Rockwell, Lizzy 1961–

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Rockwell, Lizzy 1961–

Personal

Born 1961; daughter of Harlow (a painter and illustrator) and Anne F. (an author and artist) Rockwell; married Kenneth Alcorn; children: Nicholas, Nigel. Education: Attended Connecticut College and School of Visual Arts.

Addresses

Home and office—14 Nolan St., Norwalk, CT 06850. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Writer and illustrator. Illustrator, beginning 1984

Awards, Honors

The Busy Body Book named among top-ten science and technology books for youth, Booklist, 2004.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Hello Baby!, Crown (New York, NY), 1999.

Good Enough to Eat: A Kid's Guide to Food and Nutrition, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

The Busy Body Book: A Kid's Guide to Fitness, Crown (New York, NY), 2004.

ILLUSTRATOR

Anne F. Rockwell, Apples and Pumpkins, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1989, reprinted, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2005.

(With father, Harlow Rockwell) Anne F. Rockwell, My Spring Robin, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1989.

Amy Hest, A Sort-of Sailor, Four Winds (New York, NY), 1990.

(With Pam Braun and Rina Horiuchi) Pyke Johnson, Pyke's Poems: Verse for Kids, Shorelands (Old Greenwich, CT), 1992.

Anne F. Rockwell, Our Yard Is Full of Birds, Collier (New York, NY), 1992.

Anne F. Rockwell, Pots and Pans, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1993.

Anne F. Rockwell, Ducklings and Pollywogs, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1994.

Anne F. Rockwell, Apples and Pumpkins, Aladdin (New York, NY), 1994.

Priscilla Belz Jenkins, A Nest Full of Eggs, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

Deborah Heiligman, On the Move, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

Anne F. Rockwell, Halloween Day, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1997.

Anne F. Rockwell, Show and Tell Day, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1997.

I.K. Swobud, Don't Go up Haunted Hill—or Else!, Golden Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Anne F. Rockwell, Thanksgiving Day, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

Anne F. Rockwell, Career Day, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2000.

Anne F. Rockwell, Valentine's Day, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

Anne F. Rockwell, One Hundred School Days, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

Gloria Rothstein, Sheep Asleep, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

Maya Angelou, Izak of Lapland, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Maya Angelou, Renée Marie of France, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Maya Angelou, Mikale of Hawaii, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Maya Angelou, Angelina of Italy, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Anne F. Rockwell, Mother's Day, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

Anne F. Rockwell, Father's Day, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

Anne F. Rockwell, Who Lives in an Alligator Hole?, Collins (New York, NY), 2006.

Joy N. Hulme, Mary Clare Likes to Share: A Math Reader, Random House (New York, NY), 2006.

Anne F. Rockwell, Presidents' Day, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

Lizzy Rockwell is an illustrator whose work has appeared in picture books and magazines, as well as in games and other products for children. A prolific artist, she has illustrated more than twenty books, many of them written by her mother, children's author Anne F. Rockwell. In addition to her work as an artist, Rockwell has also created art for her original texts, which include Hello Baby!, Good Enough to Eat: A Kid's Guide to Food and Nutrition, and The Busy Body Book: A Kid's Guide to Fitness.

As the daughter of two creative parents—her father, Harlow Rockwell, is an illustrator and author—Rockwell grew up around art and storytelling, and saw her

parents collaborate on books together. "There were plenty of art materials around the house and my brother, sister, and I were always encouraged to be creative and to express our ideas," she recalled on her home page. After attending college and art school, Rockwell started her career in 1984, illustrating magazines and book jackets. Her first picture-book project, illustrating her mother's text for Apples and Pumpkins, was published in 1989.

As an illustrator, Rockwell is noted for her use of color. Her "realistically rendered illustrations are drenched in color," wrote Lisa Gangemi in a School Library Journal review of the artist's contribution to One Hundred School Days, a mother-daughter collaboration. In a review of another book by Anne F. Rockwell, Pots and Pans, a Publishers Weekly wrote that the "bright watercolors capture an impressive variety of textures." Another Publishers Weekly critic, reviewing Halloween Day, noted that author and artist collaborate to "create believable multiethnic characters." Wendy S. Carroll, writing in School Library Journal, complimented the easy-to-read text in Career Day, adding that Lizzy Rockwell's "colorful pictures are [as] … appealing" as her mother's text. In a review of Angelina of Italy, Hazel Rochman wrote in Booklist that the illustrator's "clear, cheerful pictures will appeal to kids." Of her work on Who Lives in an Alligator Hole?, a Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote that "a non-reading child would be able to get much of the text's information from Lizzy Rockwell's pictures alone."

