Malone, Peter 1953–

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Malone, Peter 1953–

Personal

Born 1953, in England; married, wife's name Helen (a picture restorer), children: two daughters. Education: Studied at Winchester School of Art and Coventry School of Art.

Addresses

Home—Bath, England.

Career

Painter and illustrator. Taught drawing, painting, and design at Bournemouth School of Art, Bournemouth, England; also worked as a studio assistant to artist Howard Hodgkin. Created a series of postage stamps for the Royal Mail.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Star Shapes, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1996.

Close to the Wind: The Beaufort Scale, Putnam (New York, NY), 2007.

ILLUSTRATOR

David Borgenicht, reteller, Bible Stories: Four of the Greatest Stories Ever Told, Running Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1994.

David Fontana, The Secret Language of Dreams: A Visual Key to Dreams and Their Meanings, Pavilion (London, England), 1994, published as The Language of Dreams: A Visual Key to Dreams and Their Meanings, Duncan Baird (London, England), 2003.

Richard Edwards, The Forest Child, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Neil Philip, reteller, The Adventures of Odysseus, Orion (London, England), 1996, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Tobi Tobias, A World of Words: An ABC of Quotations, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard (New York, NY), 1997.

Sophie Biriotti, editor, The Possibility of Angels: A Literary Anthology, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1997.

Anne Gatti, reteller, The Magic Flute, published with audio CD, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1997.

Kevin Crossley-Holland, The King Who Was and Will Be: The World of King Arthur and His Knights, Orion (London, England), 1998, published as The World of King Arthur and His Court: People, Places, Legend, and Lore, Dutton (New York, NY), 1998.

Sophie Biriotti, editor, Gardens of the Imagination: A Literary Anthology, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1999.

Margaret Mayo, Brother Sun, Sister Moon: The Life and Stories of St. Francis, Orion (London, England), 1999, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2000.

Vivian French, reteller, The Kingfisher Book of Fairy Tales, Kingfisher (New York, NY), 2000, published as The Kingfisher Mini Treasury of Fairy Tales, Kingfisher (London, England), 2003.

Susan Pearson, editor, The Drowsy Hours: Poems for Bedtime, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

Doris Orgel, My Mother's Daughter: Four Greek Goddesses Speak, Roaring Brook Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Ann Fiery, At the Opera: Tales of the Great Opera, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2003.

Janet Schulman, reteller, Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, published with audio CD, Knopf (New York, NY), 2004.

Kevin Crossley-Holland, How Many Miles to Bethlehem?, Arthur A. Levine Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Margaret Clark, reteller, The Classic Treasury of Princess Fairy Tales, Courage (Philadelphia, PA), 2005.

Lucy Coats, King Ocean's Flute, Orion (London, England), 2007.

Stephanie Spinner, reteller, The Nutcracker, Knopf (New York, NY), 2008.

Also illustrator of book covers.

Sidelights

British artist Peter Malone has illustrated more than twenty books for young readers. A former teacher at the Bournemouth School of Art, Malone has gained recognition for his elegant, detailed paintings. In Star Shapes, a self-illustrated work, a group of earthly animals gazes upon the constellations in the night sky. Booklist contributor Susan Dove Lempke praised Malone's "soothing, rhyming text," adding that his "paintings are lush and evocative," and a Publishers Weekly contributor remarked that his "still, shadowy gouache illustrations evoke the subtle patina of old copper or leather."

Malone's Close to the Wind: The Beaufort Scale, a self-illustrated nonfiction work, describes the system of estimating wind forces at sea that was developed in 1805 by Sir Francis Beaufort, an officer in the Royal Navy. "In a treatment that manages at once to be entirely informative and utterly charming," wrote School Library Journal reviewer Ann Welton, "the author presents the captain's work through a rousing story." In Booklist,

Carolyn Phelan complimented the "strikingly executed paintings," and called Close to the Wind "an informative book that will fascinate those intrigued by tall ships."

Malone has also collaborated with such noted children's authors as Kevin Crossley-Holland and Janet Schulman. In one of his earliest efforts, The Forest Child by Richard Edwards, a young girl who was raised by animals must be rescued by her caregivers after she is captured by a hunter. A contributor in Publishers Weekly applauded Malone's "stately illustrations, at once ethereal and earthy." A World of Words: An ABC of Quotations, a work by Tobi Tobias, collects excerpts from sources as diverse as the King James Bible and the tales of Joel Chandler Harris. Malone "uses a sure, deft hand to create gouache paintings that interpret, rather than simply illustrate the theme," remarked a critic in Publishers Weekly.

