Berger, Carin

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Berger, Carin

Personal

Female.

Addresses

Home—New York, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Illustrator and author. Graphic artist; designer and illustrator of book covers for various publishers.

Awards, Honors

Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year designation, and Chicago Public Library Best of the Best designation, both 2004, both for Not So True Stories and Unreasonable Rhymes; Founder's Award, Society of Illustrators, 2006; New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, 2006, and Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award, Seattle Public Library, 2007, and Best of Show award, 3 x 3 Magazine Children's Book Show, all for Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Not So True Stories and Unreasonable Rhymes, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2004.

All Mixed Up, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2006.

The Little Yellow Leaf, Greenwillow Books (New York, NY), 2008.

Ok Go!, Greenwillow Books (New York, NY), 2009.

ILLUSTRATOR

Jack Prelutsky, Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems, Greenwillow Books (New York, NY) 2006.

Bobbi Katz, Trailblazers: Poems of Exploration, Greenwillow Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

"Channeling Hieronymus Bosch, but with a smile," is how a Kirkus Reviews contributor described the work of author and illustrator Carin Berger. Crafted from scraps of paper torn from mail-order catalogues, bits of newspapers, and even the odd ticket stub, Berger's art for Not So True Stories and Unreasonable Rhymes, which features a collection of original nonsense poems, "exert[s] an immediate pull" due to her use of "intricate" cut-paper-collage images featuring elongated shapes and dramatic contrasts, in the opinion of a Publishers Weekly contributor. "The imagination at work here marks this author-artist as one to watch," the critic added. Berger's work for children includes the interactive picture book All Mixed Up, a spiral-bound volume in which the pages are cut in three segments to allow readers to remix art and text in nonsensical and humorous fashion.

As an illustrator, Berger has seen her work paired with poetry by notable children's writer Jack Prelutsky. In a review of the collaboration resulting in Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems, Donna Cardon dubbed the work "whimsical" in her School Library Journal review. The critic added that the illustrator's mixed-media collage art "create[s] a rich visual treat well suited to the poetry." "Berger's … inventive, tex-

tured collages add up to a visual treat," concluded a Publishers Weekly critic of the same volume, calling Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems kid-friendly and "fantastically silly." Noting that Prelusky's work has been brought to life by some of the most talented illustrators working in contemporary children's books, J. Patrick Lewis concluded in the New York Times Book Review that "Berger's cut paper and collage art complements" Prelutsky's "galloping zaniness."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems, p. 123.

Horn Book, November-December, 2006, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems, p. 730.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2004, review of Not So True Stories and Unreasonable Rhymes, p. 266; September 15, 2006, review of Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems, p. 964.

New York Times Book Review, February 11, 2007, J. Patrick Lewis, review of Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems, p. 17.

Publishers Weekly, March 29, 2004, review of Not so True Stories and Unreasonable Rhymes, p. 63; August 28, 2006, review of Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems, p. 52.

School Library Journal, June, 2004, Kathleen Whalin, review of Not So True Stories and Unreasonable Rhymes, p. 123; October, 2006, Donna Cardon, review of Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems, p. 142; July, 2007, Lee Bock, review of Trailblazers: Poems of Exploration, p. 117.