Ted Staunton, Morgan Makes a Splash, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2004.

(With wife, Esperança Melo) Robert Heidbreder, Drumheller Dinosaur Dance, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

Evan Solomon, Nathaniel McDaniel and the Magic Attic: Bigbeard's Hook, Viking Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Ted Staunton, Morgan Makes a Deal, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2005.

Ruth Ashby, Caedmon's Song, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2005.

Linda Bailey, Stanley's Wild Ride, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

Howard Whitehouse, The Strictest School in the World, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

Ted Staunton, Super Move, Morgan, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2006.

Linda Bailey, The Farm Team, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

Maureen Sawa, The Library Book: From Camels to Computers, Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY), 2006.

Evan Solomon, The Sabre-Toothed Tiger, Puffin Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson and Paulette Bourgeois, The Jumbo Book of Space, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Bill Slavin told CA: "I have been drawing since I can remember and have wanted to illustrate books for just about as long. My first commercial success was an antismoking-in-bed poster I did in grade three, which won first prize and earned me twenty-five dollars. Grade three was an important year because it was also the year I produced my first illustrated book, called Zok the Caveman.

"After high school I attended Sheridan College, where I studies cartooning and graphic story illustration. I have worked in and around the publishing industry since 1979, working for many years as an artist director, illustrator, and layout artist for a small publishing house in the Ottawa Valley. After moving back to Toronto, I became involved with doing illustrations for educational computer software programs, while continuing to try to get a job doing what I have really always wanted to do—illustrating kids' books. I eventually contracted with Kids Can Press to illustrate Paulette Bourgeois's book Too Many Chickens! Since then I have illustrated a number of children's books, and that is now my primary sources of income. It is work that I love, and I consider myself a most fortunate person to be working in this industry.

"Today I am living in paradise in an old farmhouse on the edge of the village of Millbrook. I live with my wife, Esperança Melo, who is also an artist and is an integral part of all I do, and our cat, Merlin. We have formed a company called Kinder Box, and from 1995 to 2002 we were both members of the Millbrook Gallery, a gallery collective of nineteen local artists. I primarily work in acrylics or watercolor and inks.

"I tend to work quickly and impetuously at my art, but I am learning to slow down and smell the resins.

"In regard to my fiction work, until recently I have had very little contact with the authors whose books I am illustrating, and I feel that in most cases this allows the written and visual narrative to reach its full potential. Generally the author is quite willing to give the illustrator free rein; needless to say, this is a great act of trust on the part of the writer. More recently I have been working in closer collaboration with the author on some projects right from the outset, and I am finding this sort of collaboration an exciting and interesting development in my work. I occasionally put my own hand to writing, something I enjoy doing, although my primary focus is illustration. In 1996 I wrote my own story, The Stone Lion, and in 2005 I cowrote and illustrated Transformed: How Everyday Things Are Made.

"Although my first love is and always will be the storybook, nonfiction illustration makes up a significant part of my work and poses its own challenges. My real lack of interest in things scientific seems to have made me uniquely qualified to illustrate this genre. I believe it is the desire to make my work interesting to me that defines how I embrace these subjects, and the result is an approach to the illustrations that is not overly ponderous or didactic. Having said this, I have a real love for history and am thrilled by books or the parts thereof that have a historical slant. Coming full circle, I believe my love for the narrative found in picture-book illustration is reflected in my nonfiction illustration."