Still Life

Alex London is the acclaimed author of more than thirty books for children and teens, including the picture book Still Life, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. His middle grade novels include The Princess Protection Program, Search & Rescue, Dog Tags, and two titles in the 39 Clues series. For young adults, he’s the author of the cyberpunk duology Proxy and the epic fantasy series Black Wings Beating, which were both named to numerous best-of-the-year lists. He has been a journalist and human rights researcher reporting from conflict zones and refugee camps, a young adult librarian with the New York Public Library, and a snorkel salesman. He lives with his husband, daughter, and hound dog in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Paul O. Zelinsky is the illustrator of many acclaimed books for children. He is the illustrator of Kelly Bingham’s Z Is for Moose and Circle, Square, Moose; Jack Prelutsky’s Awful Ogre’s Awful Day; Emily Jenkins’s Toys Go Out; Alex London’s Still Life; and Anne Isaac’s Dust Devil. He is also the creator of the now-classic interactive book The Wheels on the Bus. His retelling of Rapunzel was awarded the 1998 Caldecott Medal. Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, and Swamp Angel, with different authors, all garnered him a Caldecott Honor. Paul O. Zelinsky lives in New York.

“With Still Life, Alex London and Paul O. Zelinsky have brilliantly teamed up to tell the story of an artist and his painting. In London’s text, the artist pontificates about the nature of a still life painting he’s just finished. But somehow he misses what he’s actually made, a daring adventure story brought completely to life in Zelinsky’s raucous and beautiful images. This tension between the words we read and the images we see exemplifies what’s most exciting about picture books as an art form. London and Zelinsky have created something unendingly fun, but also deeply meaningful—art takes on a life of its own, no matter how much the artist thinks the work can be controlled!” — Brian Selznick, Caldecott Medal-winning author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret“London and Zelinsky have created something unendingly fun, but also deeply meaningful—art takes on a life of its own, no matter how much the artist thinks the work can be controlled!” — Brian Selznick, Caldecott Medal-winning author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret“This clever juxtaposition of text and illustrations defies expectations. . . . Humorously creative, this book subtly teaches children how to look at individual elements of a work of art and to consider how the details combine and contribute to an image or story. Great fun.” — Booklist (starred review)“This book is guaranteed to have [children] shouting in glee, their exclamations growing louder with every turn of the page. . . . Still Life is a hilarious hoot, and readers will likely never look at a still life in quite the same way.” — BookPage (starred review)“A canvas depicting an assemblage of items on a tablecloth comes to life, upending traditional assumptions surrounding artistic conventions. . . . Zelinsky’s hilarious, action-packed scenes—a combination of hand drawing and digital work—contrast with the narrator’s serious admonitions. . . . A superb example of text and image telling opposing stories—and of the humor that can be found in the intersection.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“This inventive picture book skillfully merges two art styles to tell a story within a story, visually pushing boundaries. . . . The art move[s] the plot along, contradicting the text, and attentive readers are left with more to consider about storytelling in art.” — Horn Book Magazine“London pits a. . . human painter against a crew of fairy tale characters who get up to no good in this meta work, a fizzy art class send-up. . . . In dynamic digitally finished spreads, Zelinsky juggles multiple visual styles, using expressive line drawing for the lecturing artist; elegantly drafted and sculpted forms for the painting; and loose-limbed caricature for the decidedly unstill beings who tumble amusingly into jam-smudged, thread-tangled, cheese-strangled chaos right under the artist’s nose.” — Publishers Weekly“Amazing art work carefully delineates between the traditional still life picture and the lively, sketchier action that’s going on in the paintings, so it’s easy for readers to figure out what’s going on, even when it’s not reflected in the text. Younger readers will love this book, and it would make an excellent read-aloud; older readers will come away with a lesson on perspective and another on questioning a resource, no matter how repetitive or strongly voiced the message.” — School Library Journal (starred review)