Andersen, Bethanne 1954–

Personal

Born 1954. Education: Brigham Young University, B.A., 1976, and M.A.; attended School of Visual Arts (New York, NY).

Addresses

Home—Boise, ID. Office—Brigham Young University, F-553 HFAC, Provo, UT 84602. E-mail—bethanneid@earthlink.net.

Career

Educator and illustrator. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, associate professor of visual arts.

Awards, Honors

Jane Addams Children's Book Award, and Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book designation, both 1998, both for Seven Brave Women.

Illustrator

Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, VT), 1995.

Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, A Prayer for the Earth: The Story of Naamah, Noah's Wife, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, VT), 1996, published as Naamah, Noah's Wife, 2002.

Betsy Hearne, Seven Brave Women, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1997.

Milton Meltzer, Ten Queens: Portraits of Women of Power, Dutton (New York, NY), 1998.

Roberta Karim, Kindle Me a Riddle: A Pioneer Story, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1999.

Deborah Hopkinson, Bluebird Summer, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2001.

Milton Meltzer, Ten Kings, and the Worlds They Ruled, Orchard (New York, NY), 2002.

Deborah Hopkinson, A Packet of Seeds, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2004.

Jennifer Bryant, Georgia's Bones, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2005.

Pegi Deitz Shea, Patience Wright: America's First Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy, Holt (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

Drawn to visual arts at the age of five, Bethanne Andersen decided early on that she would be a painter. "I was going to be Rembrandt," she told E. Liza Richards in an online interview for the Brigham Young University Magazine. It was having children that first made Andersen consider illustration, and in the mid-1990s she shifted her focus from a successful career as a fine artist to the world of children's publishing. Two of Andersen's early illustration projects were texts written by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso that focus on stories from the

Bible. The first, But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land, introduces prominent women from the early books of the Bible. "Andersen's evocative paintings are beautiful additions to this carefully designed book," wrote Ilene Cooper in her Booklist review. In the second title, A Prayer for the Earth: The Story of Naamah, Noah's Wife, "Andersen's colorful paintings have texture and depth that add to the appealing tale," Cooper wrote. A critic for Publishers Weekly noted that Andersen's "depictions of verdant, blossoming flora effectively evoke a sense of rebirth."

Andersen worked with author Betsy Hearne on Seven Brave Women, a story spanning several generations of peace-keeping women, from the Revolutionary War through World War II. The book was chosen as the winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award for representing and promoting peace. Andersen carefully studied the eras the book covered and included details from this history in her "folkish, lyrical, uncommonly energetic oil paintings," as a contributor to Publishers Weekly observed. Cooper cited the "dreamy, pastel colored oils" and Horn Book critic Mary M. Burns praised Andersen's work as "an effective blend of impressionist landscapes with figurative studies of the principal subjects."

Again mixing history and biography, Andersen contributed portraits of several ruling women to Milton Meltzer's Ten Queens: Portraits of Women of Power. "These sensitively drawn portraits indicate both the humanity of these women and their extraordinary determination," wrote a Publishers Weekly critic, the reviewer noting that the interspersed maps help readers place each queen in the appropriate historical context. According to Cooper, Andersen's "pictures, especially the portraits, are bold attention holders." Andersen also illustrated the companion book, Ten Kings, and the Worlds They Ruled. Here her "stylized portraits reflect the regal nature and personality of each individual," wrote Shauna Yusko in School Library Journal.

Andersen brings to life the work of America's pioneer children in Kindle Me a Riddle: A Pioneer Story, again offering careful attention to the details of the era. "You wouldn't guess it, but the children's leather shoes and the paisleys on the shawl are all authentic," she told interviewer Richards. A Publishers Weekly critic noted that the illustrations complement the text, presenting readers with "vibrant, airy scenes of a cozy, well-appointed log cabin and rolling countryside amply dotted with trees." Andersen revisits pioneer life in A Packet of Seeds, a story by Deborah Hopkinson. Marian Creamer, writing in School Library Journal, called her illustrations "breathtakingly executed." Beyond her historical pieces, Andersen also illustrates the lives of modern children in her work for Hopkinson's Bluebird Summer, about which a Publishers Weekly critic wrote that "Andersen's wispy, light-filled gouache and oil paintings effectively capture the tale's considerable emotion and hope."

[Image not available for copyright reasons]

Andersen's illustrations have also accompanied the biographies of two prominent women artists: Georgia O'Keeffe in Georgia's Bones and patriot Patience Wright in Patience Wright: America's First Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy. Using O'Keeffe's own art as a model, "Andersen … strides bravely into O'Keeffe's considerable shadow," wrote Jennifer Mattson in a Booklist review of Georgia's Bones. A Publishers Weekly critic explained that "Andersen layers gouache, colored pencil and pastel to create textured, luminous sunsets and landscapes." Describing Andersen's illustrations for Patience Wright, School Library Journal contributor Barbara Auerback called them "delicately rendered" and Cooper commented that "Andersen has a way with women characters."

Andersen is inspired by the work of many artists, and she draws on many styles in her own work. However, as Betsy Hearne told Richards, "Bethanne has the ability to see beauty in the ordinary. She shows that plain people and plain situations can have beautiful aspects."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1995, Ilene Cooper, review of But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation tothe Promised Land, p. 54; February 15, 1997, Ilene Cooper, review of A Prayer for the Earth: The Story of Naamah, Noah's Wife, p. 1029; June 1, 1997, Ilene Cooper, review of Seven Brave Women, p. 1694; April 15, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of Ten Queens: Portraits of Women of Power, p. 1439; September 1, 1999, Kay Weisman, review of Kindle Me a Riddle: A Pioneer Story, p. 140; April 15, 2001, John Peters, review of Bluebird Summer, p. 1564; July, 2002, Ilene Cooper, review of Ten Kings, and the Worlds They Ruled, p. 1840; January 1, 2003, Ellen Mandel, review of Naamah, Noah's Wife, p. 900; May 15, 2004, Gillian Engberg, review of A Packet of Seeds, p. 1625; February 15, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Georgia's Bones, p. 1080; February 15, 2007, Ilene Cooper, review of Patience Wright: America's First Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy, p. 91.

Horn Book, September-October, 1997, Mary M. Burns, review of Seven Brave Women, p. 558.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2004, review of A Packet of Seeds, p. 223; January 15, 2005, review of Georgia's Bones, p. 117.

Publishers Weekly, February 24, 1997, review of A Prayer for the Earth, p. 83; May 19, 1997, review of Seven Brave Women, p. 75; April 6, 1998, review of Ten Queens, p. 80; August 16, 1999, review of Kindle Me a Riddle, p. 84; April 23, 2001, review of Bluebird Summer, p. 78; March 14, 2005, review of Georgia's Bones, p. 67.

School Library Journal, May, 2001, Karen Land, review of Bluebird Summer, p. 123; October, 2002, Shauna Yusko, review of Ten Kings, and the Worlds They Ruled, p. 189; April, 2004, Marian Creamer, review of A Packet of Seeds, p. 114; April, 2005, Wendy Lukehart, review of Georgia's Bones, p. 94; March, 2007, Barbara Auerback, review of Patience Wright, p. 234.

ONLINE

Brigham Young University Magazine Online,http://magazine.byu.edu/ (July 1, 2008), E. Liza Richards, interview with Andersen.

Brigham Young University Web site,http://visualarts.byu.edu/ (July 1, 2008), profile of Andersen.

HarperCollins Web site,http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/ (July 1, 2008), profile of Andersen.