Moore, Cyd 1957–

Personal

Born July 4, 1957, in GA; daughter of Henry and Joy (an art teacher) Shealy; children: Branden, Lindsay. Education: University of Georgia, B.F.A. Hobbies and other interests: Painting, yoga, running, cooking, gardening, mosaics.

Addresses

Home—Sylvan Lake, MI. E-mail—mail@cydmoore.com.

Career

WMAZ-TV/Radio, Macon, GA, art director, 1978-80; Macon Telegraph & News, Macon, staff artist, 1980-83; freelance illustrator/designer, 1983—. Exhibitions: Works have been exhibited at solo shows in galleries in Birmingham and Montgomery, AL, and Birmingham, MI; work exhibited at group-show of children's book art in New York, NY.

Writings

ILLUSTRATOR

Jane Yolen, Jane Yolen's Songs of Summer, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1993.

Fay Robinson, compiler, A Frog inside My Hat, Troll (Mahwah, NJ), 1993.

Judy Barron, I Want to Learn to Fly (with audio cassette), Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

Shulamith Levey Oppenheim, I Love You Bunny Rabbit, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1994.

Charles Ghigna, Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose, Hyperion (New York, NY), 1994.

Rozanne L. Williams, Scaredy Cat, Creative Teaching Press (Huntington Beach, CA), 1995.

Marlene Beierel, What Comes in Threes?, Creative Teaching Press (Huntington Beach, CA), 1995.

Rozanne L. Williams, The Time Song, Creative Teaching Press (Huntington Beach, CA), 1995.

Rozanne L. Williams, Scaredy Cat Runs Away, Creative Teaching Press (Huntington Beach, CA), 1995.

Eileen Spinelli, Where's the Night Train Going?, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1996.

Shulamith Levey Oppenheim, What Is the Full Moon Full Of?, Boyds Mills Press (Honesdale, PA), 1997.

Steven J. Simmons, Alice and Greta: A Tale of Two Witches, Charlesbridge Publishers (Watertown, MA), 1997.

Lisa McCourt, I Love You, Stinky Face, Troll (Mahwah, NJ), 1997.

Lisa McCourt, It's Time for School, Stinky Face, Troll-Bridgewater Books (Mahwah, NJ), 1997.

Rozanne L. Williams, Can You Read a Map?, Creative Teaching Press (Huntington Beach, CA), 1997.

Big Book: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, William Sadlier (New York, NY), 1997.

Lisa McCourt, I Miss You, Stinky Face, Bridgewater Books (Mahwah, NJ), 1999.

Steven J. Simmons, Greta's Revenge: More Alice and Greta, Crown Publishers (New York, NY), 1999.

Lisa McCourt, Good Night, Princess Pruney-Toes, Troll-Bridgewater (Mahwah, NJ), 2001.

Steven J. Simmons, Alice and Greta's Color Magic, Knopf (New York, NY), 2001.

Roni Schotter, Missing Rabbit, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Amy Gary, Picturebook 2001, WaterMark, 2001.

Lisa McCourt, Merry Christmas, Stinky Face, Bridgewater (Mahwah, NJ), 2002.

Roni Schotter, Room for Rabbit, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Lisa McCourt, The Most Thankful Thing, Bridgewater (Mahwah, NJ), 2003.

Lesléa Newman, A Fire Engine for Ruthie, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Raffi, adaptor, If You're Happy and You Know It, Knopf (New York, NY), 2005.

Tony Johnston, Sticky People, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2006.

Jeanie Franz Ransom, What Do Parents Do (When You're Not Home)?, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 2007.

Lisa McCourt, Happy Halloween, Stinky Face, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2007.

Marjorie Blain Parker, Your Kind of Mommy, Dutton (New York, NY), 2007.

Lisa McCourt, Granny's Dragon, Dutton (New York, NY), 2008.

Denise Brennan Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan, Willow, Sleeping Bear Press (Chelsea, MI), 2008.

EDITOR

(With Amy Gary) Picturebook '98: The Directory of Children's Illustration, Menasha Ridge Press, 1999.

(With Amy Gary) Picturebook '99: The Directory of Children's Illustration, WaterMark, 1999.

(With Amy Gary) Picturebook 2K: The Directory of Children's Illustration, WaterMark, 2000.

Also coeditor, with Amy Gary, of Picturebook 2001: The Directory of Children's Illustration.

