SIDE BY SIDE: Five Favorite Picture-Book Teams Go to Work by Leonard Marcus

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Marcus, Leonard S. 2001. SIDE BY SIDE: Five favorite picture-book teams go to work. New York: Walker & Company. ISBN 0802787789

PLOT SUMMARY
This picture book about picture books details the partnership of writers and illustrators. Leonard Marcus focuses on five titles of picture books, such as Louis the Fish and The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses.. He describes how each of the five writer and illustrator teams met and how they worked together on each book. Each artist has a distinct technique and art medium that naturally brings each book alive in the illustrations. A list of other works by the same writer and artist team are provided at the end of each story.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Marcus shares the biography and collaborative history of five groups of children’s artist and writer teams. He focuses on one picture book from each team and provides the reader with a variety of very different works. He details how the collaboration began, the process of working as a team and provides little snippets into the picture book making process. Marcus provides full color images of each book cover, drafts of the story lines and sketches of the artwork in progress. Personal touches are included with handwritten notes of the author and illustrator.

Much research and work, along with a great deal of editing, goes into creating the visual story to place along side the written text. This book provides a look at representational, surrealism, cartoon art, and expressionism in painterly techniques. The many illustrations are done in watercolor, acrylic paints, pen and ink, oil on paper, pencil and watercolor and are each described as the perfect complement to each individual writer’s story. Type and typeface, as well as, size and scale are discussed in one team effort involving a writer, an illustrator and a book designer.

This is a nicely written book sure to delight older children, young adults and adults alike. Younger children may need to have the individual stories read to them, while pointing out the illustration process and art details. This was an enjoyable read.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Starred review in BOOKLIST: "Inviting . . . well-written and beautifully designed.”
Review from THE HORN BOOK: "Fascinating."
Starred review in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "Insights into the inner workings of bookmaking."

CONNECTIONS

Related books
Marcus, Leonard S. PASS IT DOWN: Five Picture Book Families Make their Mark. ISBN 9780802796004
Marcus, Leonard S. Ways of Telling: Conversations on the Art of the Picture Book. ISBN 0-7567-9704-7

Activities
*Discuss collaboration and teamwork as a unit theme.
*Compare and contrast the five illustrator’s artistic style.
*Locate other books in the library collaborated on by these five teams (see list at end of each story) and discuss similarities or differences found in those pictures books.
*Discuss “children’s book illustrator” as a career choice.
*Have students identify representational, surrealism, cartoon art, and expressionism, line, shape, color, etc. in the illustrations.
*Have students collaborate to illustrate a scene from a popular non-picture book.