Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day has been named a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book. The award, given by the American Library Association, recognizes the best books for beginning readers.
A children's book illustrated by R.W. Alley '79 has been honored by the American Library Association (ALA) with an award named for Dr. Seuss himself.
Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day, written by Kate McMullan and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, was selected as a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the ALA. The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given to the authors and illustrators of the most distinguished American books for beginning readers.
Alley is particularly pleased to receive an award that recognizes early reader books, one of his favorite genres.“These books tend to be written almost as stage plays or screenplays, with an extremely heavy emphasis on dialogue,” he says.
Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day relates the April Fool's Day misadventures of two friends, dreamy mouse Wagner and hardworking rabbit Pearl. The book is part of a series that includes Pearl and Wagner: Two Good Friends and Pearl and Wagner: Three Secrets. A new installment, Pearl and Wagner: Four Eyes, is due to be released this fall.
“It's very nice that a book in a series has been honored,” says Alley.“In this category, it's important for series to be recognized.”
Alley studied the history of art at Haverford, where he also drew cartoons for the Bi-College News, and sold a book that he'd written and illustrated, called The Ghost in Dobbs Diner (Parents Magazine Press, 1981), right out of college. Two years later he landed a job at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City—“That was sort of like art school for me.” In 1983 he became a full-time book illustrator.
Besides the Pearl and Wagner series, he's also illustrated the 2008 book There's a Wolf at the Door, five classic tales retold in a comic panel format; on his website, Alley describes it as a“graphic folklore book.” Written by his wife, ZoÑ‘ B. Alley, it was named one of the year's best children's books by the Washington Post. A sequel, There's a Princess at the Palace, will come out this fall.
Alley has advice for aspiring artists:“I always push liberal arts colleges over the art schools,” he says.“I figure the art schools can indeed teach you technical things about making art, but they don't teach you about the world in general. It's one thing to know how to paint, but it's a very different thing to know what to paint.”
