Ransome, James E. 1961–

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Ransome, James E. 1961–

Personal

Born September 25, 1961, in Rich Square, NC; married Lesa Cline (a teacher and writer), September 2, 1989; children: Jaime, Maya, Malcolm, Leila. Education: Pratt Institute, B.F.A. (illustration); studied at Art Students League.

Addresses

Home—Rhinebeck, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Artist and educator. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, professor, 2000-03; Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, professor, 2006—. Speaker at schools, conferences, and workshops. Exhibitions: Works have been shown in many galleries, including Kimberly Gallery, New York, NY; Artist's Proof, New England; Society of Illustrators, New York, NY; Chowan College, NC; Elizabeth Stone Gallery, Birmingham, MI; African-American Museum of Fine Art, CA; Sterling Creations, NJ; Essex Community College, NJ; Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI; Greenwich Academy, Greenwich, CT; National Civil Rights Nuseum, Memphis, TN; Eric Carle Museum of Picture-Book Art, Amherst, MA; Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI; and Muscatine Art Center, Muscatine, IA. Permanent installations include murals at Charlotte Public Library, Charlotte, NC, Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, OH.

Member

Society of Illustrators.

Awards, Honors

Parenting Reading Magic Award, 1990, for Do like Kyla; Parent's Choice Foundation annual award, 1990, International Reading Association (IRA) Teachers'

Choice, 1992, and Michigan Reader's Choice Award nomination, 1997 all for Aunt Flossie's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later) by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard; Coretta Scott King Honor award, and American Library Association (ALA) Notable Book designation, both 1993, both for Uncle Jed's Barbershop; Coretta Scott King Award for illustration, International Board on Books for Young People Honor Award, and ALA Notable Book designation, all 1994, all for The Creation by James Weldon Johnson; Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance Award, 1996, for The Wagon by Tony Johnston; NAACP Image Award for Illustration, 1999, for Let My People Go; Capitol Choice designation, 2000, and Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People designation, National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), ALA Notable Book for Children designation, Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year selection, Children's Literature Choice designation, and numerous state award nominations, all 2001, all for Satchel Paige by Lesa Cline-Ransome; Smithsonian Notable Books for Children designation, 2001, for Quilt Counting by Cline-Ransome; Rip Van Winkle Award, School Library Media Specialists of New York, 2001, for body of work; Capitol Choices selection, 2001, and Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year designation and NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, both 2002, all for Building a New Land by James Haskins and Kathleen Benson; NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, 2001, and Volunteer State Book Award nomination, 2003, both for The Secret of the Stones by Robert D. San Souci; IRA Children's Choice designation, Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year designation, and Southeastern Book Association Best Book of the Year Award, all 2002, all for How Animals Saved the People by J.J. Reneaux; Vermont Center for the Book Top Ten Diversity Books selection, Capitol Choices designation, and ALA Top Black History Titles for Youth designation, all 2002, and Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year designation and Skipping Stones Book Award, both 2003, all for Visiting Day by Jacqueline Woodson; Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, Black-Eyed Susan Book Award nomination, and Capitol Choices designation, all 2003, all for Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson; Children's Crown Gallery Award nomination, 2003, for Quinnie Blue by Dinah Johnson; Dutchess County Executive Arts Award, 2004; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book for Picture Book designation, 2006, and ALA Notable Book designation, Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices inclusion, and Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year selection, all 2007, all for Sky Boys.

Illustrator

Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard, Aunt Flossie's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later), Clarion (New York, NY), 1990, tenth anniversary edition, 2001.

Angela Johnson, Do like Kyla, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Arthur A. Levine, All the Lights in the Night, Tambourine (New York, NY), 1991.

Katherine Mead, Does Your Grandpa Say Galoshes?, Silver Burdett (Morristown, NJ), 1991.

Lenny Hort, How Many Stars in the Sky?, Tambourine (New York, NY), 1991.

Denise L. Patrick, Red Dancing Shoes, Morrow (New York, NY), 1993.

Angela Johnson, The Girl Who Wore Snakes, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Margaree King Mitchell, Uncle Jed's Barbershop, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1993.

Christine Widman, The Hummingbird Garden, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1993.

Deborah Hopkinson, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, Knopf (New York, NY), 1993.

James Weldon Johnson, The Creation, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1994.

Eve Feldman, That Cat!, Tambourine (New York, NY), 1994.