In her self-illustrated work, Rockwell explains good nutrition to a young audience in Good Enough to Eat. Designed for the preschool set, the book addresses such topics as fighting germs, vitamins, and how good foods help improve movement, respiration, warmth, and growing. "This could be a valuable classroom tool for teaching about health and nutrition," Rochman concluded in a Booklist review. Regarding the illustrations, a Publishers Weekly critic wrote that Rockwell's "compositions are cheerful and sometimes playful."

Another original self-illustrated picture book, Hello Baby!, is again geared for very young readers and was created by Rockwell to help soon-to-be-older-siblings prepare for an infant's arrival. The picture book depicts parents including their child in the entire process of pregnancy, including doctor visits, and describes the bi- ology behind a growing baby. Noting that some of the concepts might be beyond the scope of the youngest readers, Rochman nonetheless noted that parents may "welcome the chance to include the fascinating biology as well as the usual reassuring message." The narrator's voice and explanations "accurately reflect a happy child's point of view," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor.

The Busy Body Book uses some of the same techniques as Good Enough to Eat, presenting factual material in a way that makes it easy for preschoolers to understand. "The design is clear and inviting," wrote Rochman of the title in her Booklist review. Shauna Yusko, writing in School Library Journal, felt that Rockwell's "text is purposely motivating, yet easy to understand and informative."

On her home page, Rockwell explained that she enjoys both writing and illustrating. "It is such a great challenge to tell a story or explain something complicated using as few words as possible," she explained. "It's fun to write picture books, because you know that the pictures will do a lot of the work for you. Even when I am writing nonfiction, I want the words to sound as beautiful as a poem, flow from the mouth as easily as a song, and have meaning as compelling as a novel." "In my pictures, I want all children to recognize themselves, and feel proud and included," Rockwell told SATA. "I strive to model good citizenship, high self-esteem, and positive interpersonal relationships in ways that are realistic and natural, but never sentimental or preachy." Of being an author and illustrator as a career, she wrote: "My job is one of the most creative and expressive things I can imagine doing. I love carrying on my parent's tradition in children's books."

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

Marcus, Leonard S., Pass It Down: Five Picture Book Families Make Their Mark, Walker (New York, NY), 2006.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 1994, Mary Harris Veeder, review of Ducklings and Pollywogs, p. 760; June 1, 1995, Hazel Rochman, review of A Nest Full of Eggs, p. 1778; May 1, 1996, Hazel Rochman, review of On the Move, p. 1510; April 1, 1997, Hazel Rochman, review of Show and Tell Day, p. 1339; January 1, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of Good Enough to Eat: A Kid's Guide to Food and Nutrition, p. 883; March 15, 1999, review of Hello Baby!, p. 1334; September 1, 1999, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of Thanksgiving Day, p. 150; May 1, 2000, review of Career Day, p. 1679; December 1, 2003, review of The Busy Body Book: A Kid's Guide to Fitness, p. 681; November 15, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Angelina of Italy, p. 589; January 1, 2005, review of The Busy Body Book, p. 776; May 15, 2005, Ilene Cooper, review of Father's Day, p. 1666; December 1, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Who Lives in an Alligator Hole?, p. 62.

Horn Book, May-June, 1993, Martha V. Parravano, review of Pots and Pans, p. 350; March, 2001, Martha V. Parravano, review of Valentine's Day, p. 202.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2004, review of The Busy Body Book, p. 88; October 15, 2006, review of Mary Clare Likes to Share, p. 1073; November 1, 2006, review of Who Lives in an Alligator Hole?, p. 1124.

Publishers Weekly, April 5, 1993, review of Pots and Pans, p. 75; October 6, 1997, review of Halloween Day, p. 48; January 18, 1999, review of Good Enough to Eat, p. 338; May 10, 1999, review of Hello Baby!, p. 67.

School Library Journal, July, 2000, Wendy S. Carroll, review of Career Day, p. 86; September, 2002, Lisa Gangemi, review of One Hundred School Days, p. 205; January, 2004, Shauna Yusko, review of The Busy Body Book, p. 121; July, 2004, Lisa G. Kropp, review of One Hundred School Days, p. 44; May, 2005, Mary Hazelton, review of Father's Day, p. 95; November, 2006, Christine Markley, review of Who Lives in an Alligator Hole?, p. 123.