Sidelights

As a children's book illustrator, artist Cyd Moore chooses from among a variety of styles and palettes in order to accentuate the unique qualities of each story she brings to life. Her work has been paired with tales by Lisa McCourt, Fay Robinson, Steven J. Simmons, and Eileen Spinelli, among others, always with upbeat results. Reviewing Moore's work for Lesléa Newman's A Fire Engine for Ruthie, which finds a little girl more interested in playing with toy trains and trucks than dolls, a Publishers Weekly contributor concluded that the book's "vibrant watercolors pack in plenty of detail and the cheery hues of the busy spreads echo Ruthie's sunny optimism." Turning to another example from the illustrator's long list of successes, a Kirkus Reviews writer noted that Moore's detailed illustrations "will prove engrossing for young readers" of Marjorie Blain Parker's Your Kind of Mommy.

Growing up in Georgia, Moore was encouraged in her creative endeavors by her mother, also an artist. In school, her artistic talent earned her the job of designing posters as well as a position on the yearbook

committee. After high school, Moore attended the University of Georgia, where she earned her B.F.A. and then started on a career as a graphic illustrator, creating art for newspapers, television, and product advertisements. In the mid-1980s she decided to make the shift to book illustration, where children's picture books were the perfect fit for her humorous, whimsical approach.

In her art for McCourt's picture-book series that includes I Love You, Stinky Face, I Miss You, Stinky Face, and Happy Halloween, Stinky Face, Moore contributes neon-colored monsters and brightly colored scenes to emphasize the unlikely nature of the child's fears and the consequent humor of imagining they could really happen. Reviewing I Love You, Stinky Face, in which a little boy being put to bed tests his mother's love with frightful scenarios, Hazel Rochman wrote in Booklist that "Moore's paintings, in neon colors with lots of purple and green, contrast the gentle bedtime caresses with the wild scenarios." A similar scene is enacted in I Miss You, Stinky Face, in which Mom, phoning her son while away on business, is questioned closely about her ability to overcome a series of unlikely obstacles that might delay her return, while Merry Christmas, Stinky Face continues the amusing interchange between mother and son. Reviewing It's Time for School, Stinky Face, Tim Wadham wrote in School Library Journal that Moore's "lively cartoon style is perfect for the over-the-top scenarios" presented in McCourt's text, while Rochman praised the illustrator's ability to "express the rambunctious party fun as well as the tender family bond" in Merry Christmas, Stinky Face.

Other collaborations with McCourt also center on the love between a parent and child. In Good Night, Princess Pruney Toes the two tell the story of a father bathing and putting his daughter to bed, creating "a delight- ful romp," according to Susan Marie Pitard in School Library Journal. Moore's "exuberant watercolors include warm domestic details" readers will easily identify with, according to a contributor to Publishers Weekly. The Most Thankful Thing, another team effort, pairs McCourt's "breezy" text about a mother and daughter's perusal of a family photo album with McCourt's "effective" pastel-hued cartoon art, according to Booklist critic Carolyn Phelan. In School Library Journal Deborah Rothaug dubbed The Most Thankful Thing "a wonderful, reassuring read-aloud for storytime and for individual sharing," and in Publishers Weekly a critic concluded that the illustrator's "heartfelt, cartoonish illustrations manage to keeps things lively."

Moore contributes cheerful watercolors to Robinson's poetry collection A Frog inside My Hat as well as to Charles Ghigna's Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose. Her watercolor-and-pencil compositions for the latter reflect the poet's optimism through "vaguely Chagall-like touches" and the use of "rich and vibrant" colors, according to a contributor to Publishers Weekly. For Spinelli's collection of poems titled Where Is the Night Train Going?, Moore creates a crew of shaggy cartoon characters in a style that recalls the reassuring art of illustrator Mercer Mayer.

A range of emotions are reflected in Moore's paintings in Shulamith Levey Oppenheim's I Love You, Bunny Rabbit, in which a little boy's favorite rabbit becomes so dirty that he (briefly) contemplates giving it up in favor of a new toy. A Publishers Weekly contributor dubbed I Love You, Bunny Rabbit "a winsome tale of love remaining love in spite of dirt and grime." Another rabbit stars in Missing Rabbit and Room for Rabbit, two "reassuring" picture books by Roni Schotter that feature "Moore's warm, cartoonlike watercolors," according to School Library Journal contributor Kathleen Kelly MacMillan. "Gentle humor is also reflected in Moore's illustrations for Oppenheim's What Is the Full Moon Full Of? Here, a little boy asks the title question of a cow, a firefly, a squirrel, and his grandmother, and finally comes up with his own idea. "Moore's pictures are lighthearted and goofy," remarked Stephanie Zvirin in her Booklist review.

