Leonard Jenkins is the illustrator of so many books for children, posting a list of his books would test the limits of this blog. Explains why we couldn’t contact him for an interview — he’s busy! Probably buried knee-deep in his art studio, painting his next crop of books, and not taking phone calls.
Mr. Jenkins’ collage work is detailed and dynamic. His pallet, a fiesta of color and texture. He uses a technique that combines pencil with acrylic and chalk, and a splattering (literally) of paint. He received his B.F.A. from the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and currently resides in New York.
Here are a few titles illustrated by this prolific artist:
Champions on the Bench (Dial, 2006), written by Carole Boston Weatherford
The Best Beekeeper of Lalibela: A Tale from Africa (Holiday House, 2006), written by Cristina Kessler
I’ve Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., written by Walter Dean Myers (Amistad Press, 2004).
The Skull Talks Back and Other Haunting Tales, collected by Zora Neale Hurston and adapted by Joyce Carol Thomas
And more recently, Sweet Land of Liberty (Peachtree Press, 2007), written by Deborah Hopkinson
For an extended list of Leonard’s books, see his JacketFlap.
2 thoughts on “Leonard Jenkins”