September 29, 1999
Tomie dePaola to Read from His Children’s
Books at Middlebury College on Oct. 15
Known throughout the world for his
colorful children’s books, Tomie dePaola will share and read stories
and draw pictures on Friday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Middlebury
College’s Mead Chapel on Hepburn Road, off College Street (Route
125). He has illustrated almost 200 books, a third of which he
wrote. Over five million copies of his books have been sold in
15 different countries around the world. Following the reading,
books will be sold and dePaola will be available for autographs.
The event is sponsored by the Middlebury College Center for the
Arts and is free and open to the public.
Born in Meriden, Conn., in 1934 to
a family of Irish and Italian descent, dePaola taught, painted
church murals, and designed greeting cards and stage sets until
1965 when he illustrated his first children’s book, “Sound,”
by Lisa Miller. It was after the publication of “Sound”
that he was able to devote himself to both writing and illustrating
children’s books full-time. He now lives in New Hampshire with
his four dogs and uses a 200-year-old renovated barn as his studio.
He often draws on folktales and his own experiences as material
for his work.
One of dePaola’s books, “Days
of the Blackbird,” was described by USA Today shortly after
it arrived on shelves as having done so well that, “this
new book already has the ring of a legend.”
The 1976 book “Strega Nona”
is perhaps dePaola’s most well known work, for which he won the
Caldecott Honor Award. Other awards he has won include the Smithsonian
Medal from the Smithsonian Institution, the Kerlan Award from
the University of Minnesota, and the Regina Medal from the Catholic
Library Association. In 1990, he was the sole United States nominee
for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration. For more
information, call the College box office at 802-443-6433.