The small designs used on the text page are subtle and in keeping with the Japanese flavor of the story, but they have a much different feel than the large illustrations, which are highly textured and sharply etched with a black line. “Romantic as well as mysterious, it is an intriguing example of computer-generated artwork, which was conceived with several programs, among them, Adobe Illustrator and Painter. The first result, Shibumi and the Kitemaker, was very well-received. In time, he taught himself how to illustrate books with computerized drawing tools. East of the Sun, West of the Moon and Beauty and the Beast (retold by his first wife, Marianne) are full of rich, painterly detail-not cartoonish at all. Major Authors & Illustrators for Children and Young Adults “In both his writing and illustrating, Mayer emphasizes the unconventional his language can be simple or sophisticated, while his illustrations run the gamut of artistic styles.” But just because this artist/writer is popular and widely-available doesn’t mean that critics have been terribly harsh with him: He eventually received a number of assignments to do illustrations, and in time he developed his own beloved characters, Little Critter and Little Monster starred in their own series of books and were developed for beginning readers as well as the Golden Book publications which can be found in racks at major chain stores. Rather than write pedantic, matter-of-fact, non-fiction children’s books, he turned the process of dealing with those fears into engaging stories from a child’s point of view: There’s a Nightmare in My Closet There’s an Alligator under My Bed, and There’s Something in My Attic.Įarly on, Mercer Mayer decided to study other classic children's illustrators, such as Arthur Rackham, to improve his technique. Soon after that, Mayer tackled one of the biggest problems facing young children-how to cope with fears of the unknown. That book and its successors were hugely popular.
Indeed, he went on to create one of the first widely-published wordless books for children, A Boy, A Frog, and a Dog. Fortunately for the thousands of children who have enjoyed his many books, he did not give up.
When Mercer Mayer was a young artist looking for book illustration work, a potential employer suggested he give up and throw away his portfolio.
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