Library Artwork: Second Floor

About the artist:

Award-winning author and illustrator of children’s literature, S.D. Nelson is a mixed-blood of Norwegian and Lakota Sioux descent; he is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in the Dakotas. His paintings offer a contemporary interpretation of traditional Lakota images.

Mr. Nelson is a graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead Department of Art & Design. He taught elementary and junior high school art classes for more than twenty years. He now devotes his time to book illustration, designing CD covers, and greeting cards.

About the book and paintings:

The book, Crazy Horse’s Vision, was written by Joseph Bruchac and illustrated by S.D. Nelson. It is the true story of the great Sioux warrior, Crazy Horse, who, as a young boy, defies tradition and seeks a vision on his own in hopes of saving his people.

S.D. Nelson chose to create the illustrations for the book in acrylic paints, utilizing inspiration from the ledger book style of the Plains Indians.

Elise Parsley. Limited edition print from the book, If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t!

Elise Parsley studied drawing and creative writing at Minnesota State University Moorhead and is the author-illustrator of four books in the Magnolia series. If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t! was Parsley’s debut picture book and a Wanda Gág Read Aloud Honor Book in 2016.

Kadir Nelson. Summertime City.  Limited edition print from the cover of The New Yorker magazine

Award-winning African American author and illustrator, Kadir Nelson, celebrates the century-old summertime metropolitan tradition of turning fire hydrants into sprinklers with Summertime City. Nelson has won the most prestigious awards in children’s literature, including the Caldecott Award for The Undefeated in 2020. He has been awarded multiple Caldecott Honor Awards, numerous Coretta Scott King awards, New York Times Best Illustrated Book Awards, and the Sibert Award for We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball (2008). His book, Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, was a Comstock Read Aloud Honor Book in 2007. His evocative oil paintings have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world and are frequently featured on the cover of The New Yorker magazine.

Kadir Nelson. Stickball Alley.  Limited edition print from the cover of The New Yorker magazine

Award-winning African American author and illustrator, Kadir Nelson, connects his love of baseball, Jackie Robinson, and New York City in this depiction of a stickball game in 1950’s Brooklyn. Nelson has won the most prestigious awards in children’s literature, including the Caldecott Award for The Undefeated in 2020. He has been awarded multiple Caldecott Honor Awards, numerous Coretta Scott King awards, New York Times Best Illustrated Book Awards, and the Sibert Award for We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball (2008). His book, Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, was a Comstock Read Aloud Honor Book in 2007. His evocative oil paintings have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world and are frequently featured on the cover of The New Yorker magazine.

Bryan Collier.  You’re My Angel.  Limited edition print

Bryan Collier is an African American artist who has garnered critical praise and won countless awards for his picture book illustrations including Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards, Caldecott Honor Awards, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction. Collier notes that he “makes collages because collage is about piecing fragments together to make something whole.”

Bryan Collier.  Sisters.  Limited edition print from the cover of School Library Journal

Bryan Collier is an African American artist who has garnered critical praise and won countless awards for his picture book illustrations including Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards, Caldecott Honor Awards, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction. Collier notes that he “makes collages because collage is about piecing fragments together to make something whole.” This print was featured on the cover of School Library Journal in December 2020.

Jon Klassen. Limited edition print from the book, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole.

Jon Klassen is a prolific author and illustrator of children’s books who frequently collaborates with author, Mac Barnett. Klassen won the Caldecott Award for This is Not My Hat (2013) and has received the Caldecott Honor Award for numerous titles. Sam and Dave Dig a Hole was written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. It was a Caldecott Honor Book and won the Wanda Gág Read Aloud Book Award in 2015.

Eric Rohmann.  Artist proofs from the book, Oh, No!

Eric Rohmann is a well-known writer and illustrator of children’s books. His first book, Time Flies, was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1995. In 2003, Rohmann won the Caldecott Medal for his book, My Friend Rabbit. He has also won a Sibert Honor Award, an Orbis Pictus Honor Award, and the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award for his illustrations. Oh, No! won the Wanda Gág Read Aloud Book Award in 2013.

Jon J. Muth.  In the Park.  Limited edition prints from the book, Zen Ties

Jon Muth has written and illustrated numerous award-winning picture books. Zen Shorts, his first book featuring the giant panda, Stillwater, was a Caldecott Honor Book in 2006. He has illustrated books by many notable authors including Eric A. Kimmel, Mo Willems, Neil Gaiman, Karen Hesse, Jacqueline Woodson, and Caroline Kennedy. Muth drew inspiration for his Zen series of books from his lifelong interest in Asian studies.

David Wiesner. Limited edition print for National Poetry Week poster.

David Wiesner, is a prolific picture book author and illustrator and was awarded the Caldecott Medal for Tuesday (1992), The Three Pigs (2002), and Flotsam (2007), making him only the second person in the award’s history to have won three times. Wiesner is also a three-time Caldecott Honor winner for Mr. Wuffles (2014), Sector 7 (2000), and Free Fall (1989). He was the U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2008. Wiesner created original artwork for this National Poetry Week poster in 2001.

Bryan Collier. Limited edition print from the book, Trombone Shorty.

Bryan Collier is an African American artist who has garnered critical praise and won countless awards for his picture book illustrations including Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards, Caldecott Honor Awards, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction. Trombone Shorty won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and was a Caldecott Honor Book in 2016.

Jonathan Thunder. Limited edition prints from the book, Bowwow Powwow: Bagosenjige-niimi’idim.

Jonathan Thunder, a Red Lake Ojibwe, is an award winning painter and digital media artist. He has won several first place awards in the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts Annual Competition and was the recipient of a Pollock – Krasner Foundation Award for Painting. Bowwow Powwow: Bagosenjige-niimi’idim is written in both Ojibwe and English and was awarded the American Indian Youth Literature Award in 2020.

Leo & Diane Dillon. Limited edition print from the book, The People Could Fly.

Leo Dillon was an acclaimed African American artist who collaborated with his wife, Diane, to create artwork for countless children’s books. Together they won consecutive Caldecott Medals for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1976) and Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions (1977), numerous Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards, and a Newbery Honor Award for The Hundred Penny Box (1976). The People Could Fly won a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award (1986) and was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book in 1985.

Leo & Diane Dillon. Limited edition print from the book, The Girl Who Dreamed Only Geese.

Leo Dillon was an acclaimed African American artist who collaborated with his wife, Diane, to create artwork for countless children’s books. Together they won consecutive Caldecott Medals for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1976) and Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions (1977), numerous Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards, and a Newbery Honor Award for The Hundred Penny Box (1976). The Girl Who Dreamed Only Geese was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book in 1997.

Hmong Story Cloth, also called paj ntaub, is a textile narrative that depicts the plight of the Hmong villagers during and after the Vietnam War, their escape to refugee camps in Thailand, and their eventual resettlement in other countries.

Donated to the MSUM Library by Kathy Enger and Prof. Lin Enger in 2019.

Charlotte's Web Bookshop in Wales. Photograph by Thom Tammaro (MSUM Professor Emeritus). Donated by Carol Hanson Sibley.

Favorite Children's Book Animal postage stamps donated by Carol Hanson Sibley.

Cover of The Horn Book Magazine illustrated by William Steig. Signed limited edition print donated by Carol Hanson Sibley.

Cover of The Horn Book Magazine illustrated by Arnold Lobel. Signed limited edition print donated by Carol Hanson Sibley.

Cover of The Horn Book Magazine illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. Signed limited edition print donated by Carol Hanson Sibley.

Red Balloon Children's Bookshop, St. Paul, MN. Photograph donated by Pam Werre.