Pham, LeUyen 1973-

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Pham, LeUyen 1973-

Personal

First name pronounced "e-Win"; born September 7, 1973, in Saigon, Vietnam; daughter of Phong T. and LeHuong Pham; married Alexandre Puvilland (an artist), October 29, 2005. Ethnicity: "Vietnamese." Education: Attended University of California, Los Angeles, 1991-93; Art Center College of Design (Pasadena CA), B.A., 1996.

Addresses

Agent—Linda Pratt, Sheldon Fogelman Agency, 10 E. 40th St., New York, NY 10016. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Children's book author and illustrator. Dreamworks Feature Animation, Glendale, CA, layout artist, 1996-99; Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, instructor, 2000; Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA, instructor; LeUyen Pham Illustration, San Francisco, freelance artist, 1999—. Exhibitions: Work exhibited at New York Society of Illustrators Original Art Show, 2005; and New York Society of Illustrators Spectrum Exhibition, 2005.

Member

Society of Illustrators.

Awards, Honors

American Booksellers Association Pick of the List designation, and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award, both 2000, both for Can You Do This, Old Badger? by Eve Bunting; Best Children's Books of the Year designation, Child magazine, 2002, for Whose Shoes? by Anna Grossnickle Hines, and 2005, for Big Sister, Little Sister; 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing designation, and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award, both 2004, both for Twenty-One Elephants by Phil Bildner; Society of Illustrators, Los Angeles, Bronze Medal in Children's Book Category; Texas 2x2 Reading List, 2004, for Sing-Along Song by JoAnn Early Macken.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Big Sister, Little Sister, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 2005.

ILLUSTRATOR

Adrienne Moore Bond, Sugarcane House, and Other Stories about Mr. Fat, Harcourt Brace (San Diego, CA), 1997.

Eve Bunting, Can You Do This, Old Badger?, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1999.

Anna Grossnickle Hines, Whose Shoes?, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2001.

Eve Bunting, Little Badger, Terror of the Seven Seas, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2001.

Anna Grossnickle Hines, Which Hat Is That?, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002.

Eve Bunting, Little Badger's Just-about Birthday, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002.

Dori Chaconas, One Little Mouse, Viking (New York, NY), 2002.

Charlene Costanzo, A Perfect Name, Dial Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2002.

Karma Wilson, Sweet Briar Goes to School, Dial Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2003.

Kathryn Lasky, Before I Was Your Mother, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2003.

Kathi Appelt, Piggies in a Polka, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2003.

Esme Raji Codell, Sing a Song of Tuna Fish: Hard-to-Swallow Stories from Fifth Grade, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 2004.

Phil Bildner, Twenty-one Elephants, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2004.

JoAnn Early Macken, Sing-Along Song, Viking (New York, NY), 2004.

Esme Raji Codell, Hanukkah, Shmanukkah!, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 2005.

Karma Wilson, Sweet Briar Goes to Camp, Dial Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2005.

Alexander McCall Smith, Akimbo and the Lions, Bloomsbury Children's Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Alexander McCall Smith, Akimbo and the Elephants, Bloomsbury Children's Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Alexander McCall Smith, Akimbo and the Crocodile Man, Bloomsbury Children's Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Jabari Asim, Whose Toes Are Those?, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2006.

Alexander McCall Smith, Akimbo and the Snakes, Bloomsbury Children's Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Bobbi Katz, Once around the Sun, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2006.

Jean Van Leeuwen, Benny and Beautiful Baby Delilah, Dial Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2006.

Jabari Asim, Whose Knees Are These?, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2006.

Kelly S. DiPucchio, Grace for President, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 2007.

Bruce Coville, The Winter's Tale, Dial Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2007.

Charlotte Zolotow, A Father like That, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.

Julianne Moore, Freckleface Strawberry, Bloomsbury Children's Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, God's Dream, Candlewick Books (Cambridge, MA), 2008.

Sidelights

Vietnamese-born children's book author and illustrator LeUyen Pham has produced picture-book illustrations for a number of writers, among them Alexander McCall Smith, Eve Bunting, Jean Van Leeuwen, and Karma Wilson. Earning her first illustration credit with the publication of Adrienne Moore Bond's Sugarcane House, and Other Stories about Mr. Fat in 1997, Pham's self-illustrated Big Sister, Little Sister earned her credit as an author as well when it was published seven years later.

Big Sister, Little Sister is told through the eyes of a little girl who compares her life to that of her older sister.

While big sister wears lipstick and is orderly, little sister is always a little messy, and is never allowed to wear lipstick apart from at playtime. To accompany her story, Pham created full-page illustrations featuring striking brush and inked-pen renderings. "Pham has beautifully captured the touch-and-go affection that is a verity of sibling life," commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer, going on to praise the author/illustrator's "bold, accomplished brush strokes." Writing in School Library Journal, Linda Ludke noted that, "with warmth and good humor, the ups and downs of sisterly love are perfectly conveyed" in Pham's art, while a Kirkus Reviews critic deemed Big Sister, Little Sister "a frothy fun tale that at its heart shows the depth and breadth of these relationships as something to be cherished."

Pham told SATA: "When I first considered doing children's books, I was told, flat out by every art instructor I met, that one could ‘never make a living at it.’ Children's books has long been considered a field that one does for the pure love of, and not to find one's fortune, much less to make a simple living at.

