Frané Lessac is a U.S.-born author, illustrator and painter who lives in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. She has published many

children's book 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 ...

s and won numerous awards for her illustrations.

Early life

Lessac grew up in

Cliffside Park, New Jersey Cliffside Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 23,594,New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. As a child, she spent many weekends in museums and galleries. At the age of 18 she moved to

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...

, to study

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

film at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. She worked at many jobs to finance her studies, including projectionist at the local cinema. Lessac moved to the Caribbean island of Montserrat in 1979, where she began her career as a painter. Inspired by the beauty of the island, she concentrated on painting the old

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

architecture and its people. In 1983 Lessac left Montserrat and moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where she began to exhibit regularly and published her first book, ''My Little Island'' (1984), which was a compilation of her paintings of Montserrat and her "

love letter A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a l ...

" to the island.

Career

After ''My Little Island'', Lessac went on to publish a number of children's books, initially in the U.K, the U.S and later in the state of

, where she relocated with her husband, author and musician Mark Greenwood. In 1989 she created the illustration for the cover of the fund-raising album ''After The Hurricane – Songs For Montserrat''. In 2002 Lessac founded a Western Australian Branch of the

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers ...

, and she has served on the executive committee of the

Australian Society of Authors The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) was formed in 1963 as the organisation to promote and protect the rights of Australia's authors and illustrators. The Fellowship of Australian Writers played a key role it its establishment. The organisati ...

Recognition

For her contribution to children's literature in Western Australia, Lessac was awarded the 2010 Muriel Barwell Award by the Children's Book Council of Australia WA Branch. Her first book, ''My Little Island'', was named Children's Book of the Year by the St Martins Children's Book Council and also became a feature book on the popular U.S television program

Reading Rainbow ''Reading Rainbow'' is an American educational children's television series that originally aired on PBS and afterwards PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go! from July 11, 1983 to November 10, 2006, with reruns continuing to air until August 28, 2009. 155 ...

. In 2002 Lessac won the

Western Australian Premier's Book Awards The Western Australian Premier's Book Awards is an annual book award provided by the Government of Western Australia, and managed by the State Library of Western Australia. History and format Annual literary awards were inaugurated by the West ...

for ''The Legend of Moondyne Joe'' was nominated as an Honor book in the Children's Book of the Year Award: Eve Pownall Award for Information Books for ''Simpson and his Donkey'' both of which were written by her husband and frequent collaborator, Mark Greenwood.

Personal life and family

Lessac is married to Mark Greenwood, also an author of children's books, and they are parents to film producer Cody Greenwood. Cody's most recent film, ''

Under the Volcano ''Under the Volcano'' is a novel by English writer Malcolm Lowry (1909–1957) published in 1947. The novel tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British consul in the Mexican city of Quauhnahuac, on the Day of the Dead in Novemb ...

'', a documentary about the

AIR Montserrat Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded ...

recording studios, arose from memories of the family's frequent visits to Montserrat as she was growing up in the 1990s and 2000s. Lessac visited Montserrat in August 2019, while Cody was filming, and burst into tears upon leaving.

Selected works

As illustrator

* ''The Dragon of

Redonda Redonda is an uninhabited Caribbean island that is a part of Antigua and Barbuda, in the Leeward Islands, West Indies. The island is about long, wide, and is high at its highest point. This small island lies between the islands of Nevis and ...

'' by Jan Jackson (1986) * ''The Chalk Doll'' by Charlotte Pomerantz (1989) * ''The Bird Who Was An Elephant'' by Aleph Kamal (1989) * ''The Turtle and The Island'' by Barbra Ker Wilson (1990) * ''Nine O'Clock Lullaby'' by

Marilyn Singer Marilyn Singer (born 3 October 1948) is an author of children's books in a wide variety of genres, including fiction and non-fiction picture books, juvenile novels and mysteries, young adult fantasies, and poetry. Biography Marilyn Singer was b ...

(1990) * ''Caribbean Carnival'' songs by

Irving Burgie Irving Louis Burgie (July 28, 1924 – November 29, 2019), sometimes known professionally as Lord Burgess, was an American musician and songwriter, regarded as one of the greatest composers of Caribbean music.Jan Wahl Jan Boyer Wahl (April 1, 1931 - January 29, 2019) was an American children's author. He was a prolific author of over 120 works, and was known primarily for his award-winning children's books, including ''Pleasant Fieldmouse'', ''The Furious Fl ...

(1993) * ''Not A Copper Penny'' by Monica Gunning (1993) * ''Magic Boomerang'' by Mark Greenwood (1994) * ''Wonderful Towers of Watts''by Patricia Zelver (1994) * ''Outback Adventure'' by Mark Greenwood (1994) * ''The Distant Talking Drum'' by Isaac Olaleye (1994) * ''Good Rhymes Good Times'' by

Lee Bennett Hopkins Lee Bennett Hopkins (April 13, 1938 – August 8, 2019) was an American educator, poet, author, and anthologist. He was the author or editor of over 100 books for children, as well as a number of books and articles for adults. Early life and edu ...

(1995) * ''Our Big Island'' by Mark Greenwood (1995) * ''O Christmas Tree!'' by Vashanti Rahaman (1996) * ''Queen Esther Saves Her People'' Rita Gelman (1998) * ''On the Same Day in March'' by Marilyn Singer (2000) * ''The Legend of Moondyne Joe'' Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac (2002) * ''Capital! Washington D-C from A-Z'' by Laura Melmed (2003) * ''Maui and the Big Fish'' by Barbra Ker Wilson (2003) * ''New York- The Big Apple from A-Z'' by Laura Melmed (2005) * ''Monday on the Mississippi'' by

(2005) * ''The Day of the Elephant'' by Barbra Ker Wilson (2005) * ''Simpson and his Donkey'' Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac (2008) * ''Clouds'' by Anne Rockwell (2008) * ''Heart of Texas'' by Laura Melmed (2009) * ''Ned Kelly and the Green Sash'' Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac (2010) * ''The Greatest Liar on Earth'' Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac (2012) * ''The Drummer Boy of John John'' Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac (2012) *''The Book Boat's In'' Cynthia Cotten & Frané Lessac (2013) *''Midnight'' Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac (2014) * ''The Mayflower'' Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac (2014) * ''A Is for Australia'' (2015) * ''Pattan's Pumpkin'' Chitra Soundar & Frané Lessac (2016) *''We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga'' Traci Sorell & Frané Lessac (2018) * ''We Are Still Here'' Traci Sorell & Frané Lessac (2021) *''Ancient Wonders'' Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac (2022) * ''Where History Happened'' Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac (2023)

As author and illustrator

* ''My Little Island'' (1984) * ''Caribbean Canvas'' (1987) * ''Caribbean Alphabet'' (1989) * ''Camp Granada '' (2003) * ''Island Counting 1-2-3'' (2005) * ''A is for Australia'' (2015) * ''A is for Australian Animals (2017)'' *''Under the Southern Cross'' (2018) *''Australian Baby Animals'' (2019) *''Under the Milky Way'' (2019) *''Australia Under the Sea 1, 2, 3'' (2020) * ''A is for Australian Reefs '' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lessac, Frane 1954 births American emigrants to Australia American children's writers Australian children's writers Living people Writers from New Jersey