Following the same format used in the highly engaging first two volumes of this series, Pat Cummings has interviewed 13 illustrators of children’s books and asked them each to respond to the same questions. The result is 13 distinctive profiles that will give young readers insight into the artists as individuals, the work each one does, and the field of book illustration. Among the questions the artists answer: Where do you get your ideas? What is a normal day like for you? Where do you work? Do you have any children? Any pets? What do you enjoy drawing the most? Do you ever put people you know in the pictures? What do you use to make your pictures? How did you get to do your first book? Each profile begins with a brief narrative by the artist titled “My Story.” Photographs of each artist as a child and as an adult accompany each profile, along with a reproduction of a piece of their artwork from childhood and one of their children’s book illustrations. A listing of four or five of each artist’s favorite examples of their own work in children’s book illustration rounds out this fine collection of profiles that Cummings, herself a children’s book illustrator and author, has compiled. (Ages 8-12)

Fourteen distinguished picture book artists talk about their early art experiences, answer questions most frequently asked by children, and offer encouragement to those who would like to become artists.