Lemaître, Pascal 1967-

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Lemaître, Pascal 1967-

Personal

Born 1967, in Belgium; married; wife's name Manou; children: Maelle. Education: Attended La Cambre (Belgian school of visual arts).

Addresses

Agent—Pippin Properties, 155 E. 38th St., Ste. 2H, New York, NY 10016.

Career

Author and illustrator. La Cambre, Brussels, Belgium, instructor.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Elvire la girafe, Le Seuil (Paris, France), 1991, published as Emily the Giraffe, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 1993.

Zelda's Secret, Bridgewater Books (Mahwah, NJ), 1994.

ILLUSTRATOR

Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, The Book of Mean People, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 2002.

Kate McMullan, Supercat, Workman Publishing (New York, NY), 2002.

Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, Who's Got Game? The Lion or the Mouse? (also see below), Scribner (New York, NY), 2003.

Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, Who's Got Game? Poppy or the Snake? (also see below), Scribner (New York, NY), 2003.

Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, Who's Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper? (also see below), Scribner (New York, NY), 2003.

Kate McMullan, Supercat to the Rescue, Workman Publishing (New York, NY), 2003.

Kate McMullan, Baby Goose, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 2004.

Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, Who's Got Game?: Three Fables (includes The Ant or the Grasshopper?, The Lion or the Mouse?, and Poppy or the Snake?), Scribner (New York, NY), 2005.

Michaela Muntean, Do Not Open This Book!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2006.

Andrea Beaty, Doctor Ted, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2007.

Illustrations have appeared in numerous periodicals.

Sidelights

In addition to writing several books of his own, Belgian-born artist Pascal Lemaître has illustrated the works of other children's book writers, among them the Aesop'sfable adaptations by the mother-son writing team of Toni and Slade Morrison as well as texts by Kate McMullan and Michaela Muntean. Frequently compared by critics to the work of such well-known illustrators as William Steig, Shel Silverstein, and James Stevenson, Lemaître's pen-and-ink drawings also can be seen outside the world of children's literature; his editorial illustration has been published in Time, Print, Fortune, 3x3, the New York Times Book Review, New Yorker, New

York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Internationally, Lemaître's artwork graces the pages of the widely read Le Monde, Marie-France, Magazine litteraire, Le liguer, and Notre Temps, and his photographic images have appeared in several French-language publications.

As an illustrator for children, Lemaître is noted for creating "whimsical, cartoon-style, pen-and-ink drawings," as Marie Orlando noted in a School Library Journal review of Kate McMullan's Baby Goose. "The best part is the action," Booklist contributor Hazel Rochman wrote in her review of Lemaître's work for the Morrisons' Who's Got Game? The Lion or the Mouse? Praising the artist's contributions to another book by the mother-and-son team, Steven Engelfried wrote in School Library Journal that "Lemaître's cartoons help with the story's pace" in Who's Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper?; his decision to "switch from small panels to full-page scenes effectively accentuates dramatic moments" in the Morrisons' story.

Lemaître's humorous approach to illustration is apparent in his work for Michaela Muntean's Do Not Open This Book!, which centers on a swine scribe who interacts with his readers by demanding that they leave him alone so that he can pen another awarding-winning novel. The comedy of Muntean's text is enhanced by Lemaître's art, which details the swine's frustration with writer's block and the unfolding of his unusual creative process. According to School Library Journal reviewer Joy Fleishhacker, Lemaître's artwork parallels the dry, comedic tone of Muntean's text through "loose-lined, messy-looking cartoons in glossy, bold colors." Sparking additional fun, the artist incorporates "tiny sidekicks—a round brown spider and violet-blue fly—who mimic [the pig's] gestures and imply that he's harmless," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2002, Hazel Rochman, review of The Book of Mean People, p. 412; November 15, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of Who's Got Game? The Lion or the Mouse?, p. 598; May 15, 2003, Francisca Goldsmith, review of Who's Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper?, p. 1660; February 15, 2004, Francisca Goldsmith, review of Who's Got Game? Poppy or the Snake?, p. 1077; November 15, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Baby Goose, p. 588; March 15, 2006, Jennifer Mattson, review of Do Not Open This Book!, p. 53.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January, 2003, review of The Book of Mean People, p. 206; April, 2004, Elizabeth Bush, review of Who's Got Game? Poppy or the Snake?, p. 344; March, 2006, Elizabeth Bush, review of Do Not Open This Book!, p. 321.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2004, review of Baby Goose, p. 1010; February 15, 2006, review of Do Not Open This Book!, p. 188.

Publishers Weekly, September 9, 2002, review of The Book of Mean People, p. 68; June 2, 2003, review of Who'sGot Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper?, p. 50; November 1, 2004, review of Baby Goose, p. 60; January 9, 2006, review of Do Not Open This Book!, p. 52.

School Library Journal, November, 2002, Maryann H. Owen, review of Supercat, p. 130, and Judith Constantinides, review of The Book of Mean People, p. 132; September, 2003, Steven Englefried, review of Who's Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper?, p. 204; December, 2003, John Peters, review of Who's Got Game? The Lion or the Mouse?, p. 138; November, 2004, Marie Orlando, review of Baby Goose, p. 128; April, 2006, Joy Fleishhacker, review of Do Not Open This Book!, p. 114.

Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2004, Tim Brennan, review of Who's Got Game? Poppy or the Snake?, p. 145.