Moore fittingly gives way to flights of illustrative fancy in I Want to Learn to Fly!, lyrics written by Judy Barron and sung by Maureen McGovern that focuses on a child's wish for adventure. "Fanciful, full-page illustrations … playfully depict the girl's exotic destinations," remarked a Publishers Weekly reviewer of the work. Other lyrics brought to life through Moore's art include popular singer/storyteller Raffi's version of If You're Happy and You Know It.

Two toddlers spend a day involved in one sticky object after another in Tony Johnston's Sticky People, a picture book that is injected with even more humor via Moore's watercolor art. The story's illustrations depict the two toddlers as they move from breakfast with jam to playing in the mud, and pasting together craft projects, until they wind up in the bathtub after a playful dinner with their parents. Moore's art sets the story within a loving family in which the "feeling of familiarity" show "characters … having so much fun readers will want to join right in," according to a Kirkus Reviews writer. In a turn of the tables, adults cause the mess in the pages of Jenanie Franz Ransom's What Do Parents Do (When You're Not Home?). In watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, Moore contributes what School Library Journal critic Linda L. Walkins described as "humorous details" to Ransom's revelations regarding parents who get into all sorts of trouble while their children are spending the night at Grandma's.

Moore has teamed up with author Steven J. Simmons in a number of picture-book projects. Among these are the "Alice and Greta" stories about two little witches, one always good and the other always bad. In her art, Moore plays with the meanings associated with color: In Alice and Greta: A Tale of Two Witches she dresses sweet Alice in pink while poisonous Greta wears a nasty shade of green. The tables are turned in Greta's Revenge: More Alice and Greta, as nasty Greta casts a spell on

Alice to make her mean, and formerly pink Alice turns green. In Alice and Greta's Color Magic Greta succeeds in casting a spell that drains the entire world of color, even the vile shade of green that she adores. Sharon McNeil, writing in School Library Journal, praised Moore's humorous, pastel-colored cartoons in Alice and Greta's Color Magic, noting that "the facial expressions of all of the characters are very telling."

Moore once told SATA: "Illustration does not have to be just a picture of the words written on a page. It can be and, in my opinion, must be more than that. Illustration, approached with a larger purpose, is art of the highest form … just as important and inspiring as an oil painting in the finest museum. My single purpose in illustrating each book is to make that book more than the words … to go beyond the words … to lift readers young and old to places within themselves that make their lives more than they were a moment before. One beautifully painted picture, filled with imagination and love, does that to those who are able to see.

"Great art must flow from higher spaces through the artist's hands and onto a smooth white page. It is always spontaneous and never contrived. It is like a living thing that must have a vehicle by which to travel in order to arrive where it needs to be. Great art can arrive anywhere: in a gallery, in a subway, in a children's book. It only depends upon the spirit of the artist and whether he can or will allow that art to come. The goal is to be that open every time for every page in every book that is illustrated. The goal is hard and frustrating at times. Deadlines and time schedules must be factored in to all of this wonderful flow. But when the goal is grasped even once, the feeling of getting it right forces you to try again and again for that perfection.

[Image not available for copyright reasons]

