Garland, Michael 1952-

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GARLAND, Michael 1952-

PERSONAL: Born 1952, in New York, NY; married; children: three. Education: Pratt Institute, B.F.A., 1974. Hobbies and other interests: Painting landscapes.

ADDRESSES: Home—Patterson, NY. Agent—c/o
Dutton's Children's Books Publicity, 345 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014.

CAREER: Author and illustrator of children's books.

AWARDS, HONORS: Booklist Editor's Choice and National Council on Social Studies/Children's Book Council Notable Children's Trade Book, both for My Cousin Katie; certificates of merit, Society of Illustrators, 1981-88, 1990-92.

WRITINGS:

and illustrator

My Cousin Katie, T. Y. Crowell (New York, NY), 1989.

Circus Girl, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Dinner at Magritte's, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Mouse before Christmas, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Angel Cat, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1998.

An Elf for Christmas, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 1999.

The Big Stone, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1999.

Icarus Swinebuckle, A. Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 2000.

Christmas Magic, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Last Night at the Zoo, Boyds Mill Press (Honesdale, PA), 2001.

Mystery Mansion: A Look Again Book, Dutton Children's Books New York, NY), 2001.

The President and Mom's Apple Pie, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Christmas City: A Look Again Book, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 2002.

illustrator

Lucille Clifton, Sonora the Beautiful, Dutton (New York, NY), 1981.

Dale Carlson, The Frog People, Dutton (New York, NY), 1982.

Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:Found among the Papers of the Late Diedrich Knickerbocker, Caroline House (Honesdale, PA), 1992.

Max Lucado, Alabaster's Song: Christmas through theEyes of an Angel, Word Publications (Dallas, TX), 1996.

Elizabeth Friedrich, Leah's Pony, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1996.

Corinne Demas Bliss, Electra and the Charlotte Russe, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1997.

Marlene Targ Brill, Diary of a Drummer Boy, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1998.

Ann Tompert, Saint Patrick, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1998.

Ann Tompert, Saint Nicholas, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 2000.

Holy Bible: Children's Illustrated Edition, Nelsonword (Nashville, TN), 2001.

Debbie Bertram and Susan Bloom, The Best Place toRead, Random House, Inc. (New York, NY), 2003.

Stu Smith, Goldilocks and the Three Martians, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Michael Garland, a native New Yorker who earned a B.F.A. from the Pratt Institute in 1974, began his career as an illustrator of children's books. He has written and illustrated works for the young in a number of areas, including biography, picture books, and puzzle-and-story combinations. Both as an author and illustrator, his work is known for its imagination and charm. A reviewer for the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books refered to his use of surrealism, which the critic considered to be a substantial enrichment to the visual aspect of the books he illustrates. Sonora the Beautiful and The Frog People, both issued by Dutton, were the first titles containing his art work.

Published in 1989, My Cousin Katie marked Garland's debut as both author and illustrator. Since then, he has divided his time between the illustration of other authors' works, and writing and illustrating his own books. Garland's early work employed both painting and drawing. He is particularly well known for his skill in acrylic painting. Electra and the Charlotte Russe was his first foray into computer-assisted illustration. He continues to use both traditional methods—painting and drawing—as well as computer techniques in his art. Garland has been a frequent recipient of the Society of Illustrators' certificate of merit.

My Cousin Katie is the story of a young child and her life on a farm. During the visit of a cousin, all of the farm activities are depicted both visually and by means of the text, and the reader sees Katie as a real participant in the life of the farm. Garland employs a simple vocabulary to depict this experience. SchoolLibrary Journal reviewer Janet DiGianni called attention to his technique of rendering scenes and objects from the child's perspective, thus reinforcing the child's view of the scale of life. Critics have commented on Garland's use of a realistic style imbued with a certain idealism that conveys a romantic vision of rural farm life. Suitable for a small child, this book received the National Council of Social Studies/Children's Book Council Notable Children's Trade Book Award in the social studies category and was also a Booklist Editors Choice.

Like My Cousin Katie, Circus Girl presents a child's life that is substantially different from the more familiar urban or suburban model. The author has imagined, in book form, the life of an extended family of circus performers. Father performs as a clown, while mother is a tightrope walker. Alice, the circus girl, and the rest of the family are all involved in the work that makes the show possible. There is no plot, but rather a group of scenes depicting everyday activities that make up life in the circus. Garland has again employed a realistic style, with a bright palette of acrylic paints. The illustrations are large with full-page and double-page formats. Carolyn Phelan, in Booklist praised the fanciful final scene where the father, in full clown regalia, reads a bedtime story to Alice and cages full of enthralled wild animals.

