Johnson, David A. 1951–

(David Johnson)

Personal

Born February 18, 1951; son of a publisher and librarian; married Barbara McClintock (an illustrator).

Addresses

Home and office—Windham, CT.

Career

Illustrator.

Awards, Honors

On Sand Island included in Society of Illustrators Show; Connecticut Book Award, Connecticut Center for the Book, 2003, for Abraham Lincoln.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

(As David Johnson) Reteller, The Bremen Town Musicians, Rabbit Ears Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Reteller, Old Mother Hubbard: A Nursery Rhyme, Margaret K. McElderry Books (New York, NY), 1998.

(As David Johnson) Reteller, The Boy Who Drew Cats, Rabbit Ears Books (Westport, CT), 2001.

Snow Sounds: An Onomatopoeic Story, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2006.

ILLUSTRATOR

(As David Johnson) Tom Roberts, adaptor, Thumbelina, Rabbit Ears Books (Westport, CT), 1989.

(As David Johnson) Margaret Chang and Raymond Chang, adaptors, The Beggar's Magic: A Chinese Tale, Margaret K. McElderry Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Amy L. Cohn and Suzy Schmidt, Abraham Lincoln, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Jacqueline Briggs Martin, On Sand Island, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2003.

(As David Johnson) Juanita Havill, Eyes like Willy's, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

Gibbs Davis, Wackiest White House Pets, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004.

Jen Bryant, Call Me Marianne, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2006.

Drew Carlson, Attack of the Turtle, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2007.

Contributor of illustrations to periodicals, including New York Times Book Review, Harper's Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, Wall Street Journal, and the New Yorker.

Sidelights

David A. Johnson is a highly regarded editorial artist whose work has appeared in such publications as the New York Times Book Review, the Atlantic Monthly, and the Wall Street Journal. Johnson is also the author and illustrator of Snow Sounds: An Onomatopoeic Story, and he has provided the artwork for a number of children's books, including Jacqueline Briggs Martin's On Sand Island and Jen Bryant's Call Me Marianne.

In his picture books, Johnson employs fine pen-and-ink line drawings and muted watercolor washes. One of his early efforts, Old Mother Hubbard: A Nursery Rhyme, is a retelling of the childhood classic, and Johnson's art drew comparisons to early-twentieth-century illustrator Arthur Rackham. The "beautifully drawn, warm, rosy pictures have an old-fashioned quality, full of cozy clutter and wry humor," noted Hazel Rochman in Booklist,and a Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that Johnson "envelops the precise, delicate lines of his illustrations in a soft-focus effect, which he deepens via a gently faded palette." Ann A. Flowers, writing in Horn Book, called the work "an elegant version of an old favorite."

Awakening to a beautiful winter's morning, a young boy prepares for a special day at school in Snow Sounds, "a wonderful introduction to the world of poetic language," observed a critic in Kirkus Reviews. Johnson's spare, onomatopoeic narrative garnered praise from critics, as did his art. "Johnson has created an aural portrait of a snowy day," remarked Lolly Robinson in Horn Book, and Booklist contributor Gillian Engberg wrote that Snow Sounds "has a quiet charm that will span age groups."

Johnson collaborated with Margaret Chang and Raymond Chang on The Beggar's Magic: A Chinese Tale, which concerns a young boy's generosity to a wandering priest. Johnson's "delicate ink drawings have a timeless quality," Carolyn Phelan remarked in Booklist. "This quiet lesson in sharing is distinguished by exquisite, lightly colored pen-and-ink illustrations," Flowers observed. Amy L. Cohn and Suzy Schmidt present a biography of the sixteenth President of the United States in Abraham Lincoln. "Like the narrative, Johnson's period-evoking, earth-toned art, rendered in ink and watercolor wash, evolves with the passage of time," commented a reviewer in Publishers Weekly.

Martin's On Sand Island describes the efforts of a young boy, who lives in a fishing community on Lake Superior, to build his own small boat. Johnson's illustrations "capture the lake's translucent light and the story's nostalgic mood in expert, geometric line drawings," Engberg stated, and a Publishers Weekly critic noted that his "watercolors, tinted like Japanese woodblock prints, emphasize the endless stretch of summer days." Wackiest White House Pets, a work by Gibbs Davis, examines some of the unusual creatures that have been housed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, including James Buchanan's elephants. "Johnson's watercolor illustrations are amusing," noted Grace Oliff in School Library Journal.

In Call Me Marianne, a Brooklyn youngster named Jonathan spends a day at the zoo with celebrated poet Marianne Moore. "Johnson's artwork, a little like the poetry of Moore herself, is formal, muted in color yet always lively," remarked a contributor in Publishers Weekly, and a critic in Kirkus Reviews observed that he "supplies accurately drawn, very softly tinted animal and human figures, capturing both Jonathan's curiosity and the Moore's quirky, dignified grandeur."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 1997, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Beggar's Magic: A Chinese Tale, p. 407; April 15,

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1998, Hazel Rochman, review of Old Mother Hubbard: A Nursery Rhyme, p. 1448; April 1, 2002, Carolyn Phelan, review of Abraham Lincoln, p. 1342; August, 2003, Gillian Engberg, review of On Sand Island, p. 1981; October 1, 2004, Karin Snelson, review of Wackiest White House Pets, p. 331; February 15, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of Call Me Marianne, p. 110; September 1, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of Snow Sounds: An Onomatopoeic Story, p. 137; January 1, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, review of Attack of the Turtle, p. 97.

Horn Book, November-December, 1997, Ann A. Flowers, review of The Beggar's Magic, p. 690; March-April, 1998, Ann A. Flowers, review of Old Mother Hubbard, p. 229; March-April, 2002, Betty Carter, review of Abraham Lincoln, p. 227; November-December, 2006, Lolly Robinson, review of Snow Sounds, p. 692.

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2002, review of Abraham Lincoln, p. 1682; July 15, 2003, review of On Sand Island, p. 966; May 15, 2004, review of Eyes like Willy's, p. 492; October 15, 2004, review of Wackiest White House Pets, p. 1004; December 15, 2005, re- view of Call Me Marianne, p. 1319; July 15, 2006, review of Snow Sounds, p. 724.

Publishers Weekly, March 23, 1998, review of Old Mother Hubbard, p. 97; December 17, 2001, review of Abraham Lincoln, p. 91; July 21, 2003, review of On Sand Island, p. 194; February 6, 2006, review of Call Me Marianne, p. 69.

School Library Journal, November, 2003, Susannah Price, review of On Sand Island, p. 110; July, 2004, Kristen Oravec, review of Eyes like Willy's, p. 106; November, 2004, Grace Oliff, review of Wackiest White House Pets, p. 123; March, 2006, Carol L. MacKay, review of Call Me Marianne, p. 175; October, 2006, Nina Lindsay, review of Snow Sounds, p. 113; July, 2007, Rebecca Sheridan, review of Attack of the Turtle, p. 97.