" when really wonderful illustrators turn out to be even more wonderful at writing "
— Jane Yolen, on Howell's debut novel, The Dragon of Cripple Creek (Abrams)
I write stories for children. Sometimes they're for the children within grownups, sometimes the other way around. I wrote my first one, a fully-illustrated (all four pages) fantasy western, at roughly age five—old enough to spell “adventurs”—that was strictly for the child both within and without. I wrote my last one recently, at a rough old age that has a wider voice range. As I’ve grown up, I've had as many (if not many more) questions and observations as my child self did. It's no longer, Who made the stars? It's, Why aren’t (more) books put into the hands of children? More importantly, What’s going into their heads?
Here’s to the child.
At age two, Troy Howell launched his creative career with “Red Crayon on Green Carpet.” Myriad lines later, both written and drawn, while attending the Art Center School of Design, he debuted as an illustrator in Cricket magazine. In 2011, he debuted as a writer with his children’s novel, The Dragon of Cripple Creek (Abrams/Amulet). His most recent picture book story, Whale in a Fishbowl (Schwartz & Wade), is available in the US, UK, Japan, Korea, China, and France.
Troy grew up in southern California, where he could see the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains in winter and be in the waves of the Pacific the same day. Besides the wonder of nature, his earliest influences were Howard Pyle’s The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, a book he discovered in his elementary school’s small portable library, Lamorisse’s magical film The Red Balloon, and his father’s occasional expressions of creativity and imagination.
His work has won recognition, including the Golden Kite Honor Award for best picture book text from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. What matters most to him is work well done that rewards the reader.
Kindly check back now & then to see my latest blog essays, images, stories, etc.
Writing a children's book? See this. And maybe this.
Writing a children's book? See this. And maybe this.