"These may seem like lofty statements for the illustration of children's books. But I remember some of the pictures in some of my books from childhood to this day. I remember how they made me feel. Children and their parents don't go to museums much. Museums can be boring and hard to understand. Video games are a lot more fun, and so is golf on Saturday. But most kids get to open a book and look at the pictures, and sometimes the parents share those moments. And if those pictures happen to have some substance behind them … some magic … then the artist's show has been viewed, hopefully a spark has been lit, and the artist's job has been well done."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 1993, Deborah Abbott, review of Jane Yolen's Songs of Summer, p. 1846; January 1, 1995, April Judge, review of I Love You, Bunny Rabbit, p. 826; January 1, 1996, Hazel Rochman, review of Where's the Night Train Going?, p. 841; October 15, 1997, Hazel Rochman, review of I Love You, Stinky Face, p. 403; December 1, 1997, Stephanie Zvirin, review of What Is the Full Moon Full Of?, p. 643; May 1, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of Missing Rabbit, p. 1536; September 15, 2002, Hazel Rochman, review of Merry Christmas, Stinky Face, p. 246; March 1, 2003, Gillian Engberg, review of Room for Rabbit, p. 1204; November 1, 2003, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Most Thankful Thing, p. 502; August, 2004, Ilene Cooper, review of A Fire Engine for Ruthie, p. 1944; April 1, 2007, Abby Nolan, review of What Do Parents Do (When You're Not Home)?, p. 60; September 1, 2007, Ilene Cooper, review of Happy Halloween, Stinky Face, p. 126.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 1995, review of I Love You, Bunny Rabbit, p. 211; September, 2004, Hope Morrison, review of A Fire Engine for Ruthie, p. 33; April, 2007, Deborah Stevenson, review of What Do Parents Do (When You're Not Home)?, p. 342.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2002, review of Missing Rabbit, p. 265; November 1, 2002, review of Merry Christmas, Stinky Face, p. 1622; July 1, 2004, review of A Fire Engine for Ruthie, p. 625; May 1, 2006, review of Sticky People, p. 461; February 1, 2007, review of Your Kind of Mommy, p. 128.

Oakland Press (Oakland, MI), October 12, 2004, Garry Graff, "Moore, Moore, Moore," pp. D1-D2.

Publishers Weekly, July 26, 1993, review of A Frog inside My Hat, p. 70; September 12, 1994, review of Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose, p. 91; December 12, 1994, review of I Love You, Bunny Rabbit, p. 61; March 20, 1995, review of I Want to Learn to Fly!, p. 31; February 5, 1996, review of Where's the NightTrain Going?, p. 90; August 18, 1997, review of Alice and Greta: A Tale of Two Witches, p. 91; August 25, 1997, review of I Love You, Stinky Face, p. 70; July 19, 1999, review of Alice and Greta, p. 197; September 6, 1999, review of Greta's Revenge: More Alice and Greta, p. 103; February 5, 2001, review of Good Night, Princess Pruney Toes, p. 88; January 21, 2002, review of Missing Rabbit, p. 88; August 25, 2003, review of Alice and Greta's Color Magic, p. 67; November 3, 2003, review of The Most Thankful Thing, p. 73; September 6, 2004, review of A Fire Engine for Ruthie, p. 61; December 6, 2004, review of The Most Thankful Thing, p. 58.

School Library Journal, August, 1993, Jane Marino, review of Jane Yolen's Songs of Summer, p. 162; October, 1993, Barbara Chatton, review of A Frog inside My Hat, p. 121; September, 1994, Kathleen Whalin, review of Tickle Day, p. 208; February, 1995, Lynn Cockett, review of I Love You, Bunny Rabbit, p. 78; April, 1996, Liza Bliss, review of Where's the Night Train Going?, p. 130; October, 1997, Elizabeth Trotter, review of I Love You, Stinky Face, p. 104; December, 1997, Peggy Morgan, review of What Is the Full Moon Full Of?, p. 99; January, 1998, Tana Elias, review of Alice and Greta, p. 93; May, 1999, Linda Ludke, review of I Miss You, Stinky Face, p. 92; December, 1999, Maryann H. Owen, review of Greta's Revenge, p. 112; October, 2000, Tim Wadham, review of It's Time for School, Stinky Face, p. 130; May, 2001, Susan Marie Pitard, review of Good Night, Princess Pruney Toes, p. 129; October, 2001, Sharon McNeil, review of Alice and Greta's Color Magic, p. 132; April, 2002, Susan Weitz, review of Missing Rabbit, p. 122; April, 2003, Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, review of Room for Rabbit, p. 138; August, 2003, Deborah Rothaug, review of The Most Thankful Thing, p. 138; September, 2004, Roxanne Burg, review of A Fire Engine for Ruthie, p. 176; July, 2006, Julie Roach, review of Sticky People, p. 79; March, 2007, Martha Topol, review of Your Kind of Mommy, p. 184; June, 2007, Linda L. Walkins, review of What Do Parents Do (When You're Not Home)?, p. 120.

ONLINE

Cyd Moore Home Page,http://www.cydmoore.com (January 15, 2007).

Embracing the Child Web site,http://www.embracingthechild.org/ (January 10, 2007), "Cyd Moore."