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German-American writer and illustrator (1945?2024)
Petra Mathers
|
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Born
| Petra Tollens
(
1945-03-25
)
March 25, 1945
Todtmoos
, Baden, Germany
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Died
| February 6, 2024
(2024-02-06)
(aged 78)
Astoria, Oregon
, U.S.
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Occupation
| Writer, illustrator
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Genre
| Picture books
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Spouse
| Eberhard Richter
[1]
Michael Mathers
(
m.
1980)
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Petra Mathers
(
nee
Tollens
; March 25, 1945 ? February 6, 2024) was a German-born American writer and illustrator of children's
picture books
.
[2]
Life and work
[
edit
]
Petra Mathers was born in
Todtmoos
,
Waldshut
in the
Black Forest
in Germany on March 25, 1945, at the end of the second World War.
[1]
Instead of University, she opted for a three year apprenticeship in the book business. "Wanting to see the world", she and her husband came to the United States and settled in Portland, Oregon. Working first as a waitress, then in a children's bookstore, she started painting by making pictures for her son's room. In time she showed in galleries in Oregon and Washington. In 1983, she got her first job illustrating a children's book for Harper & Row, and in 1985 she wrote and illustrated the first book of her own. She has illustrated over 40 books, 12 of which she also wrote.
Mathers lived in
Astoria, Oregon
with her husband, author and photographer Michael Mathers, who she married in 1980.
[1]
Petra and Michael died by suicide at their home on February 6, 2024. She was 78.
[1]
[3]
Style
[
edit
]
Mathers was a self-taught artist and has a very distinct artistic style. Critic H. Nichols B. Clark describes her formal aesthetic, explaining that Mathers "[creates] simplified forms that comprise flat shapes. She assembles a carefully articulated formal arrangement whose visual dynamics are as integral to the production as the pictorial narrative."
[4]
Linnea Hendricks explains that Mathers' picturebooks "combine a flat, naive, folklike style with wit and a strong sense of design" and are "praised for their freshness, originality, subtlety, and genuine feeling."
[5]
Awards and honors
[
edit
]
Petra Mathers' work has earned much acclaim, including the following accolades:
[6]
- 1985?Ezra Jack Keats Award
[7]
for
Maria Theresa
- 1986?New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year for
Molly's New Washing Machine
(by Laura Geringer).
- 1988?New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year for
Theodor and Mr. Balbini
.
- 1990?New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year for
I'm Flying
(by Alan Wade).
- 1991?Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for
Sophie and Lou
.
- 1995?Society of Illustrators Silver Medal:
[8]
for
Kisses from Rosa
.
- 1999?New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year for
Lottie's New Friend
.
- 1999?Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award for Illustration for
Lottie's New Friend
.
- 1999?Society of Illustrators Silver Medal for
Lottie's New Friend
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Green, Penelope (March 9, 2024).
"Petra Mathers, Author Whose Children's Stories Soared, Dies at 78"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
March 9,
2024
.
- ^
"Obituary: Petra Mathers"
.
Publishers Weekly
. Retrieved
28 February
2024
.
- ^
"Obituary: Petra Mathers"
.
- ^
Hearn, Michael Patrick , Trinkett Clark, and H. Nichols B. Clark (1996).
Myth, Magic, and Mystery: One Hundred Years of American Children's Book Illustration
, p. 114. Roberts Rinehart, Boulder, CO.
- ^
"ECLIPSE :: Petra Mathers"
. Archived from
the original
on March 5, 2010
. Retrieved
April 2,
2010
.
- ^
"ECLIPSE :: Petra Mathers"
. Archived from
the original
on July 22, 2010
. Retrieved
April 2,
2010
.
- ^
"The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation"
.
Ezra-jack-keats.org
. Retrieved
2016-04-28
.
- ^
"Society of Illustrators"
. Archived from
the original
on March 28, 2010
. Retrieved
April 2,
2010
.
External links
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edit
]
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International
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National
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Other
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