Fernandez, Laura 1960–

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Fernandez, Laura 1960–

Personal

Born 1960, in Madrid, Spain; married Rick Jacobson (an author and illustrator); children: Michael, two other children. Education: Alberta College of Art, graduated (visual communications; with honors).

Addresses

Home—Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Agent—c/o David and Lynn Bennett, 72 Glengowan Rd., Toronto, Ontario M4N 1G4, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Illustrator, graphic artist, writer, and musician. Pianist and vocalist, performing in Canada and the United States. Exhibitions: Portrait works by Fernandez and husband, Rick Jacobson, included in collection at Royal Geographical Society, London, England.

Awards, Honors

(All with husband, Rick Jacobson) Toronto Art Directors Club awards; New York Art Directors Club Award of Excellence; Gold Medal for illustration; Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award, 1998, for Jeremiah Learns to Read; Amelia Francis Howard-Gibbon Book Award, 2002, for The Magnificent Piano Recital; Amelia Francis Howard-Gibbon Book Award shortlist, and Nautilus Book Awards finalist, both 2005, and Hackmatack Award finalist, 2005–06, all for Picasso. Best Soft Rock Band Award (with others), New York International Independent Music Festival, 2003.

Writings

ILLUSTRATOR

Jean Little, Different Dragons, Viking Kestrel (New York, NY), 1986.

Contributor of illustrations to periodicals.

ILLUSTRATOR, WITH HUSBAND, RICK JACOBSON

Nancy Hundal, I Heard My Mother Call My Name, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994.

Esther Kalman, Tchaikovsky Discovers America, Lester Publishing (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994, Orchard (New York, NY), 1995.

Jo Ellen Bogart, Jeremiah Learns to Read, Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 1997, Orchard (New York, NY), 1999.

Norah McClintock, Sins of the Father, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1997.

Michael Bedard, Glass Town, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1997.

Maxine Trottier, Prairie Willow, Stoddart Kids (New York, NY), 1998.

L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, foreword by Kate Macdonald Butler, Tundra (Plattsburgh, NY), 2000.

Maxine Trottier, Little Dog Moon, Stoddart Kids (New York, NY), 2000.

Marilynn Reynolds, The Magnificent Piano Recital, Stoddart Kids (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000, Orca (Custer, WA), 2001.

Rukhasana Khan, King of the Skies, North Winds Press (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Douglas Cowling, Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery, North Winds Press (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

Rick Jacobson, Picasso: Soul on Fire, Tundra (Plattsburgh, NY), 2004.

Rick Jacobson, The Mona Lisa Caper, Tundra (Plattsburgh, NY), 2005.

OTHER

Author of song lyrics on recordings, including Run, Here for You, The Other Side, My Baby Loves Me, So Hard, and Mi Amor.

Work in Progress

Illustrations for Da Vinci/Michelangelo, by Rick Jacobson, for Tundra Books.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 1995, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Tchaikovsky Discovers America, p. 1331; August, 1997, Ilene Cooper, review of Glass Town, p. 1897; September 15, 1999, Julie Corsaro, review of Jeremiah Learns to Read, p. 265.

Children's Bookwatch, June, 2005, review of The Mona Lisa Caper.

Horn Book, March-April, 1995, Elizabeth S. Watson, review of Tchaikovsky Discovers America, p. 190; May-June, 1995, Sarah Ellis, review of Tchaikovsky Discovers America, p. 372.

Publishers Weekly, April 24, 1987, Diane Roback, review of Different Dragons, p. 71; January 30, 1995, review of Tchaikovsky Discovers America, p. 24; August 4, 1997, review of Glass Town: The Secret World of the Brontë Children, p. 75; November 20, 2000, p. 70.

School Library Journal, June-July, 1987, Julie Cummins, review of Different Dragons, p. 98; April, 1995, Barbara Peklo Abrahams, review of Tchaikovsky Discovers America, p. 372; October, 1997, Wendy Lukehart, review of Glass Town, p. 128; February, 1999, Carolyn Stacey, review of Prairie Willow, p. 89; March, 2001, Wendy Lukehart, review of Little Dog Moon, p. 222; April, 2001, Jane Marino, review of The Magnificent Piano Recital, p. 121.