Akib, Jamel

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Akib, Jamel

Personal

Male.

Addresses

Home and office—Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England. Agent—Illustration Ltd., 2 Brooks Court, Cringle St., London SW8 5BX, England.

Career

Illustrator.

Awards, Honors

Marion Vannett Ridgway Honor Book, 2004, for Monsoon by Uma Krishnaswami.

Illustrator

Uma Krishnaswami, Monsoon, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2003.

Uma Krishnaswami, Bringing Asha Home, Lee & Low Books (New York, NY), 2006.

"CLASSIC STARTS" SERIES

Martin Woodside, reteller, Gulliver's Travels (based on the story by Jonathan Swift), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2006.

Kathleen Olmstead, reteller, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2006.

Deanna McFadden, reteller, Frankenstein (based on the story by Mary Shelley), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2006.

Tania Zamorsky, reteller, Dracula (based on the story by Bram Stoker), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2006.

Deanna McFadden, reteller, Robinson Crusoe (based on the story by Daniel Defoe), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2006.

Oliver Ho, reteller, The Red Badge of Courage (based on the story by Steven Crane), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2006.

Deanna McFadden, reteller, Around the World in 80 Days (based on the story by Jules Verne), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

Deanna McFadden, reteller, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

Kathleen Olmstead, reteller, Pollyanna (based on the story by Eleanor Hodgman Porter), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

Kathleen Olmstead, reteller, The Prince and the Pauper (based on the story by Mark Twain), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

Oliver Ho, reteller, The Three Musketeers (based on the story by Alexandre Dumas, père), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

Chris Sasaki, reteller, The War of the Worlds (based on the story by H.G. Wells), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

Chris Tait, reteller, The Swiss Family Robinson (based on the story by Johann Wyss), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

Martin Woodside, reteller, The Wind in the Willows (based on the story by Kenneth Grahame), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

Lisa Church, reteller, Heidi (based on the story by Johanna Spyri), Sterling Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

Jamel Akib uses chalk pastels in the majority of his illustrations for children's books and his art has been recognized by critics for its dramatic hues. Akib's striking color combinations grace the pages of several children's titles, including Sterling Publishing's "Classic Starts" series, which adapts well-known literary classics into simplified illustrated stories for children. Akib's artwork also appears in Bringing Asha Home and Monsoon, two children's books by Uma Krishnaswami.

Monsoon captures a family's anticipation as members look forward t the upcoming monsoon season and the relief it will bring from the sweltering heat of India. In portraying India's torrid weather, Akib uses opaque color patterns, a technique critics noted pairs well with

Krishnawami's lilting text. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote that the illustrator "suggests the heaviness of the air" with "almost dreamlike" images created using "thick strokes and [a] hazy palette." In Kirkus Reviews a contributor commented on Akib's use of "saturated colors" that "fill every bit of every page." In addition to his use of bold colors, critics have also remarked on Akib's ability to capture the emotional dimensions of the characters he illustrates. In School Library Journal, Liza Graybill observed that Akib's illustrations for Monsoon "make stunning use of extreme perspectives" as the characters progress from awaiting the monsoon, to fearing the weather's powerful force, to celebrating the rainy season's passing.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2003, Abby Nolan, review of Monsoon, p. 129; February 15, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of Robinson Crusoe, p. 99; October 15, 2006, Linda Perkins, review of Bringing Asha Home, p. 54.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January, 2004, Deborah Stevenson, review of Monsoon, p. 196.

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2003, review of Monsoon, p. 1226; August 15, 2006, review of Bringing Asha Home, p. 845.

Publishers Weekly, November 24, 2003, review of Monsoon, p. 63.

School Library Journal, December, 2003, Liza Graybill, review of Monsoon, p. 118; Julie R. Ranelli, March, 2005, review of Bringing Asha Home, p. 98; Kathleen T. Isaacs, review of Monsoon, p. 67; April, 2006, Elizabeth Fernandez, review of Frankenstein, p. 144; November, 2006, Julie R. Ranelli, review of Bringing Asha Home, p. 98.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), October 19, 2003, review of Monsoon, p. 3.