Windham, Sophie

views updated

Windham, Sophie

Personal

Married Bruce Robinson (a film director and writer); children: Lily, Willoughby.

Addresses

Home and office—London, England.

Career

Author and illustrator.

Awards, Honors

Kate Greenaway Award shortlist, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, 1997, for Unicorns! Unicorns!

Writings

Paula Yates, A Tale of Two Kitties, Quartet (London, England), 1983.

The Twelve Days of Christmas, Putnam (New York, NY), 1986.

Noah's Ark: A Peek-through-the-Window Book, G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York, NY), 1988.

Read Me a Story: A Child's Book of Favorite Tales, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1991.

The Orchard Book of Nursery Stories, Orchard (London, England), 1991.

Down in the Marvelous Deep: A Book of Sea Poems, Orchard Books (London, England), 1994.

(Compiler) The Mermaid and Other Sea Poems, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1996.

Geraldine McCaughrean, Unicorns! Unicorns!, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1997.

Bruce Robinson, The Obvious Elephant, Bloomsbury Children's Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Bruce Robinson, Harold and the Duck, Bloomsbury Children's Books (London, England), 2005.

Vivian French, Henny Penny, Bloomsbury Children's Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Sidelights

While growing up, Sophie Windham benefited from the creative environment she experienced as part of a family full of artists and musicians. Not surprisingly, she also pursued a job in the arts, and has established a successful career as an illustrator and author of books for children. Windham's artwork, which has been paired with texts by writers such as Gerald McCaughrean and Vivian French in addition to her own stories, was accorded a special honor when her illustrations for McCaughrean's Unicorns! Unicorns! were shortlisted for the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal. Windham has also collaborated with her husband, filmmaker Bruce Robinson, on the humorous picture books The Obvious Elephant and Harold and the Duck, both of which feature a text by Robinson that is paired with Windham's engaging art.

Critics often compliment Windham for her use of color and her ability to incorporate telling details into her illustrations. In her contributions to French's folk-tale retelling Henny Penny, Kristen Cutler commented in School Library Journal that Windham creates "brightly colored and skillfully drawn" images that "balance perfectly with the delightful text and draws readers into their depths." GraceAnne A. DeCandido, in her review for Booklist, also cited the artist for her choice of palette, noting that the book's art is "richly burnished with the late-summer reds, golds, russets, and greens." Windham's use of color for Unicorn! Unicorn! was also recognized by a Publishers Weekly critic who took special note of the book's "exquisite watercolors" and Carolyn Phelan commented in her Booklist review that in Unicorns! Unicorns! Windham "illustrates the tale with quiet beauty, gentle rhythm, and depth of feeling."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Mermaid and Other Sea Poems, p. 931; November 15, 1997, Carolyn Phelan, review of Henny Penny, p. 566; September 15, 2002, Susan Dove Lempke, review of The Obvious Elephant, p. 242; August 1, 2006, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Unicorns! Unicorns!, p. 86.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December, 1997, review of Unicorns! Unicorns!, p. 133.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2002, review of The Obvious Elephant, p. 1140; June 15, 2006, review of Henny Penny, p. 633.

Publishers Weekly, September 26, 1986, review of Twelve Days of Christmas, p. 72; December 9, 1988, review of Noah's Ark: A Peek-through-the-Window Book, p. 61; March 25, 1996, review of The Mermaid and Other Sea Poems, p. 84; August 25, 1997, review of Unicorns! Unicorns!, p. 71; June 17, 2002, review of The Obvious Elephant, p. 64; August 7, 2006, review of Henny Penny, p. 57.

School Librarian, November, 1991, review of The Orchard Book of Nursery Stories, p. 143; February, 1995, review of Down in the Marvellous Deep, p. 30; November, 1997, Trevor Dickinson, review of Harold and the Duck, p. 190; November, 1997, review of Unicorns! Unicorns!, p. 192; winter, 2006, review of Henny Penny, p. 182.

School Library Journal, October, 1986, review of Twelve Days of Christmas, p. 111; May, 1996, Margaret Bush, review of The Mermaid and Other Sea Poems, p. 128; October, 1997, Kathy Piel, review of Unicorns! Unicorns!, p. 104; August, 2002, Shawn Brommer, review of The Obvious Elephant, p. July, 2006, Kristen Cutler, review of Henny Penny, p. 77.

Times Educational Supplement, December 26, 1997, review of Unicorns! Unicorns!, p. 22.