Jerry Pinkney Publications and Awards He has illustrated over 100 titles. Received 5 Caldecott Honor Medals and 1 Caldecott Medal Received 5 New York Times Best Illustrated Books Awards Received 5 Coretta Scott King Awards and 4 Coretta Scott King Honor Awards 2 Honorary Doctors of Fine Arts and 1 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters In 2011, he was elected into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame Author Highlights He wants to bring diversity to children so most of his books focus on multi-cultural themes. His books have been translated into sixteen languages and published in fourteen countries. In addition to all of his children’s books, he also does regular paintings and has had over 30 exhibitions in museums throughout the world. He has been a professor at many colleges including the University of Delaware. He has done artwork for National Geographic Magazine, NASA and even the White House Christmas Program. Biography: Jerry Pinkney was born on December 22, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He went to the Dobbins Vocational School as a teenager for commercial art and was then given a scholarship to attend the Philadelphia Museum College of Art. He met his wife, fellow author Gloria Jean at this college. He has no children of his own, but has been illustrating children’s books since He started out small, including a job in designing greeting cards, but he ended up founding a studio with two other authors and then opened his own Jerry Pinkney Studio where he focused solely on illustrating children’s books. He lives in New York where he is a Trustee on the Board of the Katonah Museum of Art. “I love it. My satisfaction comes from the actual marks on the paper, and when it sings, it’s magic. – Jerry Pinkney

Major Works The Lion and the Mouse (2010) -Caldecott Medal -Horn Book Awards Honor Book (Boston Globe) -Best Illustrated Books (The New York Times) -Book of the Year (Indies Choice) Story Summary: This story is entirely told through pictures and some animal sounds throughout. This is a retelling of an old Aesop fable in which a mouse is running from an owl who is trying to catch him and a lion decides to save him instead of eating him. Later, when the lion is trapped in a poachers net, the mouse comes back to eat his way through the robe to free the lion. The Hired Hand (1997) -Aesop Prize (American Folklore Society) -Ten Best Illustrated Books of the Year (The New York Times) Story Summary: Retelling of an African American folk tale, this story involves a free black man who is looking for work. He finds an old sawmill and the owner hires him right away. However, the owner’s son discovers something mysterious about the new worker…he has magical powers. The son proceeds to do whatever he can to get rid of the new help, and then he tries to perform the magic himself, however he ends up killing a man in the process. The black man comes back to help save the owner’s son by telling the truth to the jury in his case.

John Henry (1994) -Caldecott Honor -Horn Book Award (Boston Globe) -Parent’s Choice Award Story Summary: This story is a retelling of The Legend of John Henry by Terry Small (this is just one of the other stories). It’s about a little boy who has the ability to do great things. He can build things and cut through mountains. All of the animals come to see him and even the sun does not want to go down. Eventually however, John Henry takes on a steam drill to see who can get to the other side of the mountain the quickest, and his heart bursts and he dies. All of the animals come to his funeral and end up learning that the dying part of life isn’t what’s important, but rather how well we lived that matters in the end. Major Works Continued…