Garland has also produced several "search-and-find" combination story and puzzle books. Christmas Magic: A Look Again Book and Mystery Mansion: A Look Again Book both are structured around a boy named Tommy and his aunt Jeanne. The aunt leads Tommy on mysterious searches by means of rhymed clues, and at the end of the hunt is a lovely surprise. These books received favorable notice for their opulent and complex illustrations and were recognized for presenting challenges both to the intellect and the imagination. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly noted of Mystery Mansion that the digital art adds considerably to the attractiveness of the book and the experience it evokes.

Garland's work often has a fanciful quality to it. The President and Mom's Apple Pie, a tale of President Taft's legendary appetite, and Icarus Swinebuckle are both stories recognized for their charm and humor. Dinner at Magritte's, written and illustrated by Garland, is a clear acknowledgment of the author/illustrator's long-held interest in surrealism. In the New York Times Book Review, the book was complimented for its wit and value as sophisticated entertainment.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, September 1, 1989, Denise Wilms, review of My Cousin Katie, p. 70; November 1, 1992, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Found among the Papers of the Late Diedrich Knickerbocker, p. 513; June 1, 1993, Carolyn Phelan, review of Circus Girl, p. 1856; March 1, 1996, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Leah's Pony, p. 1187; October 15, 1997, Julie Corsaro, review of The Mouse before Christmas, p. 414; February 1, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of Saint Patrick, p. 916; November 1, 1999, Kathy Broderick, review of An Elf for Christmas, p. 538; February 15, 2000, John Peters, review of Icarus Swinebuckle, p. 1117; July, 2001, Connie Fletcher, review of Last Night at the Zoo, p. 2019; September 1, 2001, Catherine Andronik, review of Christmas Magic, p. 120; March 1, 2002, Connie Fletcher, review of The President and Mom's Apple Pie, p. 1140; October 1, 2002, Carolyn Phelan, review of Christmas City: A Look Again Book, p. 335.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 1993, review of Circus Girl, p. 247; April, 1995, review of Dinner at Magritte's, p. 273; November, 2001, review of Christmas Magic, p. 102.

Catholic Library World, March, 1999, Charlotte Decker, review of Angel Cat, p. 48.

Childhood Education, fall, 2001, Valerie Deysher, review of Last Night at the Zoo, p. 49.

Children's Book Review Service, winter, 1990, review of My Cousin Katie, p. 62; January, 1999, review of Angel Cat, p. 50; April, 1999, review of The Big Stone, p. 104.

Horn Book, July-August, 1995, Mary M. Burns, review of Dinner at Magritte's, p. 450.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 1998, review of AngelCat, p. 1531; September 15, 1999, review of An Elf for Christmas, p. 1499; April 1, 2000, review of Icarus Swinebuckle, p. 474; May 1, 2002, review of The President and Mom's Apple Pie, p. 653; November 1, 2002, review of Christmas City, p. 1618.

New York Times Book Review, September 24, 1995, review of Dinner at Magritte's, p. 29; June 16, 2002, Rebecca Boggs Roberts, review of The President and Mom's Apple Pie, p. 20.

Publishers Weekly, May 31, 1993, review of CircusGirl, p. 54; May 22, 1995, review of Dinner at Magritte's, p. 59; October 6, 1997, review of The Mouse before Christmas, p. 54; January 26, 1998, review of Saint Patrick, p. 86; September 27, 1999, review of An Elf for Christmas, p. 55; March 6, 2000, review of Icarus Swinebuckle, p. 111; September 25, 2000, review of Saint Nicholas, p. 113; January 22, 2001, review of Last Night at the Zoo, p. 324; July 2, 2001, review of Mystery Mansion: A Look Again Book, p. 75; September 24, 2001, review of Christmas Magic, p. 50; March 25, 2002, review of The President and Mom's Apple Pie, p. 63.

School Library Journal, November, 1989, Janet Di-Gianni, review of My Cousin Katie, p. 80; November, 1992, Andrew W. Hunter, review of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, p. 94; December, 1993, Louise L. Sherman, review of Circus Girl, pp. 86-87; March, 1996, Liza Bliss, review of Leah's Pony, p. 173; October, 1997, Carolyn Jenks, review of Electra and the Charlotte Russe, p. 88; March, 1998, Patricia Pearl Dole, review of Saint Patrick, p. 207; May, 1998, Jackie Hechtkopf, review of Diary of a Drummer Boy, p. 107; October, 1998, Patricia Pearl Dole, review of Angel Cat, p. 100; June, 1999, Jackie Hechtkopf, review of The Big Stone, p. 95; October, 1999, review of An Elf for Christmas, p. 67; October, 2000, review of Saint Nicholas, p. 63; May, 2001, Blair Christolon, review of Last Night at the Zoo, p. 115; September, 2001, John Peters, Mystery Mansion, p. 188; October, 2001, review of Christmas Magic, p. 65; June, 2002, Alicia Eames, review of The President and Mom's Apple Pie, p. 94; October, 2002, Maureen Wade, review of Christmas City, p. 59.