About Jean Cardinale

Jean Cardinale is the head of the UConn Libraries' Public Programming, Marketing & Communications efforts.

Tomie dePaola featured in latest Kearsarge magazine

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Jean Cardinale

[slideshow_deploy id=’705′]One of our favorite NCLC donors, Tomie dePaola, is the cover guy for the winter 2012/2013 Kearsarge magazine, with a great article inside written by John Walters accompanied by lovely photography by Tom McNeill. Now 78 years old, Tomie has published something like 250 books. His newest book, The birds of Bethlehem, is a retelling of the Nativity story from a bird’s perspective. John Walters interviewed Tomie about his life and love of reading and art, his teaching career, and his outlook on the many awards he has received. His favorite, Walters reports, is that his hometown of Meriden, Connecticut, named its children’s library after him.

The Angel for Tomie’s 2012 Christmas card is a “re-imagining” of one of his designs for a hand-screened greeting card business in Vermont in the late 1950’s. Tomie has changed the background, added color and lettering, and reports, “It’s an interesting thing to take an image that is fifty-plus years old and re-visiting it.”

Tomie’s house is full of ornaments he has designed himself, in addition to a large collection of folk art from around the world. And, Walters reports, “plenty of poinsettias.”

CT Children’s Book Fair a smashing success

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Jean Cardinale

And a great time was had by all at the Connecticut Children’s Book Fair this past weekend! Many thanks to our fantastic authors Harry Bliss, Bryan Collier, Katie Davis, Bruce Degen, Cathryn Falwell, Rita Williams-Garcia, Susan Hood, Tommy Greenwald, Leo Landry, Patricia MacLachlan, Barbara McClintock, Leslea Newman, Matthew Reinhart, Sergio Ruzzier, Robert Sabuda, Jerry Spinelli and Paul O. Zelinsky. Our attendees, little and big, raved about the presentations and how excited they were to get their books signed. The “This is Teen” panel sponsored by Scholastic featured Judy Blundell, Kim Harrington, Kirsty McKay, and Sonia Manzano. Thanks for the great advice for our young writers!

Katie Davis exhibit opens at the Dodd Center

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Jean Cardinale

The Katie Davis exhibit is up and running in the Dodd Center Gallery. Original materials from the Davis Papers for her books The Curse of Addy McMahon, Party Animals, Mabel the Tooth Fairy, Who Hoots and Who Hops are featured as well as books and some great “Scared Guy” items. The exhibit runs from October 29, 2012 to February 22, 2013. There will be a reception and gallery talk by Katie on Saturday, Nov. 10, from 2-4 in the Dodd Center. Her books will be for sale at the Book Fair. For more information to go bookfair.uconn.edu.

Katie Davis exhibit, Dodd Center Gallery

Katie Davis exhibit, Northeast Children’s Literature Collection

Tomie dePaola receives Society of Illustrators’ Lifetime Achievement Award

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Jean Cardinale

Congratulations, Tomie! According to the Society’s home page, “The Lifetime Achievement Awards were established in 2005 by past chairs of The Original Art. Nominees must be judged to have a body of work that documents an innovative and pioneering contribution to the field of children’s book illustration, and final selection is made by artists whose work has been juried into the previous year’s show. ”

From an early age, Tomie and his parents knew he would be an artist. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York where he studied Art. His Master of Fine Arts degree was received from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. He has also been awarded three honorary Doctorate degrees from separate Universities and Colleges.

Tomie’s career as a professional artist and designer, former teacher of art, children’s author and illustrator is expansive. He has designed greeting cards, posters, magazine and catalogue covers, record album covers, and theater costumes and sets. He has illustrated over two hundred books, and written over seventy. Tomie has won numerous awards, including the prestigious American Library Association’s Caldecott Honor Award for Strega Nona (1976), the University of Minnesota’s Kerlan Award (1981), the Catholic Library Association’s Regina Medal (1983), and the Smithsonian Institution’s Smithson Medal (1990).

Tomie’s books have been published world-wide in fifteen different languages and he has over five million copies in print. Many of his books are largely autobiographical such as Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs, Tom, and The Art Lesson. Tomie currently resides in New Hampshire.

The Tomie dePaola Collection contains artwork, sketch books and paintings from the beginning of his career, as well as many different editions from each book he wrote or illustrated, including foreign editions. Some of the languages represented are Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, French Canadian, German, Afrikaans, and even Zulu. Original illustrations from books, as well as paintings and other art work spanning from his childhood years are included. The Collection also contains marketing items from his books, such as towels, porcelain jewelry containers, music boxes, paper goods (wrapping paper, cups & plates), quilts from schools, and a large selection of Christmas tree ornaments designed by Tomie for the Marshall Fields Christmas trees in Chicago.

Well done, Tomie!

–Terri J. Goldich, Curator

Levy and Marshall Travel and Research Grants available

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Jean Cardinale

Archives, Special Collections and Digital Curation of the University of Connecticut Libraries, housed in the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, supports the research of scholars throughout the United States and from abroad. In recognition of the substantial contribution Ms. Billie M. Levy has made to the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection and the genre of children’s literature in general, an annual travel and research grant has been established to facilitate the use of the Collection by worthy applicants. Travel Grants are intended to encourage use of unique materials in the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection and to provide partial support to researchers who must travel long distances to consult them. Research Grants are intended for those researchers in the vicinity who need financial support in order to undertake a research project within the Collection. Follow these links for Levy Grant details and application.

James Marshall Fellowship Grants are intended to encourage use of unique materials in the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection and to provide significant financial support to a promising author and/or illustrator at the beginning of their career to assist him or her in the creation of new children’s literature. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis to promising authors and illustrators who plan to conduct research at the Dodd Research Center. Follow these links for Marshall Fellowship details and application.

