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Linda Bleck
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Linda Bleck grew up in Northern Illinois on her grandfather’s apple tree farm as the seventh of nine children. She has fond memories of drawing with her siblings on old blueprint paper that her architect father brought home from his practice and rolled out on the family’s kitchen table. As an older child she helped her mother, a Hallmark freelance artist, paint details in her illustrations. Her parents were important role models, teaching her the fundamentals of hard work, drawing and design. “My mother always stressed how important it was to make your artwork move and have feeling.” Bleck recalls. She spent countless hours playing with her blocks, drawing, and reading the Golden Book series with her brothers and sisters. Her artistic influences were Winslow Homer and Maxfield Parrish. After graduating from University of Illinois, where she studied Graphic Design, Linda began a freelance career as an illustrator in New York City creating award winning work for such publications as the New Yorker, Parenting, Child, Time Magazine, New York Times, and many other editorial clients. After her children—David and Sarah—were born, Linda began to write and illustrate stories for them. When an editor at Simon and Schuster expressed interest in a character Linda was developing, called “Pepper the Dog”, the editor asked her to expand it into a pop up book. It was a thrilling moment as she wrote from her heart and brought “Pepper” to children. The first book in the Pepper series, “Pepper Goes to School” has been honored with a 2006 National Parenting Publication Award. |
Awards
Mom's Choice Award (2009)
Chicago Public Library's "Best of the Best Award" recipient (2009)
National Parenting Publication Award (2006)
American Illustration Award
Society of Illustrators Award
CA Magazine Award
Print Award
Client List
Dutton Books
Simon and Schuster
Sterling Publishers
Klutz
Scholastic
Time for Kids
Johnson, Robert Wood Foundation
Family Skills, Inc.
Reviews
A New Beginning (Dutton, 2007): "...colorful illustrations blanket every page with celebrants clad in traditional, festive clothing." Booklist The Moon Shines Down, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Linda (Thomas Nelson, 2008): "Bleck's playful paintings are a literal bright spot, with nearly every scene featuring a yellow full moon amid a purple-blue nighttime sky…Happy children and sometimes smiling animals cavort around iconic symbols of the visited countries-windmills, Eiffel Tower, thatch roof cottage-lending a peaceful mood to the proceedings." Publishers Weekly |
| The Longest Day (Dutton Books) The Moon Shines Down (Thomas Nelson) The City Kid & The Suburb Kid (Sterling Publishers) A New Beginning (Dutton Books) Pepper's Valentines Day (Simon & Schuster) Pepper Picks a Pumpkin (Simon & Schuster) Pepper’s Snow Day (Simon & Schuster) Pepper Goes to School (Simon & Schuster) We Gather Together (Dutton Books) A Children's Treasury of Mother Goose (Sterling Publishers) A Children's Treasury of Poems (Sterling Publishers) A Children's Treasury of Rhymes (Sterling Publishers) A Children's Treasury of Songs (Sterling Publishers) A Children's Treasury of Prayers (Sterling Publishers) |
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Linda Bleck
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