McGuire, Robert

Personal

Born in KS; married. Education: Kansas State University, B.F.A.

Addresses

Home and office—New York, NY. E-mail—robert@robertmcguire.com.

Career

Illustrator. Worked previously as a elementary school teacher and designer.

Member

Society of Illustrators.

Awards, Honors

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award masterlist, Vermont Department of Libraries, 2007-2008, for The White Elephant.

Illustrator

Edith B. Shuman, compiler, 100 Years of Pride: A History of Lopez, Pennsylvania, Lopez Centennial Committee (Lopez, PA), 1976.

Sid Fleischman, The White Elephant, Greenwillow Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Tim Myers, reteller, The Furry-legged Teapot, Marshall Cavendish Children (New York, NY), 2007.

Suzanne Slade, Frederick Douglass: Writer, Speaker, and Opponent of Slavery, Picture Window Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2007.

Lori Mortensen, Amelia Earhart: Female Pioneer in Flight, Picture Window Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2008.

Sidelights

After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute, Robert McGuire traveled to Japan where he worked as an illustrator and designer for several years. Asian influences can be seen much of the art work he has produced since, its simplicity counterbalanced by McGuire's use of Western media and techniques.

In his illustration work, McGuire has collaborated with well-known children's authors such as Sid Fleischman and Tim Myers. For Fleischman's The White Elephant he contributes black-and-white pencil drawings that capture the story of a Siamese boy and his two elephants. The main character, Run-Run, is given the difficult responsibility of having to care for his own pet elephant in addition to a sacred white elephant. McGuire's "beautiful" full-page images "capture the child's nurturing of the elephants," noted Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman. Also reviewing the picture book, a Kirkus Reviews critic noted that McGuire's illustrations complement Fleischman's text by "bring[ing] out the story's high spots." Likewise, Horn Book critic Robin Smith acknowledged McGuire's "evocative pencil sketches, and rich Siamese setting."

McGuire also provides illustrations for Myers' The Furry-legged Teapot, a picture book that centers on a shape-shifting raccoon-like character which often appears in Japanese folklore. McGuire's acrylic paintings set Myers' tale in the "lush Japanese countryside with mountains in the background" as noted by School Library Journal reviewer Marianne Saccardi. A Kirkus Reviews critic dubbed McGuire's "Japanese vistas" "an amusing accompaniment" to Myers' text.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of The White Elephant, p. 125.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January, 2007, review of The White Elephant, p. 211.

Horn Book, November-December, 2006, Robin Smith, review of The White Elephant, p. 708.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2006, review of The White Elephant, p. 952; February 1, 2007, review of The Furry-legged Teapot, p. 126.

Publishers Weekly, November 6, 2006, review of The White Elephant, p. 61.

School Library Journal, October, 2006, Lee Bock, review of The White Elephant, p. 110; May, 2007, Marianne Saccardi, review of The Furry-legged Teapot, p. 106; August, 2007, Sarah O'Holla, review of Harriet Tubman: Hero of the Underground Railroad, p. 103.

Washington Post Book World, November 26, 2006, Elizabeth Ward, review of The White Elephant, p. 12.