Marilee R. Burton, My Best Shoes, Morrow (New York, NY), 1994.

Sharon M. Draper, Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs, Just Us (East Orange, NJ), 1994.

Michael Rosen, Bonesy and Isabel, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1994.

Jan Carr, Dark Day, Light Night, Hyperion (New York, NY), 1995.

Valerie and Vanessa Flournoy, Celie and the Harvest Fiddler, Tambourine (New York, NY), 1995.

Charlotte Zolotow, The Old Dog, revised edition, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

William H. Hooks, Freedom's Fruit, Knopf (New York, NY), 1996.

Tony Johnston, The Wagon, Tambourine (New York, NY), 1996.

Charlotte Watson Sherman, Eli and the Swamp Man, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

Elisabeth Jane Stewart, Bimmi Finds a Cat, Clarion (New York, NY), 1996.

Angela Shelf Medearis, Rum-a-tum-tum, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1997.

Donna L. Washington, reteller, A Pride of African Tales, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1997.

Sharon M. Draper, Shadows of Caesar's Creek ("Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs" series), Just Us (East Orange, NJ), 1997.

Eve Bunting, Your Move, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1998.

Patricia and Frederick McKissack, Let My People Go: Bible Stories Told by a Freeman of Color to His Daughter, Charlotte, in Charleston, South Carolina, 1806-16, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1998.

Jacqueline K. Ogburn, The Jukebox Man, Dial (New York, NY), 1998.

Eve Bunting, Peepers, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2000.

Lesa Cline-Ransome, Satchel Paige, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2000.

Deborah Hopkinson, Under the Quilt of Night, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2000.

Dinah Johnson, Quinnie Blue, Holt (New York, NY), 2000.

Robert D. San Souci, reteller, The Secret of the Stones: A Folktale, Phyllis Fogelman (New York, NY), 2000.

James Haskins and Kathleen Benson, Building a New Land: African Americans in Colonial America, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

J.J. Reneaux, reteller, How Animals Saved the People: Animal Tales from the South, Morrow (New York, NY), 2001.

Lesa Cline-Ransome, Quilt Alphabet, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2001.

Lesa Cline-Ransome, Quilt Counting, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2002.

Jacqueline Woodson, Visiting Day, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Virginia Hamilton, Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl, Blue Sky Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Joyce Hansen and Gary McGowan, Freedom Roads: Searching for the Underground Railroad, Cricket, 2003.

Donna L. Washington, A Pride of African Tales, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

Lesa Cline-Ransome, Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2004.

Ferida Wolff, It Is the Wind, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander, This Is the Dream, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2006.

Deborah Hopkinson, Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building, Schwarz & Wade (New York, NY), 2006.

Lesa Cline-Ransome, Young Pelé: Soccer's First Star, Schwartz & Wade (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

The work of artist and illustrator James E. Ransome has been chosen to grace the texts of many well-known authors, among them Patricia McKissack, Virginia Hamilton, Charlotte Zolotow, and James Weldon Johnson. Awarded for many of his illustration efforts, Ransome has developed his career along the lines of his mentor, noted illustrator Jerry Pinkney, by specializing in bringing to life stories that reflect the strong ties and traditional history of African-American families: Margaree King Mitchell's Uncle Jed's Barbershop, Dinah Johnson's Quinnie Blue, Katherine Mead's Does Your Grandpa Say Galoshes?, and Jaqueline Woodson's Visiting Day among others. "I am a visual storyteller," Ransome once commented, "and because each book has a special voice, my approach toward each is different as well. Whether it be through my choice of palette, design, or perspective, there is always a desire to experiment and explore what makes each book unique." According to Horn Book reviewer Roger Sutton, Ransome's "full-bleed paintings are richly, warmly colored and attentive to the human bonds that shape the story" told by Woodson in Visiting Day. The artist's work for Quinnie Blue resulted in what Louise L. Sherman described in School Library Journal as a "visually lovely book" featuring "positive images of the [story's] African-American characters."

Born in rural Rich Square, North Carolina, in 1961, Ransome was raised far away from the urban art galleries and financially well-endowed libraries that would one day provide him with a place to exhibit his art for children to enjoy. His interest in drawing began at an early age; it found its first outlet in pencil sketches of hot-rod cars and comic book characters, and eventually grew into detailed illustrations of the Bible stories he read to his aging grandmother. By elementary school

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Ransome had come under the influence of television cartoons and Mad magazine; he created stories featuring him and his friends and tried to illustrate them in the Mad style. He further developing his drawing skills through the how-to books on drawing he found at his school library, because his school did not offer art classes.

