Author Interview
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Lois Ehlert Children's Author/Artist Finds Inspiration Under Her Nose
Doris V. Cummins You might decide to make a book about your Dad or Mom like I did, or even about yourself," said Lois Ehlert, an award winning Milwaukee children's book author/artist. She held up Hands, her newest publication, then showed the hand-made original version crafted during a 1985 book-making class. Known earlier as an illustrator, Ehlert admitted the handmade book was really the catalyst for both illustrating and writing her own books. She claims "things under my nose" inspire her and pointed to a book about her sister Becky's cat chasing birds, another about how she ousted a squirrel that got into her downtown apartment, a fish, a circus story, and a book about a cuckoo based on a Mexican folktale. And, of course, the book Hands, her very special tribute to her parents. "Everyone who reads it thinks it's about their parents or themselves," she said. Ehlert doesn't often display the original Hands book but she used it to explain her unique creative process. An old, worn cigar box served as the container. She lined the interior with a navy flowered handkerchief. Real yellow and reddish-orange banded work gloves are the book covers. In-between are bits of things her father used—tools, a tape measure, a snippet of his apron with a pocket for tiny notebook and pencil, fishing lures (actually magnets), seed and flower packets. Her mother's interests included flowers and sewing. Together, Ehlert and her mother sewed and knitted felt cat toys and patchwork squares (she wore a jacket of the same bright squares). Her mother's gardening gloves, and finally, Ehlert's own childhood paint box and brushes symbolize the hope that her hands will join theirs in work. She even stapled the book together. The book really wasn't for publication, but her editor said, "Why not turn this into a children's book?" So she experimented with xeroxing actual gloves, photographing tools and creating collages for pages that vary in shape and size. The resulting hard-cover book appeals to small children or even beginning readers. Of course, Hands doesn't come in a cigar box like her original treasure, but it has fold-up pictures of a cigar box and tools included inside. Ehlert's other new-for-1997 acclaimed book is Cuckoo (Cucu), an adaptation of an Indian Mayan folklore tale. Her sizzling collage illustrations were inspired by Mexican crafts, folk art, fiesta banners, tin work, textiles, metal milagros, clay "tree of life" candelabra, and wooden toys and sculptures found in Oaxaco, a city in southeastern Mexico. Cuckoo is bilingual with the story told both in English and translated into Spanish by Gloria de Aragon Andujar. "Mexican children reading this book find other meanings in the illustrations because they live with these fiesta objects on a daily basis," she explained, but American children delight in the colors, shapes, and the story of the beautiful but lazy bird who singed its feathers saving the season's seed crop. Lois Ehlert grew up in Beaver Dam where her mother still resides. She attended Layton School of Art and received her fine arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. For illustrating Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault she won an honorary Caldecott award. A vegetable garden on the edge of Milwaukee that she shared with friends was the inspiration for Growing Vegetable Soup, her first writer illustrated book in 1987. Living near Lake Michigan, Ehlert loves to walk when ideas lag. After ideas come thumb-nail sketches, maybe several dummy books with typed text. For illustrations she may use collages of cut paper or glued-down objects or photographs. She tells the story of how she integrates her art into her daily life in Under My Nose, part of a Meet the Author series published in 1996. Ehlert's books are geared for children ranging in age from those who enjoy picture books to young readers and are available in book stores throughout the Milwaukee area. |
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