Reynolds, Adrian 1963-

Personal

Born 1963, in England.

Addresses

Home—Cambridge, England.

Career

Illustrator. Formerly worked in a bookstore.

Awards, Honors

Children's Book Award shortlist, for Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs by Ian Whybrow.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Pete and Polo and the Washday Adventure, Orchard (London, England), 1997.

Pete and Polo's Nursery School Adventure, Orchard (London, England), 1999, published as Pete and Polo's Big School Adventure, Orchard (New York, NY), 2000.

Pete and Polo's Farmyard Adventure, Orchard (London, England), 2001, Orchard (New York, NY), 2002.

Pete and Polo's Magical Christmas, Orchard (London, England), 2002.

ILLUSTRATOR

Ragnhild Scamell, Toby's Doll House, Levinson (London, England), 1998.

Margaret Ryan, The Big Sister's Tale, Hodder Children's (London, England), 1998.

Margaret Ryan, The Little Brother's Tale, Hodder Children's (London, England), 1998.

Margaret Ryan, The Little Sister's Tale, Hodder Children's (London, England), 1998.

Alan Brown, Humbugs, Hodder Children's (London, England), 1998.

Sally Grindley, Silly Goose and Daft Duck Play Hide-and-Seek, Dorling Kindersley (London, England), 1999.

Beverley Birch, Down the Road to Jamie's House, Hodder Children's (London, England), 1999.

Hiawyn Oram, What's Naughty?, Hodder Children's (London, England), 2000.

Michael Lawrence, Baby Loves Hugs and Kisses, Dorling Kindersley (London, England), 2000.

Sally Grindley, Silly Goose and Daft Duck Try to Catch a Rainbow, Dorling Kindersley (London, England), 2001.

Michael Lawrence, Baby Loves Visiting, Dorling Kindersley (London, England), 2002.

Jonathan Emmett, Someone Bigger, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2003, Clarion (New York, NY), 2004.

Julia Jarman, Big Red Bath, Orchard (London, England), 2004, published as Big Red Tub, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004.

Jonathan Emmett, If We Had a Sailboat, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2006.

Jeanne Willis, Who's in the Bathroom?, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2007.

Michael Rosen, Bear's Day Out, Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 2007.

ILLUSTRATOR; "HARRY AND THE DINOSAURS" SERIES

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Snow King, Levinson (London, England), 1997, Sterling, 1999.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, David and Charles (London, England), 1999, published as Sammy and the Dinosaurs, Orchard (New York, NY), 1999, adapted as Harry and the Bucketful of Pop-up Dinosaurs, Puffin (London, England), 2005.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Robots, David and Charles (London, England), 2000, published as Sammy and the Robots, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs Say "Raahh!", Gullane Children's Books (London, England), 2001, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs Play Hide-and-Seek, Gullane Children's (London, England), 2002.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs Have a Very Busy Day, Gullane Children's (London, England), 2002.

Ian Whybrow, Romp in the Swamp, Gullane Children's (London, England), 2002.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs Make a Christmas Wish, Puffin (London, England), 2003, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs Tell the Time, Penguin (London, England), 2004.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs at the Museum, Puffin (London, England), 2004, Random House (New York, NY), 2005.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs Go Wild, Gullane Children's (London, England), 2005.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs and the Bucketful of Stories (omnibus), Puffin (London, England), 2005.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School, Puffin (London, England), 2006, Random House (New York, NY), 2007.

Ian Whybrow, Harry and the Dinosaurs Make a Splash, Puffin (London, England), 2007.

Jean Willis, Who's in the Bathroom?, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2007.

Books featuring Reynolds' illustrations have been translated into Welsh.

Sidelights

British artist Adrian Reynolds was inspired to begin his career as a children's book illustrator while working in a book store in his native England. Among the dozens of books that contain his illustrations are the popular "Harry and the Dinosaurs" series by Ian Whybrow, as well as several original self-illustrated picture books featuring a boy and his stuffed polar bear. In Pete and Polo&s Big School Adventure, Pete and toy friend Polo head off to their first day of nursery school, where the white-furred Polo is nervous that the bears of all the other children are brown bears. First-time schoolers will enjoy "a typical school day unfold[ing] through Reynold's cheerful text and bright watercolors," concluded

[Image not available for copyright reasons]

Booklist contributor Lauren Peterson. A visit to grandfather's small farm in rural England is the focus of Pete and Polo's Farmyard Adventure, in which the author/illustrator "ably conveys the pleasures of a day in the country" and "makes it real that this is the kind of adventure a kid could have on his own." "The child's-eye view is especially successful; the size and perspective of familiar objects are just as Pete would see them," Carolyn Janssen wrote in a School Library Journal review of Pete and Polo's Farmyard Adventure.

Harry and the Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, which became a best-seller in England and was shortlisted for the Children's Book Award, was published as Sammy and the Dinosaurs in the United States and sets the pace for Whybrow's series. In the story, Harry discovers some old toy dinosaurs in the attic of his grandmother's house. Adopting the toys and naming each one, they soon become his favorites, and he takes his dinosaurs everywhere he goes. When the dinosaurs get left behind after Harry takes a train ride, it is left to the boy to avert a potential tragedy and rescue his beloved toys. Praising Whybrow's story as "alternately humorous and poignant, … and always right on target," Horn Book critic Lolly Robinson added that Reynolds' contribution of "vibrantly colored pen-and-watercolor illustrations" capture "the affection each feels for the other … in joyfully expressive drawings that show people and dinosaurs with dot eyes and simple flowing outlines."

