Jones, Noah Z.

views updated

Jones, Noah Z.

Personal

Married Diane Jones (a children's librarian). Education: Pacific Northwest College of Art, degree (illustration).

Addresses

Home and office—Camden, ME. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Illustrator and animator. FableVision, Boston, MA, animator.

Awards, Honors

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award, 2006, for Not Norman by Kelly Bennett.

Illustrator

Kelly Bennett, Not Norman: A Goldfish Story, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2005.

Joan Carris, Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2006.

Lisa Moser, The Monster in the Backpack, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2006.

Maribeth Boelts, Those Shoes, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2007.

Sidelights

Noah Z. Jones is an author/illustrator/animator who draws all sorts of wacky oddities out of his New Jersey home. After taking part in a monster-drawing contest in the fifth grade—and placing fourth out of five contestants—Jones realized that he wanted to create art for a living.

After attending several art schools, Jones found himself working at FableVision, a Boston-based animation studio. He swiftly moved up the ranks from lowly ani- mator to creative director where he headed up award-winning projects for clients such as Nickelodeon, the Public Broadcasting System, and Houghton Mifflin. Bidding farewell to the big city. As an illustrator, Jones has created art for Not Norman: A Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett and Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit by Joan Carris, among others.

Jones' work is often acknowledged for its fun, upbeat mood. In Not Norman the illustrator uses digital art to bring to life Bennett's story about a little boy and his pet gold fish. School Library Journal reviewer Grace Oliff compared the "clear lines and vibrant colors" of Jones' illustrations to the works of Japanese illustrator Taro Gomi. Jones' stylistic artwork for Not Norman was also credited with carrying the weight of the story by a Kirkus Reviews critic who wrote that the book's "bold art" "give[s] the rather bald text the warmth to teach that appearances are rarely the whole truth."

In his work for Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit Jones' evocative line illustrations have been applauded for their combination of simplicity and humor. Carris's gentle story focuses on jealousy and centers on an animal shelter run by a kindly man named Grampa Bender. In Booklist Ilene Cooper noted that Jones' "simple line illustrations break up the text" and allow beginning readers to fully comprehend the story. Elizabeth Bird, writing in School Library Journal, noted that Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit has "more than its fair share of amusing illustrations and gentle humor."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2005, Carolyn Phelan, review of Not Norman: A Goldfish Story, p. 1082; October 1, 2006, Ilene Cooper, review of Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit, p. 56.

Horn Book, November-December, 2006, review of The Monster in the Backpack, p. 721.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2005, review of Not Norman, p. 173; September 15, 2006, review of Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit, p. 948.

Publishers Weekly, March 21, 2005, review of Not Norman, p. 50.

School Library Journal, March, 2005, Grace Oliff, review of Not Norman, p. 166; August, 2006, Laura Scott, review of The Monster in the Backpack, p. 94; October, 2006, Elizabeth Bird, review of Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit, p. 103.