Leo Lionni

1. Leo Lionni Author and Illustrator Project Shelby Curry

2. Biography • Leo Lionni (May 5, 1910 - October 11, 1999) was an author and illustrator of children's books. Born in the Netherlands, he moved to Italy and lived there before moving to the United States in 1939, where he worked as an art director for several advertising agencies, and then for Fortune magazine. He returned to Italy in 1962 and started writing and illustrating children's books. In 1962 his book Inch by Inch was awarded the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. • Lionni's father was a Sephardic Jew who worked in the diamond business and his mother was an opera singer. He married Nora Maffi, the daughter of the founder of the Italian Communist Party, and they had two sons, and later, grandchildren by both sons. • Leo Lionni died October 11, 1999, at his home in Tuscany, Italy, at the age of 89.

3. From 1931 to 1939 he was a well-known and respected painter in Italy, where he worked in the Futurism and avant-garde style. In 1935 he received a doctorate in economics from the University of Genoa. During the later part of this period, Lionni devoted himself more and more to advertising design. • In 1939 he moved to Philadelphia and began full-time work in advertising, at which he was extremely successful, acquiring accounts from Ford Motors and Chrysler Plymouth, among others. He commissioned art from Saul Steinberg, the then neophyte Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Willem de Kooning, and Fernand Leger. • In 1948 he accepted a position as art director for Fortune, which he held until 1960. • In 1960 he moved back to Italy, where he began his career as a children's book author and illustrator. Lionni produced more than 40 children's books. He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts (A.I.G.A.) Gold Medal and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner—for Inch by Inch (1961), Swimmy (1964), Frederick (1968), and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse (1970). He also won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1965. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Lionni

4. Book Bibliography • Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse • The Alphabet Tree • The Biggest House in the World • A Busy Year • A Color of His Own • Colors to Talk About • Cornelius: A Fable • An Extraordinary Egg • Fish is Fish • A Flea Story • Frederick • Geraldine, the Music Mouse • The Greentail Mouse • I Want to Stay Here! I Want to Go There!: A Flea Story • In the Rabbitgarden • Inch by Inch Use this link to view A Color of His Own http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrE1LJjM8gI

5. It's Mine • Let's Make Rabbits: A Fable • Let's Play • Letters to Talk About • Little Blue and Little Yellow • Matthew's Dream • Mouse Days: A Book of Seasons • Mr. McMouse • Nadarin • Nicolas, Where Have You Been? • Numbers to Talk About • On My Beach There are Many Pebbles

6. Parallel Botany • Pezzettino • Pulgada a Pulgada • Six Crows: A Fable • Swimmy • Theodore and the Talking Mushroom • Tico and the Golden Wings • Tillie and the Wall • Una Piedra Extraordinaria • What?: Pictures to Talk About • When?: Pictures to Talk About • Where?: Pictures to Talk About • Who?: Pictures to Talk About • Words to Talk About

7. List of Awards and Recognition Swimmy- An ALA Notable Children’s Books- A New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year- A Caldecott Honor Book in 1964 - Named by the National Education Association one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" based on a 2007 online poll Fredrick- A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year- An ALA Notable Children’s Book- A Library of Congress Children’s Book of the Year- A New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year- A Caldecott Honor Book in 1968 - Named by the National Education Association one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" based on a 2007 online poll Inch By Inch - A Caldecott Honor Book in 1961 - A New York Times Best Illustrated Book Little Blue and Little Yellow - A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year, 1959 Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse - A Caldecott Honor Book in 1970 http://www.randomhousekids.com/brand/leo-lionni/

8. Swimmy • Summary A little black fish is separated from his school when he is left the sole survivor of a tuna attack. He soon finds a school of little red fish that are too afraid to come out of hiding to enjoy the beautiful ocean that they live in. Swimmy devises a plan that allows them to work together to camouflage themselves from enemies while playing and exploring their underwater world. • Analysis This Caldecott Award winning story has beautiful illustrations and an engaging plot that will keep children entertained from cover to cover. Lionni uses highly descriptive words to describe the undersea creatures that allow readers to make meaningful connections and visualize what Swimmy’s world looks like. Students learn how working together can create friendships and solve difficult problems.

9. Inch By Inch • Summary A very cleaver and useful inchworm proves his worth by measuring things. He measures the tail of a robin, the neck of a flamingo, a toucan’s beak, the legs of a heron, the tail of a pheasant, and the whole hummingbird. When a nightingale demands that the inchworm measure her song or she will eat him, the quick thinking inchworm comes up with an escape plan. • Analysis Leo Lionni uses collages and patterns to enhance the beautiful illustrations in this book and the subject matter is charming and identifiable. We all face problems in which we must think creatively to come to a solution and this story does a great job of showing how a creature as small as an inchworm can use his intelligence to outwit a creature much larger than himself. This book offers teachers an opportunity to create a connection between literature and mathematics in a possible measurement extension activity.

10. Little Blue and Little Yellow • Summary Little Blue and Little Yellow are friends. They love to spend time together and have fun playing and being friends. One day they can not find one another and are deeply saddened to be without their friend. When they are reunited they are overjoyed and discover that something very magical happens when they hug – they become green! • Analysis This charming story touches on the topics of colors, friendships, and acceptance all while being visually stimulating with its simplistic torn paper shapes representing the characters in the story. Children can relate to the topic very easily and teachers will enjoy the many opportunities to create engaging extension activities.

11. Activity Student(s) will re-tell the story of Little Blue and Little Yellow using balls of colored play-dough. Grade Level: Kindergarten Click the video to watch this lesson!

12. Temple, Martinez, and Yokota state that, “Today’s picture books are filled with good art - art that invites repeated lingering, elicits a depth of feeling, and promotes profound thinking” (Temple et al.). A four-time Caldecott award winner, Leo Lionni is a master at creating images that engage readers and activate their imaginations. His vividly colored torn paper animals are easily relatable and his stories deal with topics that are of high interest to children. Temple et al. mention that, “Lionni continued to write and illustrate many books whose characters embodied concepts important in human relationships; perhaps this accounts for their continued popularity today.” This highly relatable content makes Lionni’s stories feel personal. Lionni’s books fit the criteria of being exemplary pieces of literature in that they are very well written, the language is skillfully crafted, the illustrations communicate not just literally but symbolically through the use of colors, framing, shading, and other visual elements, and the text and pictures seem to clarify, extend, and enhance each other. Temple, C., Martinez, M., & Yokota, J. (2011). Children’s books in children’s hands: An introduction to their literature. Boston, MA: Peason Education, Inc