Gott, Barry

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Gott, Barry

Personal

Married; children: two. Education: Bowling Green State University, B.F.A., 1994.

Addresses

Home and office—Cleveland, OH. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Illustrator and author of children's books.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Class Pets, Sterling (New York, NY), 2005.

ILLUSTRATOR

Steven Kroll, Patches Lost and Found, Winslow Press (Delray Beach, FL), 2001.

Kelli Chipponeri, Ouch!: Bye Bye, Boo-Boos, Little Simon (New York, NY), 2001.

Betty Schwartz, Knock, Knock, It's Halloween!, Little Simon (New York, NY), 2002.

Jennifer Dussling, The Rainbow Mystery, Kane (New York, NY), 2002.

Lawrence David, Horace Splattly: The Cupcaked Crusader, Dutton (New York, NY), 2002.

Lawrence David, When Second Graders Attack, Dutton (New York, NY), 2002.

Barbara Bottner, Be Brown!, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 2002.

Lawrence David, The Terror of the Pink Dodo Balloons, Dutton (New York, NY), 2003.

Dan Danko and Tom Mason, Operation Squish!, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2003.

Dan Danko and Tom Mason, Sidekicks, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2003.

Cathy Goldberg Fishman, Car Wash Kid, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Lawrence David, To Catch a Clownosaurus, Puffin (New York, NY), 2003.

Henry Barker, It Came from Outer Space, Kane (New York, NY), 2003.

Harriet Ziefert, Hey, Irma!: This Is Halloween, Blue Apple (Maplewood, NJ), 2003.

Dandi Daley Mackall, It Must Be Halloween, Little Simon (New York, NY), 2003.

James Solheim, Santa's Secrets Revealed: All Your Questions Answered about Santa's Super Sleigh, His Flying Reindeer, and Other Wonders, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 2004.

Harriet Ziefert, Hey, Irma!: It's a Contest, Blue Apple (Maplewood, NJ), 2004.

Dan Danko and Tom Mason, Attack of the Mole Master, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2004.

Harriet Ziefert, Hey, Irma!: It's Mother's Day, Blue Apple (Maplewood, NJ), 2004.

Kirsten Hall, My New School, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Dan Danko and Tom Mason, The Candy Man Cometh, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2004.

Lawrence David, The Invasion of the Shag Carpet Creature, Puffin (New York, NY), 2004.

Lawrence David, The Most Evil, Friendly Villain Ever, Dutton (New York, NY), 2004.

Dan Danko and Tom Mason, The Brotherhood of Rotten Baby-Sitters, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2005.

Laura Driscoll, Super Specs, Kane (New York, NY), 2005.

Sheila Bair, Rock, Brock, and the Savings Shock, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 2006.

(With Mike Morris) Sarah Durkee, Flushed Away: Movie Storybook, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2006.

(With Mike Morris) Sarah Durkee, Plumbing Problems (based on the movie Flushed Away), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2006.

Michelle Knudsen, A Moldy Mystery, Kane (New York, NY), 2006.

Anne Bowen, What Do Teachers Do (After You Leave School)?, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 2006.

Eleanor May, The Real Me, Kane (New York, NY), 2006.

Traci N. Todd, adapter, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Kindermusik (Greensboro, NC), 2006.

Harriet Ziefert, No! Yes!, Sterling (New York, NY), 2006.

Ginger M. Churchill, Carmen's Sticky Scab, Tanglewood (Terre Haute, IN), 2007.

Nan Walker, The Midnight Kid, Kane (New York, NY), 2007.

Lisa Wheeler, Dino-Hockey, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 2007.

Harriet Ziefert, Class Worms, Sterling (New York, NY), 2007.

Eleanor May, The Great Shape-up, Kane (New York, NY), 2007.

Kirsten Larsen, Whoa! UFO!, Kane (New York, NY), 2009.

Sidelights

Barry Gott is an illustrator, not only for children's picture books, but also for "greeting cards, magazine spots, and just about anything else that's remotely fun," as he noted on his home page. In addition to appearing in his original self-illustrated picture book Class Pets, Gott's digital art has captivated fans of two children's book series about super kids: the "Horace Splattly" series by Lawrence David, and the "Sidekicks" books coauthored by Dan Danko and Tom Mason.