As a high school sophomore, Ransome moved north to Bergenfield, New Jersey, where he was suddenly exposed to a wealth of creative instruction, not only in drawing but also in photography and film making. Working with film quickly became his new passion; as Ransome recalled in a profile for Embracing the Child online: "Through photography, I discovered the power perspective, value, and cropping could have on a single image. Through film making, I discovered the many ways to pace a story with the aid of camera angles and framed images." After completing a number of student films, Ransome began to work in animation. It would be a course in drawing and painting taken as a way of improving his animation skills that rekindled Ransome's childhood interest in illustrating. After high school graduation he moved to Brooklyn, New York, and attended the prestigious Pratt Institute, graduating with a B.F.A. in illustration.

During his years at Pratt Ransome was exposed to the work of a number of artists who would strongly influ- ence his own artistic style. In addition to nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century painters such as Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and Edgar Degas, contemporary illustrators Bernie Fuchs, Robert Cunningham, Skip Leipke, and Jerry Pinkney also showed Ransome new ways to engage in "visual storytelling." Ransome's relationship with the award-winning Pinkney not only opened the young student's eyes to the fact that there are African-American artists who are highly successful in their field, but it also developed into a close friendship when Pinkney became Ransome's mentor.

In 1989 Ransome received his first illustration assignment: Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard's Aunt Flossie's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later). The book, which has become a modern-day classic, is a tale of two young girls who visit their hat-loving aunt and hear the story about each colorful hat in the older woman's closet. Ransome's oil paintings for Aunt Flossie's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later) were praised by reviewers and earned him the first of several illustration awards. His ability to present a poignant, warm-hearted depiction of an African-American family has been central to his success with the many illustration projects that have

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followed. In Uncle Jed's Barbershop, for example, the story of a favorite older relative and his lifelong dream is enhanced by oil paintings that "present a warm portrait of a loving family in both hard times and good," according to Horn Book contributor Hanna B. Zeiger. Equal praise for Ransome's contribution was given by Deborah Abbott, who noted in Booklist that "a real strength [of Uncle Jed's Barbershop] is the paintings, which capture memorable characters and family life in the rural South with a warmth and depth that is truly moving."

In his work for Quinnie Blue, Ransome brings to life Johnson's story about a beloved relative and the oral traditions that develop within families. In the story, a young girl learns old stories from her grandmother and namesake, Quinnie Blue, then draws parallels with her own life and makes these stories her own. "Even more than the text," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "Ransome's closely focused portraits of girl and grandmother underscore the love shared by them and their close-knit family." Calling Quinnie Blue "visually lovely," School Library Journal contributor Louise L. Sherman added that the illustrator "beautifully contrasts the present suburban life with the more rural past of the family." Booklist contributor Ilene Cooper praised Ransome for his "handsome paintings set against a background of weathered wood [that] are every bit as lyrical as the text."

In addition to his ability to capture the close emotional bond between family members, Ransome has also been successful at portraying the confusing emotions of childhood. In a new edition of Charlotte Zolotow's classic The Old Dog, the author's poignant story about the death of a beloved pet is updated through Ransome's illustrations of a young African-American boy coping with death and loneliness. Praising his technique as "masterful" in portraying emotions, School Library Journal contributor Martha Topol added that Ransome's "richly hued illustrations capture the intensity of [the boy's] grief." Other critics commented on the book's design, which incorporates a panel of autumn leaves on each left-facing page that provide "an expressive image for an unsentimental story about connection and loss and renewal," according to Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman.

A different emotion is captured in Ransome's oil paintings for Jan Carr's Dark Day, Light Night, wherein a young girl learns to control her mood after things do not go her way. Noting that the illustrator "pays careful attention to the use of light and shadow" within his illustrations, Horn Book contributor Ellen Fader commented favorably on his ability to "extend … the image implicit in the [book's] title." Susan Dove Lempke noticed the "great expression" within Ransome's artwork, citing his success in portraying young Manda's transformation "from glowering to glowing, and depicting [her aunt] as realistically unglamourous but infused

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with joy and loving tenderness" in her Booklist appraisal of Dark Day, Light Night.

