Farnsworth, Bill 1958–

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Farnsworth, Bill 1958–

Personal

Born October 11, 1958, in Norwalk, CT; son of John M. and Gloria Farnsworth; married Deborah M. Jajer (a school teacher), October 6, 1984; children: Allison Marie, Caitlin Elizabeth. Education: Ringling School of Art, degree (with honors), 1980.

Addresses

Office—99 Merryall Rd., New Milford, CT 06776. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Illustrator, beginning 1980.

Illustrator

The Illustrated Children's Bible, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1993, portion published as The Illustrated Children's Old Testament, 1993.

Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler, French Portraits, Raintree Steck-Vaughn (Austin, TX), 1994.

Sanna Baker, Grandpa Is a Flyer, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1994.

Cheryl Ryan, Sally Arnold, Cobblehill Books/Dutton (New York, NY), 1995.

Janice Cohn, The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1995.

Ronald Kidd, Grandpa's Hammer, Habitat for Humanity International (Americus, GA), 1995.

Mary Quattlebaum, reteller, Jesus and the Children, Time-Life Kids (Alexandria, VA), 1995.

Darice Bailer, The Last Rail: The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad, Soundprints (Norwalk, CT), 1996.

Sanna Anderson Baker, Mississippi Going North, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1996.

Andrew Gutelle, reteller, David and Goliath, Time-Life Kids (Alexandria, VA), 1996.

Nan Ferring Nelson, My Days with Anica, Lothrop (New York, NY), 1996.

Kathleen V. Kudlinski, Shannon: A Chinatown Adventure, San Francisco, 1880, Aladdin (New York, NY), 1997.

Kathleen V. Kudlinski, Shannon, Lost and Found: San Francisco, 1880, Aladdin (New York, NY), 1997.

Kathleen V. Kudlinski, Shannon: The Schoolmarm Mysteries, San Francisco, 1880, Aladdin (New York, NY), 1997.

Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, My Name Is York, Rising Moon (Flagstaff, AZ), 1997.

Susan Korman, Horse Raid: An Arapaho Camp in the 1800s, Soundprints (Norwalk, CT), 1998.

Steven Kroll, Robert Fulton: From Submarine to Steamboat, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1999.

Marcia K. Vaughan, Abbie against the Storm: The True Story of a Young Heroine and a Lighthouse, Beyond Words (Portland, OR), 1999.

Claire Sidhom Matze, The Stars in My Geddoh's Sky, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1999.

Richard Ammon, Conestoga Wagons, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2000.

Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, When Abraham Talked to the Trees, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2000.

Avi, Prairie School: A Story, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

Linda Oatman High, A Humble Life: Plain Poems, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2001.

Nan Gurley, Twice Yours: A Parable of God's Gift, Zonderkidz (Grand Rapids, MI), 2001.

Janet Beeler Shaw, Meet Kaya: An American Girl, Pleasant Company (Middleton, WI), 2002.

Janet Beeler Shaw, Kaya and Lone Dog: A Friendship Story, Pleasant Company (Middleton, WI), 2002.

Janet Beeler Shaw, Kaya Shows the Way: A Sister Story, Pleasant Company (Middleton, WI), 2002.

Janet Beeler Shaw, Kaya's Hero: A Story of Giving, Pleasant Company (Middleton, WI), 2002.

Janet Beeler Shaw, Changes for Kaya: A Story of Courage, Pleasant Company (Middleton, WI), 2002.

Janet Beeler Shaw, Kaya's Escape: A Survival Story, Pleasant Company (Middleton, WI), 2002.

David A. Adler, A Hero and the Holocaust; The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2002.

Gary D. Schmidt, The Great Stone Face: A Retelling of a Tale by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.

Lenice Strohmeier, Mingo, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2002.

Darice Bailer, Railroad!: A Story of the Transcontinental Railroad, Soundprints (Norwalk, CT), 2003.

Pam Flowers, Big-enough Anna: The Little Sled Dog Who Braved the Arctic, Alaska Northwest (Anchorage, AK), 2003.

Karyn Henley, Gram's Song, Tyndale House (Wheaton, IL), 2003.

Nancy LeSourd, Christy: Christmastime at Cutter Gap (based on a novel by Catherine Marshall), Zonderkidz (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.

Janet Beeler Shaw, Kaya and the River Girl, Pleasant Company (Middletown, WI), 2003.

Janet Beeler Shaw, Kaya's Story Collection, Pleasant Company (Middletown, WI), 2003.

Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, One Fine Day: A Radio Play, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.

Richard Ammon, Valley Forge, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2004.

Tracy Leininger Craven, Our Flag Was Still There: The Story of the Star-spangled Banner, His Seasons (San Antonio, TX), 2004.

