Bryant, Laura J.

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Bryant, Laura J.

Personal

Born in FL; married Joshua Miller (a custom furniture maker). Education: Maryland Institute College of Art, degree (studied painting, printmaking, and sculpture).

Addresses

Home and office—Mathias, WV. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Illustrator and designer. Worked previously in the display industry; children's book illustrator, 1997—.

Awards, Honors

International Reading Association/Children's Book Council Children's Choice Award, 2005, for Smudge Bunny, by Bernie Segal; National Parenting Publications Honors Award, for If You Were My Baby, by Fran Hodgkins; Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year designations, for Where Fish Go in Winter, and Other Great Mysteries by Amy Goldman Koss, A Fairy in a Dairy by Lucy Nolan, and If You Were My Baby by Jodgkins; American Library Association Top-Ten Picks for Early Readers, for Where Fish Go in Winter, and Other Great Mysteries.

Illustrator

Dan Piparo, Listen for the Rattle, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1999.

Caroline Walsh, What's the Trick?, Perfection Learning Corp. (Logan, IA), 1999.

Nancy Tolson, reteller, Tales of Africa: Retold Timeless Classics, Perfection Learning (Logan, IA), 1999.

Lisa Tawn Bergren, God Gave Us You, Waterbrook Press (Euless, TX), 2000.

Eleanor Hudson, The Special Valentine, Little Simon (New York, NY), 2000.

Eleanor Hudson, A Valentine Bouquet, Little Simon (New York, NY), 2000.

Akimi Gibson, Lewis Latimer: An Inventive Mind, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 2000.

David Haynes, Gumma Wars, Perfection Learning (Logan, IA), 2001.

Teresa Turner, Every Flower Is Beautiful, Steck-Vaughn (Orlando, FL), 2001.

Lisa Tawn Bergren, God Gave Us Two, Waterbrook Press (Euless, TX), 2001.

David Haynes, Business as Usual, Perfection Learning (Logan, IA), 2001.

Paula J. Reece, reteller, Tales of William Shakespeare: The Comedies, Perfection Learning (Logan, IA), 2001.

Susan Nastasic, The Galaxy Diner, Perfection Learning (Logan, IA), 2001.

Amy Goldman Koss, Where Fish Go in Winter, and Other Great Mysteries, Dial (New York, NY), 2002.

Melissa Blackwell Burke, One Farm, Steck-Vaughn (Orlando, FL), 2002.

Candice F. Ransom, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 2002.

David Haynes, Who's Responsible?, Perfection Learning (Logan, IA), 2002.

Steve Metzger, Five Little Penguins Slipping on the Ice, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2003.

David Haynes, The Kevin Show, Perfection Learning (Logan, IA), 2003.

Lucy Nolan, A Fairy in a Dairy, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2003.

Patricia J. Murphy, I Need You, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Mary Ann McCabe Riehle, M Is for Mountain State: A West Virginia Alphabet, Sleeping Bear Press (Chelsea, MI), 2004.

Bernie Siegel, Smudge Bunny, Starseed Press (Tiburon, CA), 2004.

Steve Metzger, Five Little Bats Flying in the Night, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004.

Steve Metzger, Five Little Sharks Swimming in the Sea, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004.

Joanne Barkan, Goodnight, Summer Lights, Reader's Digest (New York, NY), 2005.

Fran Hodgkins, If You Were My Baby: A Wildlife Lullaby, Dawn Publications (Nevada City, CA), 2005.

Sean Callahan, The Bear Hug, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 2006.

Steve Metzger, Five Little Bunnies Hopping on a Hill, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2006.

Candice F. Ransom, Tractor Day, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 2007.

Lisa Tawn Bergren, How Big Is God?, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2008.

Lisa McCourt, My Forever Valentine, Cartwheel Books, 2008.

Adaptations

Five Little Penguins Slipping on the Ice was adapted for audiocassette, read by Steven Blane, Scholastic, 2002; Five Little Bunnies Hopping on a Hill was adapted for audiocassette and CD, read by Kirsten Krohn, Scholastic, 2006.

Sidelights

West Virginia-based illustrator Laura J. Bryant features elements from her region's natural environment into her watercolor artwork and incorporates animal characters into most of her illustrations. Among the picture books featuring Bryant's art are The Bear Hug by Sean Callaghan, Smudge Bunny by Bernie Seigel, and Where Fish Go in the Winter, and Other Great Mysteries, the last a collection of poems for beginning readers written by Amy Goldman Koss. Stylistically, Bryant's illustrations are cited for their delicate quality and air of whimsy; as a Kirkus Reviews critic commented in appraising her contributions to Fran Hodgkins's If You Were My Baby: A Wildlife Lullaby, Bryant's "illustrations are beautifully detailed and yet softly muted at the same time."

In discussing Bryant's illustrations, reviewers often comment on her ability to create humorous, detailed, and engaging images with instant child appeal. For example, a Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that Bryant's artwork for Lucy Nolan's A Fairy in a Dairy brings to life the story's rural, small-town setting via "detailed, meticulously tinted watercolors" in which "every picture bubbles with a spunky, homespun energy." A contributor to Kirkus Reviews, in discussing Where Fish Go in Winter, and Other Great Mysteries, noted that Bryant's illustrations "add to the humorous flair of the poetry, with buggy-eyed fish, cuddly cats, and a mysterious man in the moon." Leslie Barban, in a School Library Journal review of the same book, also recognized the playfulness of Bryant's pictures, commenting that "the funny, spirited illustrations, well executed in watercolors, will make children chuckle."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 2003, Connie Fletcher, review of A Fairy in a Dairy, p. 505; January 1, 2007, Randall Enos, review of Tractor Day, p. 116.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2002, review of Where Fish Go in Winter, and Other Great Mysteries, p. 1134; September 15, 2003, review of A Fairy in a Dairy, p. 1179; August 15, 2005, review of If You Were My Baby: A Wildlife Lullaby, p. 915; February 15, 2006, review of The Bear Hug, p. 179.

Publishers Weekly, December 15, 2003, review of A Fairy in a Dairy, p. 72; March 6, 2006, review of The Bear Hug, p. 72.

School Library Journal, November, 2003, Leslie Barban, review of A Fairy in a Dairy, p. 110; March, 2006, Angela J. Reynolds, review of The Bear Hug, p. 185.