During the course of his career, Ransome has been asked to illustrate many books that focus on the history and folklore of African Americans. Several, such as William H. Hooks's Freedom's Fruit, Debra Hopkinson's Under the Quilt of Night, and Joyce Hansen and Gary McGowan's Freedom Roads: Searching for the Underground Railroad take as their subject slavery prior to the U.S. Civil War, while Hopkinson's Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building moves to the early 1930s and the many workers who helped construct Manhattan's most prominent landmark. Freedom's Fruit focuses on Mama Marina, a conjure woman who cleverly transforms a request by her master to protect his grape crop from thievery into a means whereby her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend make their escape. Hooks's powerful language "is mirrored in Ransome's evocative illustrations," commented School Library Journal reviewer Lisa Dennis, the critic adding that the book's "dark, yet vibrant paintings" bring Hooks's "characters to life" and engage the audience. Additional praise was forthcoming from Hazel Rochman, who noted in her Booklist review that "Ransome's rich paintings set the dramatic confrontations against the plantation scenes as the seasons change." Using what Horn Book critic Susan P. Bloom described as "comforting" sky tones, Ransome creates art that "expresses the poignant range of emotions experienced" by the escaping slaves in Under the Quilt of Night, while in Freedom Roads he merges his paintings with archive materials.

Conjure women are joined by tricksters and wise men, as well as by hapless fools, in storyteller J.J. Reneaux's How Animals Saved the People: Animal Tales from the South. In this work, Ransome brings to life eight folk tales via "full-bleed, spry watercolors" that "ably capture the traits of the memorable characters, the rural Southern setting and the pervasive humor" of Reneaux's stories, according to a Publishers Weekly contributor. Ransome also explores the richness of African-American folklore in Virginia Hamilton's retelling Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl and Robert D. San Souci's The Secret of the Stones: A Folktale. An adaptation of a Gullah story about the popular trickster, Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl "is just about as satisfying as sitting down on a croker sack and hearing the tale firsthand," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor. The story of a childless couple, The Secret of the Stones describes what happens when they pick up and pocket two beautiful white stones discovered on the path they walk on their way home from the cotton fields. In the coming days the pair arrive home to find all the chores done, but the mystery is solved when they discover that the stones are, in fact, two children who have fallen under an evil spell. John Peters commented in Booklist that the illustrator portrays San Souci's hardworking young couple "and their verdant rural setting with dignified richly colored, uncluttered realism." Praising the work as a "perfectly magical offering," School Library Journal reviewer Ann Welton added in a review of The Secret of the Stones that "Ransome's oil-on-paper illustrations are big, bold, and arresting."

Of all Ransome's collaborations, one of the most satisfying has been that with his wife, writer and educator Lesa Cline-Ransome. In addition to original concept books such as Quilt Alphabet and Quilt Counting, the couple have produced several books dramatize the achievements of black American athletes. In Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist the Ransomes introduce readers to the life of Marshall Taylor, the first African-American world-champion bike racer, who started as a stunt rider in the late 1800s and became a world-class athlete as the result of a 1901 win over a French competitor. Saitchel Paige and Young Pelé: Soccer's First Star continue the sports sequence. Noting that Ransome's "painterly brush strokes add depth and elegance to the folksy style" of Quilt Alphabet, a Kirkus Reviews writer cited the book's "graphic appeal" to young children, while School Library Journal reviewer Alice Casey Smith dubbed the couple's collaboration a "vibrantly illustrated … feast for the eyes."

