Rebecca Bond Artist Statement

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Updated: 9.8.2008

REBECCA BOND

"I am often inspired by unexpected events that I see or hear or read about. Sometimes just one visual scene or snippet of talk will stick with me and slowly I see how this piece can become a whole story."

Rebecca Bond was born in Vienna, Austria, but grew up in the small town of Peacham, Vermont. During the long northern winters she would sit by the stove and read her favorite books, like Miss Suzy, Charlotte's Web, and Bridge to Terabithia. She spent summer days building forts and rafts, or damming up streams near her house, and she still feels defined by the rural environment of her childhood. "It was through this world of hilly landscape and marked seasons that I became someone who loves to read and watch and draw." And what ultimately led Rebecca to children's book writing and illustration was this love of stories that took her places, told her secrets, and said in words and pictures those things she liked most or longed most to hear. While earning her B.A. from Brown University, Rebecca took a number of illustration classes at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she worked on improving her technical and creative skills. "I was influenced enormously by RISD's illustration department," she says, "both by excellent and inspiring teachers and by excellent and inspiring students." She toyed with telling stories through pictures and experimented with her writing, though she admits that, at the time, she hadn't yet realized she would be able to join the two interests into a career. Rebecca has six picture books under her belt: Just Like a Baby, Bravo, Maurice!, When Marcus Moore Moved In, This Place in the Snow, A City Christmas Tree, and Wandering Feet. Her debut attracted the attention of Publishers Weekly, which included her in their "Flying Starts" list. She also won a Juvenile Book Award for "unusual perspective and vantage point in illustration" from Book Builders of Boston. More than the critical success, though, Rebecca enjoys the excitement of the creative process. "I love becoming engrossed in these worlds," she says. "I get to become a part of the families I create, stepping through their houses, looking at their shelves, watching them all in the living room together and hearing what they are saying."

"Bond's pliant prose flows zestily and also lyrically. Her piquant illustrations capture the feelings of both children." - Publishers Weekly, starred review