Julie Dunlap, John Muir and Stickeen: An Icy Adventure with a No-Good Dog, NorthWord (Chanhassen, MN), 2004.

Deborah Hopkinson, Adventure in Gold Town, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2004.

Deborah Hopkinson, The Long Trail, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2004.

Deborah Hopkinson, Sailing for Gold, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2004.

Nan Gurley, What Color Is Love?: A Parable of God's Gifts, Zonderkidz (Grand Rapids, MI), 2005.

Laurie Lears, Megan's Birthday Tree: A Story about Open Adoption, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 2005.

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, Bad River Boys: A Meeting of the Lakota Sioux with Lewis and Clark, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2005.

Susan Goldman Rubin, The Flag with Fifty-six Stars: A Gift from the Survivors of Mauthausen, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2005.

Janet Beeler Shaw, Kaya's Short Story Collection, Pleasant Company (Middleton, WI), 2006.

David A. Adler, Heroes for Civil Rights, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2007.

Ruth Vander Zee, Eli Remembers, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2007.

Bill Wise, Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer, Lee & Low (New York, NY), 2007.

Joseph Bruchac, Buffalo Song, Lee & Low (New York, NY), 2008.

Linda Oatman High, Tenth Avenue Cowboy, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2008.

Susan Goldman Rubin, Simon Wiesenthal: He Never Forgot, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2009.

Sidelights

A painter, Bill Farnsworth has contributed illustrations to numerous works for children written by prominent authors such as Avi, Steven Kroll, and David A. Adler. Farnsworth often receives high marks from reviewers for his oil paintings, which are recognized for their ability to harmonize with the author's text. "The artist excels at landscapes, but his faces are also wonderfully impressive," wrote Kay Weisman in reviewing Farnsworth's work for Gary D. Schmidt's The Great Stone Face: A Retelling of a Tale by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Interestingly, Farnsworth did not begin his career as a painter in oils. "I started out drawing cartoons," he explained to James Roland for the Sarasota Herald Tribune. "I would draw Donald Duck really well. I'd sell them to other kids for a nickel a piece until the teacher caught me and made me sit in the back of the class and give all the money back."

In his work for Cheryl Ryan's Sally Arnold, Farnsworth brings to life the book's story about young Jenny Fox and Sally Arnold, a garbage-collecting town eccentric, as the two develop a friendship. "Farnsworth's beautiful, light-filled paintings steal the show," observed Booklist critic Lauren Peterson, while a Publishers Weekly critic described Farnsworth's paintings as "hazy, nostalgic affairs" that reflect the story's "genial use of familiar conventions." Several of Farnsworth's illustration projects depict unconventional friendships. With a story by Lenice Strohmeier, Mingo is a tale about a slave who is given his freedom, and the little girl who has considered him her friend and now does not want him to leave. The book's "dramatic oil paintings focus on the tender relationship," concluded Linda Perkins in her Booklist review of the book.

A traditional Native-American event is captured in Farnsworth's illustrations for Peter Roop's The Buffalo Jump. According to School Library Journal critic Celia A. Huffman, the illustrator's "oil representations depict the culture, setting, and lifestyle of the Blackfeet nation." Also referring to Farnsworth's art, a Publishers Weekly critic commented that "his dramatic scenes of stampeding buffalo churning up clouds of dust add suspense." Farnsworth has illustrated several other tales with Native-American themes, including Janet Beeler Shaw's "American Girl" series books featuring Kaya, a Nez Perce girl living in 1764. Farnsworth traveled to Nez Perce communities in Idaho and Washington state to gather the details he incorporates into his drawings for the "Kaya" books, and his work has received the support of the Nez Perce tribe's executive committee.

Another Native-American perspective is explored in his work for Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve's Bad River Boys: A Meeting of the Lakota Sioux with Lewis and Clark. Discussing this book, a Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote that "Farnsworth's oil paintings put the setting in the early 1800s and depict the landscape, the Native Americans and the explorers in an accurate and respectful manner." Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer, Bill Wise's biography of a notable Native American, features "color-drenched paintings [that] do an excellent job of bringing this period to life and capturing the intense emotion of the ballpark drama," according to Marilyn Taniguchi in School Library Journal.

Farnsworth contributed art to Abbie against the Storm, a book written by Marcia K. Vaughan. Based on a true-life story, the work follows a young girl who struggles to keep two important lighthouses lit during a stretch of forbidding weather. The events are depicted in pictures that "make the violently changing moods of the sea so palpable that readers can feel her danger and celebrate her courage," claimed School Library Journal critic Margaret A. Chang. Writing in Publishers Weekly, a contributor credited Farnsworth's artwork for adding to the story's suspense, writing that his "resplendent paintings of the turbulent seas heighten the drama and lend the tale immediacy." Moving to quieter terrain, Farnsworth's illustrations also appear in A Humble Life: Plain Poems, a book of verse written by Linda Oatman High. Booklist reviewer Susan Dove Lempke remarked that "the poems and the paintings offer a quiet, pleasurable reading experience," and Sharon Korbeck wrote in School Library Journal that "the seamless meshing of words and illustrations creates anything but ‘plain poems.’"

