Book Signing: Featured illustrator and author Bonnie Christensen, and her latest children's book, Django, December 8, 2009

The book has garnered early praise: As Publishers Weekly's review of Christensen's picture book explains, "Richly expressive paint and ink illustrations portray the hard-earned successes of Django Reinhardt, whose childhood was spent traveling with his impoverished gypsy family, where music was a constant and illuminating presence....A sensuous tribute to an illustrious musician" (PW, August 10, 2009, p. 56). School Library Journal's starred review of the book says that Christensen "includes enough detail to give perspective, but it is her lush paintings that so effectively give life to the man's effervescent charm and determined courage" (SLJ, September 2009, p. 139). And Booklist's starred review has this to say: "Christensen supports the inspirational story with rich, vibrant paintings that capture the texture and tone of the landscapes in Django’s life: burnt oranges and various shades of brown bring the Gypsy campfires to vivid life, while bright blues shimmering under the sharp yellows of stage footlights depict the electricity of the guitarist in performance" (Bill Ott, Booklist Online).

One of Christensen's paintings from Django is currently in a show at the Society of Illustrators in New York, to which Christensen has just been elected a member; she joins the ranks of that organization whose early members included Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, and Frederic Remington.

Copies of Django and Christensen's other works were available for purchase and signing at the event.

Christensen began her career working in New York theater after earning a B.A. degree in Theatre and Communication from the University of Vermont. Her theater work included Joe Papp's Public Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival, and others. Christensen eventually focused primarily on playwriting, and some of her plays were produced off-off-Broadway. During this time, she also worked for Screen Actors Guild and Paramount Pictures.

After studying wood engraving and attending classes at Parsons School of Design and Center for Book Arts, Christensen returned to Vermont to focus on wood engraving and was offered her first illustration work. She explains her eventual emergence as a book author and illustrator: "Through a keen interest in printmaking and letterpress printing I eventually hand-printed and bound a limited-edition book. Desire to see that book reach a wider audience eventually led me to trade publishers and initiated my career," she says in Something About the Author (vol. 110, p. 41).

She authored and illustrated her first book for children in 1994, an ABC book called An Edible Alphabet, which received critical acclaim for its design and illustrations. Other books she has both written and illustrated include Rebus Riot (1997), Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People (2001), In My Grandmother's House (2003), The Daring Nellie Bly (2003), and the forthcoming Fabulous: A Portrait of Andy Warhol (2011). In addition, Christensen has illustrated others' works, including award winners such as Stephen Krensky's Breaking Into Print (1996), Craig Crist Evan's Moon Over Tennessee (1999), Mary Pope Osborne's Pompeii, Lost and Found (2006), and the forthcoming Princess of Borscht (2011) by Leda Schubert.

Christensen was Guest Lecturer/Artist in Residence at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, in Venice, Italy and served as adjunct professor of Fine Arts at St. Michaels' College in Burlington, VT. Bonnie currently resides in Wilson, North Carolina.

For more information about Bonnie Christensen and her work, visit her web site.

Friends of Hackney Library Dinner & Lecture Series

Each year, the Friends organization hosts two signature dinners in its Friends of Hackney Library Dinner & Lecture Series at which well-known authors speak about or read from their works.

Past speakers include Clyde Edgerton; Emyl Jenkins; Jerry Bledsoe; Ellyn Bache; David Hays; Dr. William Friday; Kaye Gibbons; Gail Godwin; Margaret Maron; historian Mark L. Bradley; Barton's own Dr. Jerry Maclean; Allan Gurganus; Dr. Lucy Daniels; Dr. Charles Kimball; Dr. John Hope Franklin, historian; Bill Thompson, writer and CEO of the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina; Barton's own Dr. Jeff Broadwater; religion scholar Dr. Bart Ehrman; literary couple Scott Huler and June Spence; a panel of regional and national sportswriters, broadcasters, and announcers discussing sports journalism; authors Don Brown, John Hart, and David Payne; a panel of children's book illustrators--Bonnie Christensen, Meredith Hamilton, and Loren Long--moderated by Barton's own Susan Fecho, art professor and illustrator; and most recently, novelist James W. Hall.