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About Virginia Lee Burton: A Life In Art
Product Description Virginia Lee Burton’s name may bring to mind a steam shovel and a man called Mike Mulligan, a charming little house, and a snowplow named Katy. Yet to speak only of Burton’s achievements as a picture book creator would be to paint only part of the canvas of her life. She was also a dancer, an illustrator for an early Boston newspaper, and a musician, designer, sculptor, and printmaker. Together with her husband George Demetrios, Virginia enjoyed a full life. They raised two sons, gardened and kept sheep, entertained friends, and taught art and design classes. Led by Burton, the design classes made up of local artists evolved into the Folly Cove Designers. A cooperative of sorts, this group created elaborately intricate designs of rural scenes and other natural elements, which they would carve into linoleum and print onto fabrics. Simultaneously, Burton began her career in children’s book writing and illustration. The early success of her first books, Choo Choo, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and The Little House, as well as other books was an auspicious beginning for Burton, and the books have become classic and lasting examples of the fine art of children’s book creation. Well-known children’s literature expert Barbara Elleman introduces the exuberant life, art, and books of Virginia Lee Burton, complemented by family photographs, illustrations, and other images of her inspiring work. From Publishers Weekly Virginia Lee Burton: A Life in Art by Barbara Elleman looks at the artist close up, from her early stints as a dancer and newspaper illustrator, to the founding of Folly Cove Designers (where she was a top producer of hand-crafted textiles), to her career as a writer and illustrator of books for children. Family photos, original sketches and reproductions of Burton's manuscripts (with text recorded by a manual typewriter) personalize the offering. Ages 12-up. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal The creator of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1939) and The Little House (1942, both Houghton) played many roles during her too-brief life: dancer, artist, exacting designer and teacher, craftswoman, illustrator, shepherdess, wife, mother, and ebullient hostess. This appreciative biography portrays a gifted artist balancing a successful professional career with family responsibilities at a time when most women chose one over the other. Elleman examines Burton's early work and investigates the genesis of each of her seven picture books, from Choo Choo (1937) to the epic, carefully researched Life Story (1962, both Houghton). She shows how Burton's perfectionism shaped her art, which is characterized by organic movement, rooted in the rhythms of nature, and has "survival through change" as its constant theme. A generous selection of family photos and full-color art from Burton's published and unpublished work, laid out in a handsome, open page design, accompanies the text. Research notes, an index, and an extensive bibliography are appended. This welcome tribute to a beloved artist should be a first purchase. Margaret A. Chang, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist This book portrays the colorful, exuberant life of Burton, one of the classic writers and illustrators of children's literature. The full description of the process by which she created her books Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and The Little House, among other titles, is a major triumph of this outstanding biography. In addition to producing first-rate children's books, Burton was a dancer, sculptor, musician, gardener, and mother. These aspects of her life are given their full due here. Interviews with Burton's family and colleagues and lavish illustrations add much to the richness of the account. The author's extensive bibliography (she consulted archives as well as published works) and detailed index round out