From parables to biographies to historical fiction, Farnsworth's illustrations work to enhance the mood of the text. In Nan Gurley's Twice Yours: A Parable of God's Gift, his "lovely, sun-dappled paintings lighten the tale," according to Shelley Townsend-Hudson in Booklist. A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children, with a text by David A. Adler, is accompanied by "somber and atmospheric watercolors,"

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wrote a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. Hazel Rochman, writing about the same book in Booklist, proclaimed that Farnsworth's "illustrations, oil paintings on linen in sepia tones, are unforgettable." Of Pam Flowers' action-oriented Big Enough Anna: The Little Sled Dog Who Braved the Arctic, Maryann H. Owen wrote in School Library Journal that "Farnsworth's soft, sunlit oil paintings convey the cold and vast expanse of the northern climes while deftly depicting the action."

Some of Farnsworth's illustration projects require him to depict specific historic events. Of his depiction of the Wright Brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in Elizabeth Van Steenwyk's One Fine Day: A Radio Play, a Publishers Weekly critic wrote that "Farnsworth's oil on linen portraits strike just the right balance between realism and fancy." Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, in School Library Journal, wrote of the same book that the "paintings … not only elucidate but also expand upon the text." In Valley Forge, an introduction to the life of General George Washington and the Revolutionary War written by Richard Ammon, Farnsworth's "solid oil paintings effectively portray the soldiers in action and in reflection," according to Carolyn Phelan in Booklist. Naturalist John Muir's travels in Alaska are the subject of Julie Dunlop's John Muir and Stickeen: An Icy Adventure with a No-Good Dog, and here "Farnsworth's painterly oils capture the grandeur of the landscape," in the opinion of Booklist contributor Jennifer Mattson. Sean George reviewed the same title in School Library Journal, writing that "Farnsworth's illustrations are as majestic as the setting and as personable as the characters." A story about the prisoners of Mauthausen, a Nazi slave labor camp that was ultimately liberated by Allied forces during World War II, is the focus of Susan Goldman Rubin's The Flag with Fifty-six Stars: A Gift from the Survivors of Mauthausen. "Farnsworth's realistic oil-on-linen paintings" for this book were judged as "nothing short of extraordinary" by a Publishers Weekly contributor.

Farnsworth once told SATA: "Real people and events that have in some way influenced our lives are the core of what I paint. From book jackets, children's books, and magazine illustration to private portrait commissions and limited-edition prints and plates, the research involved with a particular painting can be quite extensive, especially if it is some kind of historical matter. Whatever the wide variety of subject matter might be, my personal goal is to give the client more than what they asked for and aim for the very best painting I've ever done. The whole process of reading a manuscript, doing the research, and producing the finished art is very exciting and fun. An artist must continually grow with every project in order to improve and sharpen his skills as a draftsman. And what will ultimately make your personal view unique is what you have to say from your heart."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 1995, Hazel Rochman, review of Grandpa Is a Flyer, p. 1422; May 1, 1996, Lauren Peterson, review of Sally Arnold, p. 1513; September 15, 1996, Leone McDermott, review of My Day with Anka, p. 249; October 15, 1996, Hazel Rochman, review of The Last Rail: The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad, p. 46; May 15, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of The Stars in My Geddoh's Sky, p. 1702; December 15, 2001, Susan Dove Lempke, review of A Humble Life: Plain Poems, p. 734; February 1, 2002, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of Twice Yours: A Parable of God's Gift, p. 946; October 1, 2002, Kay Weisman, review of The Great Stone Face, p. 327; December 1, 2002, Hazel Rochman, review of A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children, p. 658; January 1, 2003, Julie Cummins, review of One Fine Day: A Radio Play, p. 886; January 1, 2003, Karen Hutt, review of Kaya's Escape!, p. 893; June 1, 2003, Linda Perkins, review of Mingo, p. 1779; January 1, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Sailing for Gold, p. 856; September 15, 2004, Carolyn Phelan, review of ValleyForge, p. 236; November 15, 2004, Jennifer Mattson, review of John Muir and Stickeen: An Icy Adventure with a No-Good Dog, p. 588; March 1, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Megan's Birthday Tree: A Story about Open Adoption, p. 1204; March 15, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of The Flag with Fifty-six Stars: A Gift from the Survivors of Mauthausen, p. 1292; November 15, 2005, Gillian Engberg, review of Bad River Boys: A Meeting of the Lakota Sioux with Lewis and Clark, p. 53; February 15, 2007, Ian Chipman, review of By the Sword: A Young Man Meets War, p. 74; July 1, 2007, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer, p. 53; July 1, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Eli Remembers, p. 59.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2005, Hope Morrison, review of The Flag with Fifty-six Stars, p. 356.

