clients:
Henry Holt, Walker, HarperCollins, Scholastic, Lee and Low, McGraw-Hill, Cricket, Spider, Ladybug, National Geographic, Bike New York, and Private Collectors.
How I got my start
When my instructor/mentor, William Low, asked me what I wanted to do when I graduate from SVA, I told him Children’s book illustrations. He referred me to Laura Godwin, now the publisher of Henry Holt BYR. I dragged my large student portfolio into her office and showed her every styles and media I work in. She liked my paper-cuts, but didn’t have any project for me. She suggested I do a book that introduces ten simple Chinese characters. After AT THE BEACH was published, Laura suggested a winter book to go with it and that was how the season series were born. I was really lucky to have William for a mentor and Laura for an editor, who gave me a chance, even though I didn’t even have a sample to give at the time of the portfolio review.
All final art are handed in for RED, WHITE AND BOOM by Lee Wardlaw. It will be out in time for Independence Day 2012!
cover sketch
Jasmine learns Chinese calligraphy from her grandfather. Together they create a magical world of rivers and mountains, flying fish, friendly monkeys, and mythical dragons. Fabulous cut-paper collages!
-review from http://travelforkids.com/Funtodo/California/San_Francisco/sanfrancisconorth.htm
*"This book about two Canada geese that meet, mate, and raise their family has all the immediacy of a plot-based picture book and conveys personality without slipping into anthropomorphism...Lee’s cut-paper collage illustrations fill the pages with color and movement."--School Library Journal, Starred Review
*"A fun read-aloud grounded by great informational back matter, Sayre’s latest is one of the few picture books that give a nod to Father Goose...Lee’s cut-paper-collage illustrations wonderfully complement the text."--Booklist, starred review
“Every classroom should start the year off with this one.” --Kirkus Reviews
"Appealing, cheerful illustrations in elemental shapes and colors and vibrant patterns portray the multicultural group and familiar school settings.” --Booklist
From School Library Journal
The story unfolds while gracefully showing the relationships between actual objects and the characters used to represent them. The splendid cut-paper collages portray the action while illustrating the origin and history of the characters described. Together the art and text create a picture of Chinese writing that is easy to understand and leaves readers eager to create their own characters.–Rebecca Sheridan, Easttown Library & Information Center, Berwyn, PA
From Publishers Weekly
Lee's (At the Beach; In the Snow) word and number primer has all the festive ebullience of a Chinese New Year's dragon. Each cream-colored, double-page spread serves as a backdrop for elegant, boldly-colored cut paper figures, a punchy number-verb combination and the appropriate Chinese characters. For older children, the introductory pages offer a Mandarin Chinese pronunciation guide and some fascinating etymology: for example, Lee explains that the written Chinese for the words "kick," "run" and "jump" are all based on the basic character for "foot." Youngsters will love finding the hidden words within words and trying their hand at writing them. Ages 4-9.
From Booklist
Ages 4^-8. welcome the return of Xiao Ming and his mother, who once again blend the pleasures of the outdoor world with an introduction to Chinese characters. The paper-cut illustrations are both bright and spare, and each picture is tenderly framed in a simply embellished border that matches the subject of the page. Like its predecessors, this book teaches children some simple Chinese characters, but it also opens the way for children to look at their surroundings and to appreciate the different ways of conveying what they see on paper. Susan Dove Lempke
Awards: IRA-CBC Children's Choices
"Refreshingly contemporary and upbeat."
- Kirkus Reviews
"Children and adults alike will marvel at the creativity and skill of the artist."
- School Library Journal
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*"A remarkably unified effort: everything works together to create a flawless picture book." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
An American Bookseller Pick of the Lists
From Kirkus Reviews
In the sweet, expansively composed collage artwork, they are shown at their fittest. The small birds and the sunflower come of age and meet their destiny, even as the mother cardinal flies away to start another brood. The story is a reassuring, benign natural-history lesson, with only a drowsy momentum that becomes fulsome in the wake of the author's and artist's good-hearted, gladdening goals. Readers will salute the cardinals and their sunflower.