"What makes illustrating books so exciting is that because each book has a special voice, my approach toward each is different," Ransome noted on his home page, discussing his work in children's literature. "Whether it be through my choice of palette, design or perspective, there is always a desire to experiment and explore what makes each book unique." Moving beyond the printed page, Ransome has worked on a much larger scale as well; his mural installations can be found at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indiana, at Cincinnati, Ohio's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and at the Hemphill Branch Library in Greensboro, North Carolina. He also teaches at the Pratt Institute and at workshops, and inspires budding artists and young fans during appearances at schools throughout the country. Through his teaching, as well as through his art, Ransome's goal remains the same. "By conveying to young readers the individual traits of characters," he once commented, "I only hope that I am instilling an appreciation for all the wonderfully unique qualities and cultural and racial differences we all possess."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1993, Deborah Abbott, review of Uncle Jed's Barbershop, p. 69; September 1, 1995, Hazel Rochman, review of The Old Dog, p. 90; February 15, 1996, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Dark Day, Light Night, p. 1025; February 15, 1996, Hazel Rochman, review of Freedom's Fruit, p. 1020; September 1, 1996, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Eliand the Swamp Man, p. 132; January 1, 2000, John Peters, review of The Secret of the Stones: A Folktale, p. 934; February 15, 2000, review of Satchel Paige, p. 1109; April 15, 2000, Ilene Cooper, review of Quinnie Blue, p. 1552; September 1, 2000, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Satchel Paige, p. 118; September 1, 2001, Ellen Mandel, review of Quilt Alphabet, p. 111; February 15, 2002, Cynthia Turnquest, review of Under the Quilt of Night, p. 1034; November 1, 2002, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Visiting Day, p 504; May 1, 2003, John Peters, review of Freedom Roads: Searching for the Underground Railroad, p. 1590; August, 2004, Harriett Fargnoli, review of A Pride of African Tales, p. 114; February 1, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of This Is the Dream p. 69.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2004, Janice Del Negro, review of A Pride of African Tales, p. 352.

Horn Book, September-October, 1991, p. 584; January-February, 1992, p. 65; November-December, 1993, Hanna B. Zeiger, review of Uncle Jed's Barbershop, p. 727; November-December, 1995, Martha V. Parravano, review of The Old Dog, p. 762; May-June, 1996, Ellen Fader, review of Dark Day, Light Night, p. 320; February 15, 2001, John Peters, review of How Animals Saved the People, p. 1136; July-August, 2002, Susan P. Bloom, review of Under the Quilt of Night, p. 447; November-December, 2002, Roger Sutton, review of Visiting Day, p. 743; July-August, 2003, Deborah Taylor, review of Freedom Roads, p. 480.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2001, review of Quilt Alphabet, p. 1119; November 1, 2001, review of Under the Quilt of Night, p. 1550; September 15, 2002, review of Visiting Day, p. 208; March 1, 2003, review of Freedom Roads, p. 386; December 15, 2003, review of Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist, p. 1448; March 15, 2005, review of It Is the Wind, p. 361; December 1, 2005, review of This Is the Dream, p. 1280.

New York Times Book Review, November 25, 1991, p. 146; February 21, 1993, p. 22.

Publishers Weekly, March 16, 1990, review of Do Like Kyla, p. 68; February 15, 1991, p. 88; April 5, 1991, p. 145; November 1, 1991, p. 80; December 7, 1992, p. 63; April 24, 1995, review of Bonesy and Isabel, p. 71; February 23, 1998, review of Your Move, p. 77; June 1, 1998, review of The Jukebox Man, p. 48; May 29, 2000, review of Quinnie Blue, p. 82; January, 2001, Nina Lindsay, review of How Animals Saved the People: Animal Tales from the South, p. 122; November 26, 2001, review of Under the Quilt of Night, p. 61; October 13, 2003, review of Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl, p. 79; November 21, 2005, review of This Is the Dream, p. 46; January 9, 2006, review of Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building, p. 52.

School Library Journal, April, 1990, p. 92; May, 1991, p. 79; March, 1992, p. 216; June, 1993, Karen James, review of Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, p. 76; December, 1995, Kevin Wayne Booe, review of Aunt Flossie's Hats, p. 62; December, 1995, Martha Topol, review of The Old Dog, p. 93; February, 1996, Lisa Dennis, review of Freedom's Fruit, pp. 84-85; June, 1996, Carol Schene, review of Eli and the Swamp Man, p. 124; May, 1998, Carolyn Noah, review of The Jukebox Man, p. 124; February, 2000, Ann Welton, review of The Secret of the Stones, p. 115; June, 2000, Louise L. Sherman, review of Quinnie Blue, p. 116; January, 2001, Nina Lindsay, review of How Animals Saved the People, p. 122; November, 2001, Alice Casey Smith, review of Quilt Alphabet, p. 143; January, 2002, Marianne Saccardi, review of Under the Quilt of Night, p. 102; September, 2002, Susan Pine, review of Visiting Day, p. 208; November, 2002, Catherine Threadgill, review of Quilt Counting, p. 119; February, 2004, Lauralynn Persson, review of Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist, p. 128; August, 2004, Harriett Fargnoli, review of A Pride of African Tales, p. 114; January, 2006, Teresa Pfeifer, review of This Is the Dream p. 124.