Other adventures with Harry have followed, including Harry and the Dinosaurs Say "Raahh!," Harry and the Dinosaurs at the Museum, Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School, and Harry and the Dinosaurs Go Wild. In Harry and the Dinosaurs at the Museum the boy, his family, and his dinosaurs visit a local museum where the boy finds a dinosaur exhibit that features full-size versions of his dino-friends. In illustrating Whybrow's entertaining lesson in dinosaur history, Reynolds' "bright, sturdy watercolors effectively use ankle-high (toy dinosaur) perspective," according to Robinson. The first day at a new school causes Stegosaurus some qualms in Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School, in which "text and art keep a light touch," according to Robinson, while in School Library Journal June Wolfe maintained that Reynolds' "watercolor and line illustrations have more life than the story."

In addition to his work with Whybrow, Reynolds has also created art for texts by other children's book authors, such as Julia Jarman, Margaret Ryan, Michael Rosen, and Jonathan Emmett. He joins Jarman to create Big Red Bath (published in the United States as Big Red Tub), in which two children playing in a bubble-filled bathtub are joined by a host of animal friends, until a rotund hippo disrupts the crowd of playful bathers. Reynolds' "large, cleanly defined drawings glow with warm washes" and "ratchet … up pandemonium before letting the storynote wind down to a cheerful conclusion," observed Booklist reviewer Carolyn Phelan. The book's "buoyant pictures make the most of the saturated silliness," concluded a Publishers Weekly critic of Big Red Tub, adding that the illustrator's "cartooned menagerie exudes an eager mischievousness."

Someone Bigger, with a text by Emmett, presents an engaging story that finds a father and son carried away by a frisky homemade kite. Noting Reynolds' use of "unusual aerial perspectives" and a healthy dose of "silliness" in his watercolor cartoon art, Booklist contributor Lauren Peterson concluded that the "catchy rhymes and colorful art" in Someone Bigger make this a good choice for a spring storytime."

Rosen's Bear's Day Out, which focuses on a bear's trek from seashore to city, was praised by Booklist contributor Julie Cummins, who wrote that Reynolds' illustrations, with their "vivid colors," "capture the whimsical playfulness of [Rosen's] … words." "The illustrator's cityscapes are as chock-full of movement, color and people as the puzzled bear can handle," maintained a Publishers Weekly in a laudatory review of Bear's Day Out. In Kirkus Reviews a critic praised Rosen's rhyming text and added that Reynolds' "large and luscious" cartoons feature "atmospheric and idyllic shore scenes" as well as depictions of bustling city streets.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 1999, Carolyn Phelan, review of Harry and the Snow King, p. 1956; August, 2002, Carolyn Phelan, review of Pete and Polo's Farmyard Adventure, p. 1976; March 1, 2004, Lauren Peterson, review of Someone Bigger, p. 1193; January 1, 2005, Carolyn Phelan, review of Big Red Tub, p. 869; September 1, 2007, Julie Cummins, review of Bear's Day Out, p. 123.

Horn Book, September, 1999, Lolly Robinson, review of Sammy and the Dinosaurs, p. 602; May-June, 2004, Lolly Robinson, review of Harry and the Dinosaurs Say "Raahh!", p. 323; November-December, 2004, Lolly Robinson, review of Harry and the Dinosaurs Make a Christmas Wish, p. 666; July-August, 2005, Lolly Robinson, review of Harry and the Dinosaurs at the Museum, p. 461; July-August, 2007, Lolly Robinson, review of Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School, p. 387.

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2002, review of Pete and Polo's Farmyard Adventure, p. 298; January 15, 2004, review of Harry and the Dinosaurs Say "Raahh!", p. 91; February 15, 2004, review of Someone Bigger, p. 176; December 15, 2004, review of Big Red Tub, p. 1203; March 1, 2007, review of Who's in the Bathroom?, p. 234; October 1, 2007, review of Bear's Day Out.

Publishers Weekly, June 14, 1999, review of Toby's Doll House, p. 69; January 17, 2005, review of Big Red Tub, p. 54; October 1, 2007, review of Bear's Day Out, p. 56.

School Library Journal, December, 2000, Leslie S. Hilverding, review of Pete and Polo's Big School Adventure, p. 123; December, 2000, Shanla Brookshire, review of Baby Loves Hugs and Kisses, p. 113; July, 2001, DeAnn Tabuchi, review of Sammy and the Robots, p. 91; July, 2002, Carolyn Janssen, review of Pete and Polo's Farmyard Adventure, p. 97; May, 2004, G. Alyssa Parkinson, review of Someone Bigger, p. 109; December, 2004, Julie Roach, review of Big Red Tub, p. 110; July, 2005, Jane Barrer, review of Harry and the Dinosaurs at the Museum, p. 84; March, 2007, Suzanne Myers Harold, review of Who's in the Bathroom?, p. 191; June, 2007, June Wolfe, review of Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School, p. 127.