Elise Primavera (born 19 May 1955) is an American author and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

children's novels Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

. She arrived on the

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

scene in 1981 as an illustrator for Atheneum, Putnam, and other publishing houses. Over the course of the last three decades, she has been a prolific illustrator and has written and illustrated several well-received books of her own.

Biography

Primavera was born in

West Long Branch West Long Branch is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 8,097,New Jersey. As a young girl, her brother, whom she admired greatly as an artist, taught her to draw a tree and a simple cartoon. She began copying cartoons she found in comic books, drawing on anything she could find, including her school books, her desks, and even getting in trouble for drawing on her clothing. Her interest in art grew more serious during the summer after she turned 11, when she contracted

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful jo ...

and was confined to bed for the entire summer. During the enforced physical inactivity, she used the time to refine her drawing ability by working through several "learn-to-draw" books. Her childhood goal was to become an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

rider, and after she recovered from her illness and was no longer bedridden, she was rekindled her love for horseback riding. During her childhood, she became an admirer of the works of great artists, particularly that of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

, as her parents had large replicas of his paintings that she particularly enjoyed. She specifically credits the period when she was ill for motivating her to develop her artistic skills in a serious way. She also enjoyed the work of Howard Pyle, an artist she discovered on a trip to the college art museum. After a visit to an art museum during college, she set aside her dream of becoming an Olympian to focus full-time on becoming an artist. Primavera lived for a time in Red Bank, New Jersey, but she currently resides in New York City. She is not married.

Career

While Primavera displayed an interest in art from a very young age, she has said in ''Talking With Artists'', "I can't say I ever really dreamed I'd grow up to be an artist." Instead, she had focused from a young age on becoming an Olympic horseback rider. During college, she turned her artistic talents to fashion illustration, but she realized quickly that beginning a career in this field was very difficult. After college, she gave up this pursuit, and decided to become an artist. Her first published work appeared in 1981, with the release of ''The Mermaid's Cape'' and ''The Snug Little House'', which she illustrated. Her first work as an author, ''Basil and Maggie'', was published in 1983. Primavera has stated that she gets her best ideas while taking showers. She wrote the book ''

Auntie Claus Auntie or aunty is an informal form of the word aunt. They may also refer to: __NOTOC__ Broadcasting * Aunty, an informal name for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * Auntie, an informal name for the British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIREC ...

'' in 1999, after one such "shower session." According to '' The New York Times'', her illustrations in that book "brim with fantastic energy" and, in fact, were of such quality that dioramas based upon the illustrations appeared in the window of the flagship Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Manhattan. In 2005, Primavera was chosen to create the art for the White House's Holiday Program. Her first novel-length work, ''

The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls ''The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls'' is a children's novel written by Elise Primavera. The book was published by HarperCollins on October 1, 2006. '' Publishers Weekly'' described it as "a postmodern, surreal reworking" of ''The Wizard of ...

'', was released in 2006, and in recent years, she has been very prolific, releasing two books in the ''Fred and Anthony'' series in 2007, with two more set to be released in 2008. She is also working on another book about the Gumm Street Girls.

Bibliography

''Bibliography courtesy of isbndb.com.''

As author/illustrator

''Basil and Maggie'', c. 1983, Lippincott
''Ralph's Frozen Tale'', c. 1991, Putnam
''The Three Dots'', c. 1993, Putnam
''Plantpet'', c. 1994, Putnam and Gosset Group.
''Auntie Claus'', c. 1999, Silver Whistle/Harcourt Brace.
''Tatie Noël'', c. 2001, Milan.
''Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas'', c. 2002, Silver Whistle/Harcourt.
''

'', c. 2006, Harper Collins
''Fred and Anthony Escape from the Netherworld'', (As Esile Arevamirp), c. 2007, Hyperion.
''Fred and Anthony Meet the Super-de-Germ-O Zombie'', (As Esile Arevamirp), c. 2007, Hyperion.
''Fred & Anthony Meet the Heinie Goblins from the Black Lagoon'', (As Esile Arevamirp), c. 2008, Hyperion.
''Fred & Anthony's Horrible, Hideous Back-to-School Thriller'', (As Esile Arevamirp)

As illustrator only

''The Mermaid's Cape'', by Margaret K. Wetterer, c. 1981, Atheneum.
''The Snug Little House'', by Eils Moorehouse Lewis, c. 1981, Atheneum.
''The Giant's Apprentice'', by Margaret K. Wetterer, c. 1982, Atheneum.
''Surprise in the Mountains'', by Natalie Savage Carlson, c. 1983, Harper & Row.
''Uncle George Washington and Harriet's Guitar'', by Miriam Anne Bourne, c. 1983, Coward McCann.
''The Bollo Caper'', by Art Buchwald, c. 1983, Putnam.
''Grandma's House'', by Elaine Moore, c. 1985, Lothrop Lee & Shepard Books.
''Make Way for Sam Houston'', by Jean Fritz, c. 1986, Putnam.
''Hobie Hanson, You're Weird'', by

Jamie Gilson Jamie Marie Gilson (née Chisam; July 4, 1933 – February 11, 2020) was an American author of twenty-one children’s books. Explaining her approach to writing, Gilson said, “I watch what kids are doing and write stories based on what I see. ...

, c. 1987, Pocket Books.
''Christina Katerina and the Time She Quit Her Family'', by Patricia Lee Gaugh, c. 1987, Putnam.
''Best Witches: Poems for Halloween'', by Jane Yolen, c. 1988, Putnam.
''Double Dog Dare'', by

, c. 1988, Pocket Books.
''Grandma's Promise'', by Elaine Moore, c. 1988, Lothrop Lee & Shepard Books.
''Christina Katerina and the Great Bear Train'', by Patricia Lee Gaugh, c. 1990, Putnam.
''Moe the Dog in Tropical Paradise'', by Diane Stanley, c. 1992, Putnam.
''Santa and Alex'', by Delis Ephron, c. 1993, Little Brown & Company.
''Woe is Moe'', by Diane Stanley, c. 1995, Putnam.
''Jack, Skinny Bones, and the Golden Pancakes'', by M.C. Helldorfer, c. 1996, Viking.
''Wowo, the Radio Dog'', by Kevin McCloskey, c. 1996, William Morrow & Company.
''Moonlight Kite'', by Helen Elizabeth Buckley, c. 1997, Lothrop Lee & Shepard Books.
''Raising Dragons'', by Jerdine Nolen, c. 1998, Silver Whistle.
''Hewitt Anderson's Big Life'', by Jerdine Nolen, c. 2001, Harcourt Children's Books.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Primavera, Elise 1955 births Living people American children's writers People from Red Bank, New Jersey People from West Long Branch, New Jersey