Malone provided the artwork for The Magic Flute, a retelling of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 1791 opera by

Anne Gatti. According to a reviewer in Publishers Weekly, the "luxurious paintings unfold as a series of courtly tableaux, with characters dressed in formal 18th-century costume, and there are numerous hints of the theatrical setting." The illustrator later teamed with Janet Schulman for Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, the classic musical folktale. Malone's pictures "are at once original and reminiscent of highly decorative Russian art, brightly colored and meticulously detailed," noted a contributor in Kirkus Reviews. In Ann Fiery's At the Opera: Tales of the Great Opera, the author provides summaries of thirty-one famous operas, including Cosi Fan Tutte and Die Fledermaus. Malone's illustrations "all have a dreamy, mythical air about them, allowing viewers to imagine themselves peering into the composers' minds," wrote Sophie R. Brookover in School Library Journal.

Susan Pearson collects sixteen poems suitable for night-time reading in The Drowsy Hours: Poems for Bedtime. According to Booklist reviewer Gillian Engberg, "Malone's richly colored paintings approximate the slightly surreal imagery and perspectives of dreams," and a Kirkus Reviews critic stated that his pictures "reflect and enhance the poems in unexpected ways." Vivian French retells seven favorite stories in The Kingfisher Book of Fairy Tales. "Malone's vividly rendered paintings make for a lovely presentation and have plenty of child appeal," Barbara Buckley remarked in School Library Journal.

Malone has teamed with Crossley-Holland on a pair of well-received titles. In The World of King Arthur and His Court: People, Places, Legend, and Lore, the author explores Arthurian tradition. Malone's "paintings add distinction to the eclectic text with their glowing heraldic colors," Phelan commented. Crossley-Holland presents his version of the Nativity story in How Many Miles to Bethlehem? "Opulent paintings in a spectrum of jewel tones advance the dramatic quality" of the book, remarked a Kirkus Reviews contributor, and a Publishers Weekly critic applauded the "stately pageantry in the medieval-like paintings, brilliant with color and feeling."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 1997, Ray Olson, review of The Possibility of Angels: A Literary Anthology, p. 289, and Susan Dove Lempke, review of Star Shapes, p. 337; November 15, 1999, Carolyn Phelan, review of The World of King Arthur and His Court: People, Places, Legend, and Lore, p. 617; November 15, 2000, John Peters, review of The Kingfisher Book of Fairy Tales, p. 640; October 15, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of The Drowsy Hours: Poems for Bedtime, p. 402; October 1, 2004, review of How Many Miles to Bethlehem?, p. 331; December 1, 2004, Gillian Engberg, review of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, p. 662; June 1, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, Close to the Wind: The Beaufort Scale, p. 64.

Horn Book, May, 2000, review of Brother Sun, Sister Moon: The Life and Stories of St. Francis, p. 336; November-December, 2004, review of How Many Miles to Bethlehem?, p. 658.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2002, review of The Drowsy Hours, p. 739; April 1, 2003, review of My Mother's Daughter: Four Greek Goddesses Speak, p. 538; August 15, 2004, review of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, p. 811; November 1, 2004, review of How Many Miles to Bethlehem?, p. 1048; April 15, 2007, review of Close to the Wind.

New York Times Book Review, November 14, 2004, Rebecca Boggs Roberts, review of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.

Opera News, December, 2003, William V. Madison, review of At the Opera: Tales of the Great Opera, p. 92.

Publishers Weekly, October 9, 1995, review of The Forest Child, p. 85; August 4, 1997, review of Star Shapes, p. 74; September 29, 1997, review of The Possibility of Angels, p. 67; November 24, 1997, review of TheMagic Flute, p. 74; July 6, 1998, review of A World Of Words: An ABC of Quotations, p. 58; October 18, 1999, review of The World of King Arthur and His Court, p. 85; March 13, 2000, review of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, p. 82; October 9, 2000, review of The Kingfisher Book of Fairy Tales, p. 90; May 13, 2002, review of The Drowsy Hours, p. 69; September 27, 2004, review of How Many Miles to Bethlehem?, p. 62.

School Library Journal, April, 2000, Wendy Lukehart, review of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, p. 123; January, 2001, Barbara Buckley, review of The Kingfisher Book of Fairy Tales, p. 116; June, 2002, Kathleen Whalin, review of The Drowsy Hours, p. 124; May, 2003, Angela J. Reynolds, review of My Mother's Daughter, p. 158; December, 2003, Sophie R. Brookover, review of At the Opera, p. 166; October, 2004, Wendy Lukehart, review of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, p. 128; May, 2007, Ann Welton, review of Close to the Wind, p. 121.