Pichon, Liz

PERSONAL: Married; children: three. Education: Attended Middlesex Polytechnic and Camberwell School of Art.

ADDRESSES: Home—Brighton, England. Office—Oakwood Lodge, 259 Preston Rd., Brighton BN1 6SE, England. Agent—David Higham Associates, 5-8 Lower John St., Golden Square, London W1F 9HA England.

CAREER: Jive Records, art director and designer. Freelance graphic designer.

AWARDS, HONORS: National Parent Book Award (with Mary Joslin), for Twilight Verses, Moonlight Rhymes.

WRITINGS:

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

My Big Brother, Boris, Scholastic (London, England), 2004.

The Very Ugly Bug, Tiger Tales (Wilton, CT), 2005.

Bored Bill, Tiger Tales (Wilton, CT), 2006.

Also author and illustrator of Square-Eyed Pat (short stories), Puffin.

ILLUSTRATOR

Christina Goodings, The Whizzy Bizzy Christmas Fun Book: Loads and Loads of Fun Things to Make and Do (nonfiction), Lion (Colorado Springs, CO), 1999.

Lois Rock, The Lord's Prayer for Children, Lion (Colorado Springs, CO), 1999.

Mary Joslin, compiler, Twilight Verses, Moonlight Rhymes (poetry), Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 1999.

Mary Joslin, compiler, God Bless the Moon: Rhymes and Blessings for Children, Augsburg Fortress Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Mary Joslin, compiler, Now the Day Is over: Rhymes and Blessings for Children, Augsburg Fortress Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Alison Boyle, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I Caught a Fish Alive!, David & Charles (London, England), 2000.

Alison Boyle, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, David & Charles (London, England), 2000.

Lois Rock, The Ten Commandments for Children, Lion Children's Books (Colorado Springs, CO), 2000.

Peter Patilla, Starting off with Time, Barron's (Hauppauge, NY), 2001.

Peter Patilla, Starting off with Counting, Barron's (Hauppauge, NY), 2001.

Peter Patilla, Starting off with Shapes, Barron's (Hauppauge, NY), 2001.

Peter Patilla, Starting off with Adding and Subtracting, Barron's (Hauppauge, NY), 2001.

Elizabeth Laird, Beautiful Bananas, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Liz Pichon studied graphic design and worked for some time as a graphic artist and designer. Her art has appeared on many products around the world, including towels, fabrics, greeting cards, and calendars. After establishing herself as a designer, Pichon moved on to illustrating children's books written by others. Eventually she began writing and illustrating her own titles, including The Very Ugly Bug and Bored Bill.

Pichon's illustrations for Mary Joslin's collection of children's poetry, Twilight Verses, Moonlight Rhymes, earned her a National Parents Book Award. The book is described as "uncommonly attractive" in a Publishers Weekly review. Twilight Verses, Moonlight Rhymes is made up of selections from contemporary writing and from English literature, all pertaining to bedtime themes. In some cases the art is blended with the text, and the various types of selections blend in a way that is both "soothing and thoughtful," commented the reviewer. School Library Journal contributor Selene S. Vasquez predicted that children would find Pichon's bright, bold illustrations "warm and appealing," and both reviewers judged the book to be a likely bedtime favorite.

For Beautiful Bananas, Pichon illustrates Elizabeth Laird's retelling of an African folktale about a girl who sets off across the jungle to take her grandfather a gift of bananas. On the way, a giraffe accidentally knocks the fruit out of the girl's arms and into a stream. The rest of the tale recounts the chain reaction of events, which eventually result in a happy ending. A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that Pichon's illustrations for Beautiful Bananas "teem with energy," both from the amusing heroine and the numerous animals who populate the book. "The benevolently exotic setting glows with lemon yellow light and lime-green foliage," reported the reviewer.

In The Very Ugly Bug, Pichon creates both text and illustrations, using bright, cartoon-style pictures to tell a new version of the classic "Ugly Duckling" story. The tale centers on an ugly bug who feels different from her friends and is unhappy about it. Feeling they are more beautiful than she is, she tries to emulate them. This backfires, however, when her flashy new appearance attracts predators who threaten her life. Reviewing the book for School Library Journal, Kathleen Simonetta predicted that "young children will be smiling as they discover the importance of being one's self."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of Twilight Verses, Moonlight Rhymes, p. 788.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2005, review of The Very Ugly Bug, p. 293.

Publishers Weekly, July 26, 1999, review of Twilight Verses, Moonlight Rhymes, p. 83; August 30, 1999, review of A Child's Garden of Verses, p. 77; March 15, 2004, review of Beautiful Bananas, p. 74.

School Library Journal, March, 2000, Selene S. Vasquez, review of Twilight Verses, Moonlight Rhymes, p. 226; May, 2005, Kathleen Simonetta, review of The Very Ugly Bug, p. 94.