Long, Ethan 1968(?)-

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Long, Ethan 1968(?)-

Personal

Born c. 1968, in PA; married (divorced); second wife's name Heather; children: (first marriage) Katie; (second marriage) two sons. Education: Ringling School of Art and Design, graduated, 1991.

Addresses

Home and office—Tallahassee, FL. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Illustrator, author, animator, and educator. Creator of animated films, including Farm Force: Send in the Clones, Nicktoons, 2005. Instructor at schools, including LeMoyne Art Foundation, Tallahassee, FL; has served as artist-in-residence. Commercial clients include Nickelodeon Studios, Scholastic, and Barnes & Noble. Exhibitions: Work included in shows staged by Society of Illustrators Los Angeles and Society of Illustrators New York.

Awards, Honors

Nextoons Film Festival Viewer's Choice Award, 2005, for Farm Force (animated film).

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Tickle the Duck!, Little, Brown & Co. (New York, NY), 2006.

Stop Kissing Me, Little, Brown & Co. (New York, NY), 2007.

Author and illustrator of "Landfill" (weekly cartoon).

ILLUSTRATOR

Jason Eaton, The Day My Runny Nose Ran Away, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Esther Hershenhorn, The Confessions and Secrets of Howard J. Fingerhut, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2002.

Tom Birdseye, Oh Yeah!, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2003.

Mary Amato, Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2004.

Margie Palatini, Stinky Smelly Feet: A Love Story, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Ann Whitford Paul, Mañana, Iguana, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2004.

Elizabeth Spurr, Halloween Skyride, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2005.

Teddy Slater, The Best Thanksgiving Ever!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2005.

Karen M. Stegman-Bourgeois, Trollerella, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2006.

Mary Amato, Drooling and Dangerous: The Riot Brothers Return!, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2006.

Teddy Slater, The Spookiest Halloween Ever!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2006.

Ann Whitford Paul, Fiesta Fiasco, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2007.

Merrily Kutner, The Zombie Nite Cafe, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2007.

David Elliott, One Little Chicken, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2007.

Jan Carr, Greedy Apostrophe: A Cautionary Tale, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

In addition to his work as an animator, cartoonist, and educator, Ethan Long has gained a following among young readers. His quirky cartoon illustrations, which have graced the pages of such humorous books as Mary Amato's Drooling and Dangerous: The Riot Brothers Return!, Marge Palatini's Stinky Smelly Feet: A Love Story, Karen M. Stegman-Bourgeois's Trollerella, and Jan Carr's Greedy Apostrophe: A Cautionary Tale, also take center stage in several original picture books. In Tickle the Duck! and Stop Kissing Me! Long introduces a somewhat confrontational duck whose constant beligerant orders and determination echo those of a demanding child.

Born in Pennsylvania, Long was busy drawing by age three. He spent much of his childhood in Camp Hill, he and his family moved to Connecticut in his mid-teens. After high-school graduation Long enrolled at the Ringling School of Art and Design, a decision that took him south to Sarasota, Florida. Now married and the father

of three, he continues to make his home in the Sunshine state. Despite his training and talent, on his home page Long modestly credited many of his ideas to his children and his family's cats, Barnum and Bailey.

The art for Jason Eaton's 2002 picture book The Day My Runny Nose Ran Away was Long's first published work, marking a prolific career that has included illustrating texts by David Elliott, Teddy Slater, Tom Birdseye, Ann Whitford Paul, and Palatini. Amato's "Riot Brothers" series about rambunctious brothers Wilbur and Orville is a perfect outlet for Long's quirky art. His "playful cartoon illustrations extend the fun" of the brothers' debut in Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All, according to Booklist reviewer Ed Sullivan, while Roger Leslie concluded in the same periodical that the artist's cartoon drawings "add significantly to the … humor" featured in the siblings' return in Drooling and Dangerous. In Birdseye's Oh Yeah!, which finds two young campers confronting their fears of the dark, Long's warm-toned "colored-pencil and acrylic" images "burst with energy … and feature jagged edges and the deliciously menacing imagined threats" of the story's young protago- nists, according to School Library Journal contributor Marge Loch-Wouters. "The expressions on Long's bright and quirky punctuation people will delight early elementary listeners," concluded Jayne Damron in a School Library Journal review of Greedy Apostrophe, Carr's imaginative intro to punctuation. The "bright, stylized art" Long creates for Palatini's Stinky Smelly Feet was praised by a Kirkus Reviews writer, the critic noting that the "pop-eyed animals" populating the tale of a duck with personal problems contribute to the book's "hysterical detail." The illustrator's "vibrant cartoon illustrations in watercolors and gouache propel the text" of Paul's Mañana, Iguana, according to Mary Elam, reviewing the bilingual picture book for School Library Journal.

