JAN
SPIVEY GILCHRIST
Writer & Illustrator
BIOGRAPHY
I BOOKS
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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 is also the
author
of two picture books,
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.
Ms.
Gilchrist has illustrated many of Eloise Greenfield's books, including
several award winners. 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. Her
most recent picture, Obama: The Day the World Danced,
which she wrote and illustrated, is the first picture book in
the U.S. about the historical election.
Furthermore,
her collaboration with Ashley Bryan on the book, My America,
has been the inspiration for the Bryan/Gilchrist Collaboration
Award, given to the children who can best work together on a collaborative
enterprise. The text of My America has been turned into
a song, with the music written by George Pendergrass and may be
featured in an upcoming movie entitled The Road to the White
House. The book is at the very heart of the MY AMERICA PROJECT,
which hopes to collaborate with school districts, teachers, parents,
city governments, churches, corporate and private sponsors, and
individuals who share their vision of encouraging patriotism and
promoting literacy to students across the country and inspiring
them to work collaboratively in the visual and musical arts. More
information about this project can be found on their website and
on the My America
Project My Space pages.
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, Washington Post, L.A.Times , USA Today,
Chicago Tribune, Ebony Magazine, and others. She
was inducted in the International Hall of Fame for Writers of
African Descent in October of 2000. She was also inducted in 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 a granddaughter,
Raena
Bethany Prude.
Jan
and her husband, Dr. Kelvin Gilchrist, live in a suburb of Chicago,
Illinois. Read more
about Ms. Gilchrist's work and life.
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