Horning told School Library Journal when asked for her thoughts on Spier's contributions to the landscape of children's literature. “Spier’s 1978 Caldecott Medal book, Noah’s Ark, was decades ahead of its time,” K.T. Spier was known for his detailed drawings that encouraged a closer look at illustrations, which gave a new perspective to familiar stories, places, and songs in Noah’s Ark (Doubleday, 1977), Circus! (Dragonfly Books, 1995), and The Fox Went Out On A Chilly Night (Dragonfly Books, 1961). Spier died on Apin Port Jefferson, on Long Island, NY, at the age of 89. Spier seems to take particular delight in the sheer amount of mess that children, a cat, and a dog can make over a few weeks in December.Photo by David Osika The world of children’s literature is mourning award-winning illustrator, Peter Spier. His intricate ink-and-watercolor style holds up especially well to repeat readings, offering intriguing details like cookie crumbs beneath a table, an ornament broken by the youngest child, and a cat picking at the turkey carcass after the holiday feast. We have several of Spier’s books, and they all share his warmhearted perspective on his subjects, whether a circus, a farmer’s market, or children playing in a rain-soaked garden. Sam took it all in with wide, hungry eyes. At night the children lug armfuls of new toys up to bed and fall asleep in a room strewn with books, a tricycle, and a locomotive the size of a toddler. Peter Spier’s Christmas! follows three children and their parents as they shop, decorate, bake, wrap, sing, wait, and finally tear open gifts on Christmas morning in a frenzy of delight. It was a book about Christmas, but it was popular with Sam year-round. We sink into a worn reading chair and travel into the world of a story.įor a stretch of time when my son Samuel was three, each night he demanded that we read a particular book by the author and illustrator Peter Spier. Their breathing slows and deepens, and so does mine. Jittery limbs stop moving for the first time all day. After a day of running and leaping, they climb into my lap at bedtime and almost instantly grow calm.
Their reaction is physical as much as mental. When I read to my two sons, I find myself marveling at the way they respond to good books.
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