Long's first original picture book, Tickle the Duck!, was published in 2006. A board book designed for toddlers, it features an interactive element—Long incorporates actual fluffy spots on the body of his cranky character—and its equally interactive sequel, Stop Kissing Me!, includes a sound chip. Tickly the Duck! has its roots in a duck character that belligerently asserted itself in another project, Long's animated film Farm Force: Send in the Clones, a pilot for a cartoon series for Nickelodeon Studios. After seeing award-winning author/illustrator Mo Willems' books featuring a surly pigeon, Long decided to stop fighting the fowl's persistent efforts to take center stage in the film and gave the duck its own story. According to Lana Berkowitz in the Houston Chronicle, Long's daughter Katie "provided inspiration for the story. When she was a toddler, Long says, Katie would tell him to stop tickling her, but then she'd want more."

Creating full-color illustrations for a picture-book project requires about twelve months, accordingto Long, who added that he can complete the line drawings for a chapter book in less than half that time. Another twelve months is required for planning, which includes the months needed to create characters and draw them in various poses. In addition to pen-and-ink drawings, Long also uses several other media, including digital. Although much of his work involves creating poster art and illustrations for commercial clients, Long gets the greatest satisfaction illustrating for children, and he expands this through his work visiting schools.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2002, John Peters, review of The Day My Runny Nose Ran Away, p. 411; July, 2004, Ed Sullivan, review of Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All, p. 1841; November 1, 2004, Connie Fletcher, review of Mañana, Iguana, p. 493; May 15, 2006, Roger Leslie, review of Drooling and Dangerous: The Riot Brothers Return, p. 44; May 15, 2007, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Fiesta Fiasco, p. 51.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 2006, Elizabeth Bush, review of Tickle the Duck!, p. 273.

Houston Chronicle, November 28, 2005, Lana Berkowitz, "Don't Goose This Duck!," "STAR" section, p. 1.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2002, review of The Day My Runny Nose Ran Away, p. 1388; July 15, 2003, review of Oh Yeah!, p. 961; May 1, 2004, review of Stinky Smelly Feet, p. 446; September 15, 2004, review of Mañana, Iguana, p. 917; May 1, 2006, review of Drooling and Dangerous, p. 453; August 15, 2006, review of Trollerella, p. 852.

Publishers Weekly, August 26, 2002, review of The Day My Runny Nose Ran Away, p. 68; April 26, 2004, review of Stinky Smelly Feet, p. 65, and Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life, p. 66.

School Library Journal, September, 2002, Mary Elam, review of The Day My Runny Nose Ran Away, p. 189; August, 2003, Marge Loch-Wouters, review of Oh Yeah!, p. 122; June, 2004, Marge Louch-Wouters, review of Stinky Smelly Feet, p. 116; July, 2004, Jean Lowery, review of Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life, p. 66; September, 2004, Mary Elam, review of Mañana, Iguana, p. 176; August, 2005, Wendy Woodfill, review of Halloween Sky Ride, p. 106; September, 2006, Martha Topol, review of Trollerella, p. 185; October, 2006, Kristine M. Casper, review of Drooling and Dangerous, p. 102; May, 2007, Linda M. Kenton, review of Fiesta Fiasco, p. 106; July, 2007, Jayne Damron, review of Greedy Apostrophe: A Cautionary Tale, p. 73.

Tallahassee Democrat, July 20, 2006, Mark Hinson, "Driven to Draw."