CANSCAIP Members

Bill Slavin

Illustrator

1 Collins Lane

Box 431

Millbrook, ON

L0A 1G0

Phone: 705-932-3330

Fax: 705-932-4145

Email: bslavin@nexicom.net

Born: Feb. 12, 1959 Belleville, ON

Family: Esperança Melo (spouse)

Biography

I was born February 12, 1959 in Belleville, Ontario. I was the second youngest in a family of eight, four boys and four girls. As most of my elder brothers and sisters had achieved some sort of academic success, I was allowed to become an artist.

I have been drawing since I can remember, and have wanted to illustrate books for just about as long. My first commmercial success was an anti-smoking in bed poster I did in grade three, which won first prize and paid me $25. Grade three was an important year, because it was also when I produced my first illustrated book, called Zok the Caveman. This was such a success that I promptly followed it up with a sequel, The Adventures of Black Cloud, Son of Zok. I continued to write and illustrate books throughout public school as well as draw profusely. I graduated to pen and ink at a fairly early age, a medium which is still my favourite (fortunately, my mother was a tolerant person and did not object too much to the many bottles of ink which I spilt on the living room carpet). In high school I became interested in comic book art, and wrote and illustrated countless numbers of these, as well as producing a short-lived comic strip called Rat Fink for our local village weekly.

After high school I attended Sheridan College in Oakville where I studied Cartooning and Graphic Story Illustration. A year and a half later events flushed me out into the real world and I went to work for the Yellow Pages, a job undemanding enough to let me churn out countless more unsolicited and unpublished comics, stories and illustrations in between jobs.

I have worked in and around the publishing industry since 1979, working for many years as art director/illustrator/layout artist for a small publishing house in the Ottawa Valley. After moving back to Toronto, I became involved with doing illustrations for educational computer software programs, while continuing to try to get a job doing what I have really always wanted to do, illustrate kids' books. I eventually contracted with Kids Can Press to illustrate Paulette Bourgeois' book, Too Many Chickens!. Since then I have illustrated a number of children's books, and that is now my primary source of income. It is work which I love, and I consider myself a most fortunate person to be working in this industry.

Today I am living in paradise in an old farm house on the edge of the village of Millbrook. I live with my wife, Esperança Melo, who is also an artist and is an integral part of all I do, and our cat Merlin. My studio is a large sunny room in the upstairs of the house, crammed to overflowing with the artwork of dozens of my books. Until 1994 I still did illustrations for educational software, and was involved with the adaptation of two of my books to computer (Sitting on the Farm and the Cat Came Back) which were two of the earliest CD interactive reading environments produced in Canada. My work with this involved animating parts of the story on my Macintosh , and although I have had no formal training in animation, the cartoon style of much of my work lent itself to this medium.

I primarily work either in water colour and inks or acrylics, although my first children's book, Too Many Chickens! was in pastel (too messy! Besides, all that dust is toxic and when I wear one of those funny little masks my glasses fog up...) I tend to work quickly and impetuously at my art, but am learning to slow down and put more time into my art.

In regards to my fiction work, I generally have had very little contact with the authors whose books I am illustrating. I feel that that often can work well, as it allows each party to have free reign with their creative vision. I put a lot of interpretation into the story that may be hindered if I found out what the author really intended! However, I am keeping an open mind on this approach and have worked in closer cooperation with authors on some recent books. In most cases I find the author is quite willing to give the illustrator free reign; needless to say, a great act of trust on the part of the writer.

I occasionally put my hand to writing, but it is often an excuse to give myself something to draw. In 1996 I wrote my own story, The Stone Lion, which was published by Red Deer College Press, and in 2005 I co-wrote and illustrated Transformed: How Everyday Things are Made.

Although my first love is and always will be the story book, non-fiction illustration poses its own challenges. My real lack of interest in things scientific seems to have made me uniquely qualified to illustrate this genre. I believe it is the desire to make my work interesting to me that defines how I embrace these subjects, and the result is an approach to the illustrations that is not overly ponderous or didactic. Having said this, I have a real love for history, and am thrilled by books or the parts thereof that have an historical slant. And coming full circle, I believe my love for the narrative found in picture book illustration is reflected in my non-fiction illustration.