For the "Splattly" books, "Gott's pop-eyed, rubbery-looking figures capture the general sense of goofiness perfectly," according to a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Sharon R. Pearce, writing a review of the second entry in the series, When Second Graders Attack, for School Library Journal, concluded that the story is "enhanced" by the artist's cartoon illustrations. Gott's "black-and-white sketches underscore the cartoonish aspects of the story," concluded Pat Leach in her School Library Journal review of a more-recent title, To Catch a Clownosaurus. Also writing for School Library Journal, Christina F. Renaud dubbed Gott's "Horace Splattly" illustrations "humorous."

In addition to his art for series fiction, Gott has also illustrated a number of single titles for a variety of authors. Patches Lost and Found, Steve Kroll's story about a lost hamster, "finds apt expression in Gott's digital artwork, which has the appearance of cut-paper collage," wrote Carolyn Phelan in a Booklist review of the book. According to Barbara Buckley, writing in School Library Journal, Gott's illustrations are "perfect for the story." Jane Marino noted in School Library Journal that Barbara Bottner's text for Be Brown allows Gott's "uncluttered, expressive illustrations to expand on the story," and a Publishers Weekly critic cited the illustrator's "hilarious animated" contributions to Bottner's tale.

Gott's illustrations for James Solheim's Santa's Secrets Revealed: All Your Questions Answered about Santa's Super Sleigh, His Flying Reindeer, and Other Wonders "contain oodles of humorous touches," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor, while Phelan concluded that the artist offers "bold colors in a cartoonlike style" in his art for Laura Driscoll's Super Specs. Mary Hazelton, a contributor to School Library Journal, described Gott's images for Ann Bowen's What Do Teachers Do (After You Leave School)? as "energetic and colorful with lots of whooshy movement and splashy action."

For Lisa Wheeler's Dino-Hockey, Gott contributes "action-filled paintings" of dinosaurs playing hockey and wearing "comically exaggerated expressions," according to Booklist critic Gillian Engberg. A Kirkus Reviews contributor, writing about the same title, commented on the artist's "high-energy scenes." Reviewing The Great Shape Up for School Library Journal, Linda R. Walkins concluded that Gott's "cheerful cartoon illustrations enhance the lessons" offered in Eleanor May's entertaining text.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2001, Carolyn Phelan, review of Patches Lost and Found, p. 1277; May, 2001, Barbara Buckley, review of Patches Lost and Found, p. 126; September 15, 2002, Carolyn Phelan, review of Rainbow Mystery, p. 239; August, 2005, Carolyn Phelan, review of Super Specs, p. 2034; April 15, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of A Moldy Mystery, p. 52; September 1, 2007, Gillian Engberg, review of Dino-Hockey, p. 137.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2001, review of Be Brown!, p. 1754; April 15, 2002, review of Horace Splattly: The Cupcaked Crusader, p. 565; December 1, 2002, review of The Terror of the Pink Dodo Balloons, p. 1767; September 1, 2007, review of Dino-Hockey.

Publishers Weekly, January 7, 2002, review of Be Brown!, p. 63; September 27, 2004, review of Santa's Secrets Revealed: All Your Questions Answered about Santa's Super Sleigh, His Flying Reindeer, and Other Wonders, p. 63.

School Library Journal, October, 2001, Christina F. Renaud, review of Horace Splattly, p. 113; February, 2002, Jane Marino, review of Be Brown!, p. 96; July, 2002, Sharon R. Pearce, review of When Second Graders Attack, p. 88; February, 2003, review of The Terror of the Pink Dodo Balloons, p. 104; October, 2003, Lee Bock, review of It Came from Outer Space, p. 114; November, 2003, review of Sidekicks, p. 138; January, 2004, Pat Leach, review of To Catch a Clownosaurus, p. 96; December, 2004, Sandra Welzenbach, review of The Big Game, p. 109; November, 2006, Mary Hazelton, review of What Do Teachers Do (After You Leave School?), p. 84; May, 2007, Anne L. Tormohlen, review of The Midnight Kid, p. 110; September, 2007, Linda L. Walkins, review of The Great Shape Up, p. 172; December, 2007, Julie Roach, review of Dino-Hockey, p. 102.