JAN
SPIVEY GILCHRIST BIOGRAPHY I BOOKS I PRESENTATIONS I BOOK ORDERING
Ms. Gilchrist has illustrated many of Eloise Greenfield's books, including several award winners. The Great Migration: Journey to the North was named a 2012 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book and was included in ALA's 2012 Notable Children's Books. In the Land of Words was named a 2005 Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts (Children's Literature Assembly/NCTE). When the Horses Ride By and The Friendly Four were chosen for the CCBC's (Cooperative Children's Book Center's) 2007 Choices. The Friendly Four was included on the 2007 Texas 2x2 Reading List for ages 2 to grades 2.
Furthermore, her collaboration with Ashley Bryan on the book, My America, featured in The Road to the White House, has been the inspiration for the Bryan/Gilchrist Collaboration Award, given to the children who can best work together on a collaborative enterprise.
Other works by Ms. Gilchrist have appeared on national television, and her illustrations have been featured or reviewed in the New York Times, Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the L.A.Times , USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Ebony Magazine, and others. She was inducted into the International Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent in October of 2000. She was also inducted into the prestigious Society of Illustrators in 2001. View some of Ms. Gilchrist's artwork here. Jan Spivey Gilchrist has four degrees: a BS in Art Education from Eastern Illinois University, an MA in painting from the University of Northern Iowa, an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College, and a doctoral degree in English from Madison University. She also has a grown son, William, who as a boy was the model she used for William and the Good Old Days by Eloise Greenfield. She also has a daughter, Ronke, and grandchildren. Ms. Gilchrist and her husband, Dr. Kelvin Gilchrist, live in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. |
Jan
Spivey Gilchrist's career as a fine artist has spanned a quarter
of a century. She has exhibited extensively throughout the United
States, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. Ms. Gilchrist has won
numerous awards and commissions throughout her career, including
the Coretta Scott King Award for Nathaniel Talking, and
a Coretta Scott King Honor Book for Night on Neighborhood
Street. This book is also a Reading Rainbow Book. Ms. Gilchrist
has also written picture books which she also illustrated, including
Obama: The Day the World Danced, the first picture book
in the U.S. about the historical election; Indigo and Moonlight
Gold and Madelia. Indigo and Moonlight Gold
is treasured by many for its sensitive and moving text,
as well as the striking illustrations, and Madelia is
a beautifully illustrated story of an artistic young girl.