Published Works

Fiction

Ted Staunton, Campfire Morgan (Formac Spring 2007)

Howard Whitehouse, The Faceless Fiend (Kids Can, Spring 2007)

Evan Soloman, The Sabre-toothed Tiger (Puffin Canada Spring 2007)

hc 13:978-0-670-06387-1 $16 pb 10:0-670-06387-8 $8.99

Linda Bailey, The Farm Team (Kids Can, Fall 2006) hc 978-1-55337-850-1 $18.95

Ted Staunton, Super Move, Morgan (Formac Spring 2006) 0-88780-704-6 hc 0-88780-702-X pb $5.95

Howard Whitehouse, The Strictest School in the World (Kids Can, Spring 2006) 978-1-55337-882-2 hc $18.95 978-1-55337-882-9 pb

Ruth Ashby, Caedmon’s Song (Eerdman's, Fall 2005) hc 0-8028-5241-6

Linda Bailey, Stanley’s Wild Ride (Kids Can, Spring 2006) 978-1-55337-960-7 hc $17.95

Ted Staunton, Morgan Makes a Deal (Formac Spring 2005)

Evan Soloman, Nathaniel McDaniel and the Magic Attic: Bigbeard’s Hook (Viking Canada, Spring 2005) 0-670-06386-X hc $16 0-14-331215-4 pb

Robert Heidbreder, Co-iIllustrated by Esperança Melo, Drumheller Dinosaur Dance, (Kids Can, Fall 2004) 1-55337-393-6 hc $17.95

Ted Staunton, Morgan Makes a Splash (Formac, Spring 2004)

Eileen Spinelli, Something to Tell the Grand Cows (Eerdman's, Spring 2004) 0-8028-5236-X hc $16 US

Ted Staunton, Morgan’s Pet Project (Formac, Spring 2003) 0-88780-588-4 hc $14.95 0-88780-587-6 $5.95

Linda Bailey, Stanley’s Party (Kids Can Press, Fall 2002) 1-55337-382-0 hc $16.95 1-55337-768-0 pb $6.95

Ted Staunton, Morgan's Birthday (Formac, Spring 2002) 0-88780-561-2 hc $14.95 0-88780-560-4 $5.95

Ruth Miller, The Bear on the Bed (Kids Can Press, 2002) 1-55337-036-8 hc $15.95

Ted Staunton, Great Play Morgan (Formac Publishing, 2001) 0-88780-437-1 pb $5.95

Ted Staunton, Morgan's Secret (Formac Publishing, 2000) 0-88780-494-2 pb $5.95

Shelley A. Leedahl, The Bone Talker, (Red Deer College Press, 1999) 0-88995-214-0 hc $17.95

Ted Staunton, Morgan and the Money (Formac Publishing, 1998) 0-88780-456-X pb $5.95

Anthology, Truly Scary Stories for Fearless Kids (Key Porter, 1998) 1-55013-994-0 hc $29.95

Howard Engels, A Child's Christmas in Scarborough (Key Porter, 1997) 1-55013-922-3 hc $10.95

A.W. Cockerill, Emma on Albert Street (Black Cat Press, 1997) 0-921501-00-5 hc $15.95

Ted Staunton, Morgan Makes Magic (Formac Publishing, 1996)

Tim Wynne-Jones, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Key Porter Books, 1996) 1-55013-773-5 hc $16.95

Bill Slavin, The Stone Lion, (Red Deer College Press, 1996) 0-88995-154-3 hc $17.95

Amanda Lewis, Tim Wynne-Jones, Rosie Backstage (Kids Can Press, 1994)1-55074-209-4 hc $21.95

Nathan Zimmerman, How the Second Grade Got $8,205.50 to Visit the Statue of Liberty (Albert Whitman and Company, 1992) 0-8075-3431-5

Traditional, The Cat Came Back (Kids Can Press, 1992) 1-55074-183-7 pb $5.95

Ethan Miles, Otto's Tricks (Silver, Burdett and Ginn, 1991) not available in Canada

Ben Brooks, Lemonade Parade (Kids Can Press, 1991) out of print

Bob King, Sitting on the Farm (Kids Can Press, 1991) 1-55074-149-7 pb $6.95

Paulette Bourgeois, Too Many Chickens! (Kids Can Press, 1990) 1-55074-067-9 pb $5.95