Childhood Education, fall, 2007, Connie Green, review of By the Sword, p. 48.

Children's Bookwatch, December, 2004, review of John Muir and Stickeen.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2002, review of A Hero and the Holocaust, p. 1382; January 1, 2003, review of One Fine Day, p. 67; March 1, 2003, review of Mingo, p. 399; February 1, 2004, review of Sailing for Gold, p. 134; June 15, 2004, review of The Long

Trail, p. 577; August 1, 2004, review of Valley Forge, p. 737; October 15, 2004, review of John Muir and Stickeen, p. 1005; April 1, 2005, review of The Flag of Fifty-six Stars, p. 423; September 1, 2005, review of Bad River Boys, p. 983.

Publishers Weekly, September 18, 1995, review of The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate, p. 103; May 13, 1996, review of Sally Arnold, p. 76; August 19, 1996, review of The Buffalo Jump, p. 67; February 3, 1997, review of The Last Rail, p. 46; February 7, 2000, review of Abbie against the Storm: The True Story of a Young Heroine and a Lighthouse, p. 85; June 24, 2002, "Native American Girl," p. 59; November 4, 2002, review of The Great Stone Face, p. 87; January 20, 2003, "First in Flight," p. 85; March 21, 2005, review of The Flag with Fifty-six Stars, p. 51; September 24, 2007, review of Eli Remembers, p. 71.

Reading Teacher, March, 2003, review of A Hero and the Holocaust, p. 585.

Sarasota Herald Tribune, November 25, 2003, James Roland, "Illustrator's Artistic Adventures: Bill Farnsworth Talks to Students about a Nez Perce Indian Character He Drew for a Book," p. BV1.

School Library Journal, July, 1995, Carole D. Fiore, review of Grandpa Is a Flyer, p. 54; October, 1995, Jane Marino, review of The Christmas Menorahs, p. 103; April, 1996, Jane Marino, review of Sally Arnold, p. 116; September, 1996, Leda Schubert, review of My Day with Anka, p. 186; October, 1996, Melissa Hudak, review of Mississippi Going North, p. 111; February, 1997, Celia A. Huffman, review of The Buffalo Jump; April, 1999, Rosie Peasley, review of Robert Fulton: From Submarine to Steamboat, p. 115; May, 1999, Diane S. Marton, review of The Stars in My Geddoh's Sky, p. 93; July, 2000, Margaret A. Chang, review of Abbie against the Storm, p. 89; September, 2000, Anne Chapman, review of Conestoga Wagons, p. 213; December, 2000, Marlene Gawron, review of When Abraham Talked to the Trees, p. 137; May, 2001, Carol Schene, review of Prairie School, p. 108; October, 2001, Sharon Korbeck, review of A Humble Life, p. 140; November, 2002, Grace Oliff, review of The Great Stone Face, p. 135; January, 2003, Alicia Eames, review of The Stars in My Geddoh's Sky, p. 84; March, 2003, Martha Link, review of A Hero and the Holocaust, p. 212; April, 2003, Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, review of One Fine Day, p. 193; June, 2003, Susan Scheps, review of Mingo, p. 120; January, 2004, Maryann H. Owen, review of Big-enough Anna: The Little Sled Dog Who Braved the Arctic, p. 114; March, 2004, Sandra Kitain, review of Gram's Song, p. 170; July, 2004, Anne Knickerbocker, review of Sailing for Gold, p. 77; October, 2004, Lynda Ritterman, review of Valley Forge, p. 184; November, 2004, Anne Knickerbocker, review of The Long Trail, p. 107; December, 2004, Sean George, review of John Muir and Stickeen, p. 106; May, 2005, Anne Chapman Callaghan, review of The Flag with Fifty-six Stars, p. 116; June, 2005, Deborah Vose, review of Megan's Birthday Tree, p. 120; November, 2005, Marilyn Taniguchi, review of Bad River Boys, p. 108; March, 2007, Ann Welton, review of By theSword, p. 225; May, 2007, Marilyn Taniguchi, review of Louis Sockalexis, p. 127.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), April 22, 2007, Mary Harris Russell, review of Louis Sockalexis, p. 9.

ONLINE

Bill Farnsworth Home Page,http://www.billfarnsworth.com (December 21, 2007).

Houghton Mifflin Web site,http://www.eduplace.com/kids/ (December 21, 2007), "Bill Farnsworth."

HarperCollins Web site,http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/ (December 21, 2007), "Bill Farnsworth."