"My approach to finding a story which would provide abundant visual stimulus to me as an illustrator began with two factors. I had long been attempting to create my own stories in order to give myself a task of illustration. I had completed two dummies, laid out with full illustrative content. In early winter of 1976, I felt as well prepared as I could possibly feel to consult Maurice Sendak to whom I had been introduced several years prior. He had seen small pieces of my work and had most compassionately offered help."
(Airdrie Amtmann in The Illustrator's Archive Pertaining to: Jacobs, Joseph. The Stars in the Sky; A Scottish Tale. Pictures by Airdrie Amtmann. New York, Farrar, Straus, Giroux [1979] in the Canadian Children's Literature Service Collection, National Library of Canada.)
In the early days of her career as an illustrator, Airdrie Thomsen attended Maurice Sendak's master classes in children's book illustration at The Parsons School/New School for Social Research in New York City. Sendak recognized Thomsen's artistic ability, recommending her illustrations to his editor, Michael di Capua, at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Both Sendak and di Capua offered encouragement and advice. On di Capua's suggestion, Thomsen sought inspiration for her first project in her northern Scottish and southern English roots. After reading Joseph Jacobs's More English Fairy Tales, Thomsen selected an obscure tale, "The Stars in the Sky," as the perfect text to introduce her exquisitely detailed line drawings. She began work on The Stars in the Sky: A Scottish Tale in the spring of 1976. The fanciful illustrations, which tell the story of a young girl who wishes to play with the stars, are done in pen and dark brown ink. In keeping with the theme, the book's aqua cloth cover is sprinkled with tiny silver stars. Her second book, The Gift Angel, was published in 1987. National Library holdings include drawings, typescripts, proofs and correspondence along with the illustrator's comments on the drawings for The Stars in the Sky.
Selected Bibliography
The Gift Angel. Written and illustrated by Airdrie Thomsen. Toronto: Stoddart, 1987.
34 p.: chiefly col. ill.; 24 cm.
ISBN 0773721460
The Stars in the Sky: "A Scottish Tale". Written by Joseph Jacobs; illustrated by Airdrie Amtmann. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1979.
25 p.: ill.; 20 cm.
ISBN 0374372292
Original Illustrations and Manuscript Material Available at the National Library of Canada
The illustrator's archive pertaining to The Stars in the Sky, 1976-1980 [manuscript].
The Stars in the Sky [manuscript].
13 cm.
Artist and illustrator. Montreal, Quebec.
Drawings, typescripts; proofs; correspondence.
Includes a description of how the book was made and the illustrator's comments on the drawings.
Finding aid available.
Published as: The Stars in the Sky: "A Scottish Tale". Retold by Joseph Jacobs; pictures by Airdrie Amtmann. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1979.
No restrictions.
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