Non-Fiction

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson and Paulette Bourgeois, The Jumbo Book of Space (Kids Can Spring 2007) 978-1-55453-020-5 pb $18.95

Maureen Sawa, The Library Book: From Camels to Computers (Tundra, Spring 2006) 978-0-88776-698-5 hc $24.95

Bill Slavin and Jim Slavin, Transformed (Kids Can Press, Fall 2005) 1-55337-179-8 hc $24.95

Linda Bailey, Adventures in The Ice Age (Kids Can Press, Spring 2004) 1-55337-503-3 hc $14.95 1-55337-504-1 pb $8.95

Linda Bailey, Adventures in Ancient China (Kids Can Press, Spring 2003) 1-55074-542-5 hc $14.95 1-55074-544-1 pb $8.95

Roy MacGregor, A Loonie for Luck (McClelland and Stewart, Fall 2002) 0-7710-5480-7

Christopher Moore, The Big Book of Canada (Tundra Books, Fall 2002) 0-88776-457-6 hc $39.99

Linda Bailey, Adventures in Ancient Greece (Kids Can Press, Spring 2002) 1-55074-534-4 hc $14.95 1-55074-536-0 pb $8.95

Anthology, Chills and Thrills (Key Porter, Fall 2001) 1-55263-380-2 $29.95

Alannah Hegedus and Kaitlin Rainey, Bleeps and Blips to Rocket Ships; Great Inventions in Communications (Tundra Books, Spring 2001) 0-88776-452-5 $19.99

Linda Bailey, Adventures with The Vikings (Kids Can Press, Spring 2001) 1-55074-542-5 hc $14.95 1-55074-544-1 pb $8.95

Linda Bailey, Adventures in The Middle Ages (Kids Can Press, 2000) 1-55074-538-7 hc $14.95 1-55074-540-9 pb $8.95

Linda Bailey, Adventures in Ancient Egypt (Kids Can Press, 2000) 1-55074-546-8 hc $14.95 1-55074-548-4 pb $8.95

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson Exploring Space (Kids Can Press, 2000) 1-55074-711-8 hc $14.95 1-55074-713-4 pb $6.95

Frieda Wishinsky, A Quest in Time (Owl Books, 2000) 1-894379-07-1 hc 1-894379-08-X pb $12.95

Maxine Trottier, One is Canada (Harper Collins, 1999) 0-00-224556-6 pb $8.95

Ann-Maureen Owens & Jane Yealland, The History of Canada's Flag (Kids Can Press, 1999) 1-55074-516-6 pb $6.95

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson Comets, Asteroids and Meteors (Kids Can Press, 1999) 1-55074-578-6 hc $14.95 1-55074-580-8 pb $6.95

Alannah Hegedus and Kaitlin Rainey, Shooting Hoops and Skating Loops, (Tundra Books, 1999) 0-88776-453-3 pb $19.99

Jane Drake and Ann Love, A Kid's Guide to the Millennium (Kids Can Press, 1998) Out of print

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson The Planets (Kids Can Press, 1998)1-55074-512-3 hc $14.95

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson The Stars (Kids Can Press, 1998)1-55074-524-7 hc $14.95

Pat Hancock, 1985; The Year I Was Born (Kids Can Press, 1996) Out of print

Catherine Ross, Squares (Kids Can Press, 1996) 1-55074-273-6 pb $12.95

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson The Earth (Kids Can Press, 1996) 1-55074-314-7 hc $14.95 1-55074-327-9 pb $6.95

Liz McLeod, Get Started: Stamp Collecting (Kids Can Press, 1996) 1-55074-313-9 pb $6.95

Linda Granfield, 1984; The Year I Was Born (Kids Can Press, 1996) Out of print

Pat Hancock, 1986; The Year I Was Born (Kids Can Press, 1996) Out of print

Paulette Bourgeois, The Sun (Kids Can Press, 1995) 1-55074-158-6 hc $14.95 1-55074-330-9 pb $6.95