"I have never been one to listen to such things, and I set about trying to prove everyone wrong. Besides which, I simply could not imagine doing anything else with my life.

"I think it was that single idea, the belief that I really had no other choice in my life other than to write and illustrate books, that has kept me motivated and going for all this time. And truth be told, it is an extremely difficult field to be in, and one has to be quite prolific to stick around for very long. I might even wager to guess that my ability to ebb with the tide, to change my style from book to book to match the different mood of every story, has kept me adrift in this business, and has made it extremely challenging and enormously engaging in the process.

"It's interesting that in the field of illustration, one is encouraged to ‘find one's voice’, as if style is simply an ever-present constant. I supposed there's merit to thinking that one can become a rather reliable illustrator in this way, that there are no surprises to the work, and what you ask for is what you get each time. For myself, I never found this thought very appealing, and what's more, it's always seemed a bit derogatory to the text, as though the words themselves are as predictable as the artist's consistent work.

"Each time I receive a manuscript, I can't help but look for the uniqueness of the story, the voice that I haven't heard anywhere else that attracts and holds my imagination. If I find a story like that, my goal is to find a visual translation for it that is just as unique, just as attractive, to do the thing justice. So begins my journey—of finding a new style to translate the story.

"From book to book, I've made it a goal to try to be different than the book before, in everything from the medium to the rendering to the storytelling. Admittedly, this hasn't always been an easy task. It means feeling extremely insecure each time I start a new book, wondering if this style is working at all, if the graphic imagery is actually beneficial, or if it's taking away from the story. And of course, there is the matter of convincing the editor that this direction is the right direction. Somehow, I've been lucky enough to work with people who seem to really trust my instincts, and have let me express and change fluidly from book to book.

"Has this changing style been the reason for having done so many books in my short career? Heaven only knows there's no key to success. At least, I haven't found it yet. And all these years later, when I think back at my girlish stubbornness at sticking it out in this

field, I can't help but laugh. Because somewhere, along the way, among the many, many books illustrated, and many stories, to tell, I discovered that what I was looking for wasn't a way to make a living—I was simply looking for a way to love living. Ain't it grand?"

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2003, Ilene Cooper, review of Before I Was Your Mother, p. 1332; July, 2004, Ilene Cooper, review of Sing-along Song, p. 1848; October 1, 2004, Karin Snelson, review of Twenty-one Elephants, p. 332; June 1, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Big Sister, Little Sister, p. 1823; September 1, 2005, Kay Weisman, review of Hanukkah, Shmanukkah!, p. 131; September 1, 2005, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Akimbo and the Elephants, p. 135; April 15, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of Once around the Sun, p. 49.

Books, December 11, 2005, review of Hanukkah, Shmanukkah!, p. 2.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March, 2005, Karen Coats, review of Sing a Song of Tuna Fish: Hard-to-Swallow Stories from Fifth Grade, p. 285; September, 2005, Timnah Card, review of Big Sister, Little Sister, p. 36; May, 2006, Deborah Stevenson, review of Benny and Beautiful Baby Dalilah, p. 426; July-August, 2006, Deborah Stevenson, review of Once around the Sun, p. 504.

Children's Bookwatch, May, 2004, review of Piggies in a Polka, p. 2.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2003, review of Before I Was Your Mother, p. 257; July 15, 2003, review of Piggies in a Polka, p. 961; May 1, 2004, JoAnn Macken, review of Sing-along Song, p. 444; October 1, 2004, review of Twenty-one Elephants, p. 956; June 15, 2005, review of Big Sister, Little Sister, p. 689; November 1, 2005, review of Hanukkah, Shmanukkah!, p. 1191; March 15, 2006, review of Once around the Sun, p. 293.

Library Media Connection, August-September, 2005, Quinby Frank, review of Big Sister, Little Sister, p. 71; March, 2006, Pamela Ott, review of Akimbo and the Elephants, p. 64.

Publishers Weekly, January 27, 2003, review of Before I Was Your Mother, p. 257; August 25, 2003, review of Piggies in a Polka, p. 63; August 22, 2005, review of Big Sister, Little Sister, p. 64; September 5, 2005, review of Akimbo and the Elephants, p. 63; September 26, 2005, review of Hanukkah, Shmanukkah!, p. 85; April 3, 2006, review of Akimbo and the Crocodile Man, p. 76; July 31, 2006, review of Sing a Song of Tuna Fish, p. 77.

School Library Journal, May, 2003, Catherine Threadgill, review of Before I Was Your Mother, p. 122; September, 2003, Grace Oliff, review of Piggies in a Polka, p. 166; June, 2004, Marianne Saccardi, review of Singalong Song, p. 114; November, 2004, Susan Lissim, review of Twenty-one Elephants, p. 90; September, 2005, Linda Ludke, review of Big Sister, Little Sister, p. 184; May, 2006, Teresa Pfeifer, review of Once around the Sun, p. 114; June, 2006, Amelia Jenkins, review of Whose Knees Are These?, p. 104.

Washington Post Book World, December 11, 2005, Lori Smith, review of Hanukkah, Shmanukkah, p. 10.