Leonard Everett Fisher (born June 24, 1924) is an American artist best known for illustrating children's books. Since 1955 he has illustrated about 250 books for younger readers including about 88 that he also wrote. Fisher was born in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

borough of New York City in June 1924 and was raised in the Sea Gate section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Fisher served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He began his formal art training with his Brooklyn-born father, Benjamin M. Fisher, a designer of naval vessels, who contributed to the construction of

Simon Lake Simon Lake (September 4, 1866 – June 23, 1945) was a Quaker American mechanical engineer and naval architect who obtained over two hundred patents for advances in naval design and competed with John Philip Holland to build the first submarines f ...

submarines in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and such

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

warships as USS ''Arizona'', USS ''Honolulu'', and USS ''North Carolina''—all designed, built, and commissioned at the Brooklyn, New York Navy Yard (1913–1937). Between 1932 and 1942, Leonard Everett Fisher continued his training at the Heckscher Foundation (NY), with Moses and

Raphael Soyer Raphael Zalman Soyer (December 25, 1899 – November 4, 1987) was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter. He is identified as a Social Realist because of his interest in men ...

(NY), with Reginald Marsh at the Art Students League of New York, and

Serge Chermayeff Serge Ivan Chermayeff (born Sergei Ivanovich Issakovich; russian: link=no, Сергей Ива́нович Иссако́вич; 8 October 1900 – 8 May 1996) was a Russian-born British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of ...

at Brooklyn College. He is a graduate of

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

(BFA 1949, MFA 1950). On July 15, 2014, Fisher was announced as a finalist for the 2015 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature. He lives in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

, with his wife, Margery, a retired school librarian, and member of New York's Bank Street College of Education's Children's Book Committee. They are the parents of three children and the grandparents of six.Resident Reflections: Leonard Everett Fisher
/ref>

References

External links

Westport Arts CenterAsk Art website

Leonard Everett Fisher
at

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Authorities — with 175 catalog records
Interview with Leonard Everett Fisher
''All About Kids! TV Series'' #83 (1991) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Leonard Everett 1924 births Living people 20th-century American painters American children's book illustrators American children's writers American male painters United States Army personnel of World War II Painters from New York City Artists from the Bronx People from Sea Gate, Brooklyn 20th-century American male artists