Paulette Bourgeois, The Moon (Kids Can Press, 1995) 1-55074-157-8 hc $14.95 1-55074-332-5 pb $6.95

Liz McLeod, The Phone Book (Kids Can Press, 1995) 1-55074-220-5 pb $12.95

Linda Granfield, 1988;The Year I Was Born (Kids Can Press, 1995) Out of print

Catherine Ross, Triangles (Kids Can Press, 1994) 1-55074-194-2 pb $12.95

Cynthia Pratt Nicolson, Earthdance (Kids Can Press, 1994) 1-55074-155-1 pb $9.95

Linda Granfield, 1987;The Year I Was Born (Kids Can Press, 1994) Out of print

Claire Mackay, Touching All the Bases (Boardwalk Books / Scholastic, 1994) 0-590-24200-8 pb $14.95

Linda Granfield, Extra! Extra! (Kids Can Press, 1993) 1-55074-122-5 pb $10.95

Catherine Ross, Circles (Kids Can Press, 1992) 1-55074-064-4 pb $12.95

Brian McFarlane, Hockey: The Book for Kids (Kids Can Press, 1990 Revised 1994) Out of print

Contributing artist to; Mother Goose, A Canadian Sampler (Groundwood, 1994)

Contributing artist to; The Spirit of Canada (Anthology) (Malcolm Lester, 1999)

Related Published Material

Brothers and Sisters Learn SNAP (Earlscourt Centre, 1996)

Summer Reading Program Poster (Toronto Public Library, 1997)

Katherine Farris and Val Wyatt, Kid Safe: A Kid's Guide to Community Safety (Metrac, 1998)

Canada In the Year 2000 (General Store Publishing House, 1999)

SNAP Guides to Bullying, Stealing, Lying, and SNAP (Earlscourt Centre, 2000)

Books Adapted to Computer

Bob King, Sitting on the Farm (Sanctuary Woods, 1993)

Traditional, The Cat Came Back (Sanctuary Woods, 1994)

Exhibitions

Exhibitions: Illustration and the Art of Book Making, Two person show, Millbrook Gallery, June 1996.

Canadian Artists with Connections to Portugal, Group exhibition, Portugese Consulate, April 1998.

Flying Over the Electric Storm, Solo exhibition, The Millbrook Gallery, October 2001

Awards

2007 Time to Read: The B.C. Achievement Foundation Award for Early Literacy for Stanley's Party

2006 Canadian Children's Roundtable Award for Non-Fiction for Transformed

2006 Norma Fleck Award Nomination for Transformed

2007 Canadian Toy Testing Council "Great Books" Winner for Transformed

2006 Chocolate Lily Award (B.C.) for Drumheller Dinosaur Dance

2006 ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Award (Juvenile Non-fiction) Bronze Medal for Transformed

2005 Hackmatack Award for Adventures in The Ice Age (author award)

2006 SMART Book Award (Oregon) for Stanley's Party

2005 National Parenting Publications Gold Award for Transformed

2005 Chocolate Lily Award (B.C.) for Stanley's Party

2005 Georgia Children's Book Award for Stanley's Party

2005 Blue Spruce Award (Ontario) for Drumheller Dinosaaur Dance

2005 Shining Willow (Saskatchewan) for Stanley's Party

2004 Blue Spruce Award (Ontario) for Stanley's Party

2004 CLA Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award for Stanley's Party

2004 B.C. Book Awards Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize for Stanley's Party

2005 Zena Sutherland Award for Stanley's Party

Book Illustration of the Year, 2000 Alberta Book Awards for The Bone Talker

Book of the Year, 2001 Foreword Magazine's Book Awards for The Bone Talker

Silver Birch Award 2001, for Adventures in the Middle Ages (author award)

Red Cedar Award 2003, for Adventures in the Middle Ages

Hackmatack Award 2003, for Adventures with The Vikings

Honour title, 1997 Storytelling World Awards for The Stone Lion

Silver Birch Award Finalist 2003, for Adventures with The Vikings

Silver Birch Award Finalist 2004, for Adventures in Ancient China

1997 Storytelling World Honour Title for The Stone Lion

Nominations and Selections

2007 Blue Spruce Award Nomination for Stanley's Wild Ride

2006 Orbis Pictus Award Nomination for The Library Book

2006 Rocky Mountain Book Award (Alberta) Nomination for Transformed

2006 IBBY (Juvenile Non-fiction) Nomination for Transformed

2006 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon AwardNomination for Bigbeard's Hook