Susan Raab hosts new blog “Artstomarket”

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Jean Cardinale

Susan Raab is interviewing some of the best in the arts business and publishing their fascinating advice on her new blog “Artstomarket.” Read great tips like “do’s and don’ts in the arts business” by Roxie Munro and Steve Light, advice on networking and making yourself “visible and indispensable” from Michael Astrachan, President and Creative Director, XVIVO LLC. This great blog was created in conjunction with the workshops coming up at UConn on September 28, 2012, for students in the morning and folks working in the creative arts in the afternoon.

“Arts Market Discovery” Workshop for Students

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Jean Cardinale

“Arts Market Discovery” 9/28/2012 Dodd Research Center, Storrs, CT

Artists, writers, and performers, join other University of Connecticut students at an intensive 3-hour workshop to investigate marketing strategies and outreach, messaging, and goal setting as you set off on your career in the arts. “Arts Market Discovery” is free and sponsored by the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection, The Straightors Fund, and the Aetna Chair of Writing, English Department at the University of Connecticut. Come prepared with a short description of a product or a concept you hope to promote. Susan Raab, CEO of Raab Associates, will help you identify your most marketable skills. “Arts Market Discovery” will be presented in Konover Auditorium, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, on September 28, 2012, from 9am to noon.

A second session in the afternoon will cover roles social media, public relations and other marketing tools play in discovering your public persona. Students are welcome to stay for the afternoon program too. Please register separately for each session. Attendance is limited for both sessions so reserve your seat now with jean.nelson@lib.uconn.edu.

“Arts Market Discovery” Workshop 9/28/2012 Dodd Research Center, Storrs, CT

NCLC and Friends Sponsor Workshop

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Jean Cardinale

“Crafting a Public Identity” Workshop 9/28/2012 Dodd Research Center, Storrs, CT

“Crafting a public identity: a workshop for creative artists, writers and performers on navigating the arts business maze” will be presented at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center on September 28, 2012, from 1-3:30pm in Konover Auditorium. Susan Raab, CEO of Raab Associates, will moderate a panel consisting of Charles Coe, Program Officer at the Massachusetts Cultural Council; Sharon Butler, Professor at Eastern Connecticut State University; Jeff Raab, 2012 graduate of NYU’s Steinhardt Musical Theatre Program; Roxie Munro, author/illustrator of over 35 children’s books; and Laura Rossi Totten, a book publishing and public relations expert.

The panel will discuss the strategies, techniques and tools used to build an effective marketing presence. Sponsored by the Aetna Chair of Writing, English Department at the University of Connecticut, The Straightors Fund, and the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection at the UConn Libraries. Attendance is limited, so reserve now with jean.nelson@lib.uconn.edu.

“Crafting a Public Identity” Workshop 9/28/2012 Dodd Research Center, Storrs, CT

New book on Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnson out!

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Jean Cardinale

Dr. Philip Nel’s newest work, Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children’s Literature, has been published by the University Press of Mississippi. This book is the culmination of years of work to bring to light the lives and times of the man who created Harold and the purple crayon and the woman who, with Maurice Sendak, created A Hole is to dig. Over the course of their marriage and collaborations, they created over 75 books and influenced some of the best in the business, including Chris van Allsburg who thanked Harold and his purple crayon in his Caldecott acceptance speech in 1981. Nel points out that while Krauss and Johnson were “never quite household names…Their circle of friends and acquaintances included some of the important cultural figures of the twentieth century” (pg.7) . This impeccably researched work which literally took Nel a decade to write, is arranged in 28 chapters, with extensive notes, bibliography, index and illustrations, some reprinted from published works and some from the three dozen archives he visited including the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection. In his epilogue, Nel writes, “Crockett Johnson shows us that a crayon can create a world, while Ruth Krauss demonstrates that dreams can be as large as a giant orange carrot. Whenever children and grown-ups seek books that invite them to think and to imagine, they need look no further than Johnson and Krauss. There, they will find a very special house, where holes are to dig, walls are a canvas, and people are artists, drawing paths that take them anywhere they want to go” (pg. 275).

Congratulations, Dr. Nel, on an exceptional work of scholarship.

Philip Nel, Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss (Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2012). ISBN 978-1-61703-624-8. EBook 978-1-61703-625-5.

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: Page from Crockett Johnson’s “Harold and the Big Day,” Good Housekeeping, 1957. Philip Nel, Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2012). No unauthorized use allowed.

: Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnson on their front porch, 1959. Philip Nel, Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2012). No unauthorized use allowed.

: Ruth Krauss, “Self-portrait by Ruth Krauss: the Artist as a Young Nut.” Image courtesy of the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection. Philip Nel, Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2012). No unauthorized use allowed.

Paul Galdone greeting card illustrations donated to NCLC

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Jean Cardinale

Ms. A. Siegel of Illinois has donated four illustrations for greeting cards created in the 1960s by Paul Galdone. Galdone was born in 1907 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary and immigrated to the United States in 1921. He studied art at the Art Student’s League and New York School for Industrial Design. After serving in World War II in the U.S. Army, Engineers, the author and illustrator of children’s books worked as a bus boy, electrician’s helper, and fur dryer, in addition to four years in the art department at Doubleday (NY). His work was awarded runner-up for the Caldecott Medal (Eve Titus, Anatole, 1957 and Anatole and the Cat, 1958) and was selected by the American Library Association for its Notable Books program (The Little Red Hen, Winter Danger, and Flaming Arrows). He died of a heart attack on 7 November 1986, in Nyack, NY.

UConn Library NE Children's Lit Collection

Author Archives: Jean Cardinale