2006 Shining Willow Award (Saskatchewan) Nomination for Bigbeard's Hook

2006 Hackmatack Award (Atlantic Provinces) Nomination for Transformed

2006-2007 California Young Reader Medal Nomination for Stanley's Party

2005-2006 Black Eyed Susan Book Award (Maryland Educational Media Organization) Nomination for Something to Tell the Grandcows

2007 Arizona Young Reader Award Nomination for Something to Tell the Grandcows

2005 Blue Spruce Award Nomination (Ontario) for Bigbeard's Hook

2005 International Reading Association's Children's Choice selection for Drumheller Dinosaur Dance

2005 International Reading Association's Children's Choice selection for Something to Tell the Grandcows

2005 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Book AwardNomination for Drumheller Dinosaur Dance

2005 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon AwardNomination for Drumheller Dinosaur Dance

2006 Shining Willow Award (Saskatcheewan) Nomination for Drumheller Dinosaur Dance

Red Cedar Award 2004 Nomination, for Adventures with The Vikings

2004 Hackmatack Award Nomination 2004, for Adventures with The Ancient Greeks (author award)

2004 B.C. Book Awards Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize Nomination for Adventures in Ancient China

2003 Information Book Award Nomination for Adventures with The Ancient Greeks

2003 Information Book Award Nomination for The Big Book of Canada: Exploring the Provinces and Territories

2003 Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, Starred Selection for The Big Book of Canada: Exploring the Provinces and Territories

Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award Nomination for The Bone Talker

Saskatchewan Book Award for Children's Literature Nomination for The Bone Talker

Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, Starred Selection for The Bone Talker

Alberta Trade Title of the Year Nomination for The Bone Talker

Alberta Children's Title of the Year Nomination for The Bone Talker

Canadian Library Association Children's Book of the Year Award Nomination for The Bone Talker

Red Cedar Award Nomination, for The Planets

Silver Birch Award Nomination, for The Stars

Red Cedar Award Nomination, for Get Started; Stamp Collecting

Hackmatack Award Nomination, for Get Started; Stamp Collecting

Silver Birch Award Nomination, for Canada's Maple Leaf

Red Cedar Award Nomination, for Canada's Maple Leaf

Hackmatack Award Nomination, for Canada's Maple Leaf

Nominated for Illustrator of the Year, 2000 Libris Awards, Canadian Booksellers' Assoc.

Other Memberships

The Canadian Children's Book Centre

Available For

School presentations, conference presentations

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–This lively presentation looks at how 69 familiar items are made. Fun and Games includes baseballs, guitars, teddy bears, CDs, and marbles; Around the House includes books, dental floss, erasers, toothpaste, and wire; and Soup to Nuts covers bread, ice cream, peanut butter, and yogurt. The last section describes the raw materials used in the manufacturing processes, including aluminum, glass, paper, petroleum, and rubber. Historical information is included, such as the fact that the earliest form of football was played with a pig's bladder in Virginia in 1609. The steps needed to manufacture each item are numbered in bold type so that readers can follow along, and whimsical cartoon art helps them understand the process. Although reminiscent of David Macaulay's The Way Things Work (Houghton, 1988), this book is less technical and is written for younger children.–Ann Joslin, formerly at Erie County Public Library, PA

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. A jaunty and enthusiastic foray into how stuff is made: interesting stuff such as baseballs, plastic dinosaurs, toothpaste, cereal, paper, and bricks. Each two-page spread covers the making of one of the 69 items in numbered paragraphs. The pictures are the best part--clear watercolor and ink images, made all the more engaging by folks in overalls directing the action. The processes for making guitars, cat litter, and cheese are drawn large, but the figures (both genders, all colors) are elf-tiny. There's always a sentence or two of history, which is sometimes weak (soccer is older than the Middle Ages), but the process is the point, and young researchers will be fascinated to learn, for example, why bubble gum is pink (the first manufacturer had a lot of that color dye sitting around). GraceAnne DeCandido

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.