Alice and Martin Provensen facts for kids

Alice Rose Provensen (born Twitchell, August 14, 1918 – April 23, 2018) and Martin Provensen (July 10, 1916 – March 27, 1987) were an American husband-and-wife team. They were famous for illustrating over 40 children's books together. They also wrote and edited 19 of these books themselves. Alice once said that they were "one artist," showing how closely they worked together.

Their Lives and Art

Starting Their Journeys

Alice and Martin Provensen had similar beginnings. Both were born in Chicago. When they were twelve, both moved to California. They each received scholarships to the Art Institute of Chicago. They also both attended the University of California, but at different campuses.

After college, Alice began working at Walter Lantz Studio. This studio created the famous cartoon character, Woody Woodpecker. Martin, on the other hand, worked at Walt Disney Studio. There, he helped create classic movies like Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo.

Meeting and Working Together

Alice and Martin met in 1943. Martin was creating training films for the American military during World War II. He was assigned to the Walter Lantz Studio, where Alice worked. They got married in 1944. After their wedding, they moved to Washington, D.C.. There, they continued to work on projects related to the war effort.

After the war ended, they moved to New York City. A friend helped them get their first job together. They illustrated a book called The Fireside Book of Folk Songs. They also illustrated several Little Golden Books. One well-known book was The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown in 1949. In 1952, Martin designed Tony the Tiger. This friendly tiger became a famous mascot for Kellogg's cereals.

Awards and Recognition

The Provensens were very talented. In 1982, they were finalists for the Caldecott Medal. This award is given to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. They were recognized for illustrating A Visit to William Blake's Inn. Nancy Willard wrote this book, and she won the Newbery Medal for it.

Just two years later, in 1984, the Provensens won the Caldecott Medal! They won for their book The Glorious Flight. This book told the story of aviator Louis Blériot. He was the first person to fly solo across the English Channel. The Provensens not only illustrated this book but also wrote it.

Many of their books were chosen for The New York Times annual list of Ten Best Illustrated Books. These included Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm (1974) and An Owl and Three Pussycats (1981). They also worked together on a series of piano lesson books called "Pagaents for Piano."

Life at Maple Hill Farm

The couple lived for many years at Maple Hill Farm. This farm was in Dutchess County, New York. They often showed their farm life in their books. A Year at Maple Hill Farm (1978) and Our Animal Friends are two examples.

Martin passed away on March 27, 1987, in Staatsburg. Alice continued to live and work at Maple Hill Farm. She published several books on her own. These included The Buck Stops Here: the Presidents of the United States (1990) and My fellow Americans: a family album (1995). These books taught about American history. Her book Punch in New York (1991) received many awards. She dedicated it to her grandson, Sean.

After turning ninety, Alice moved to California. She lived with her daughter, Karen Mitchell, and her family. Alice kept working well into her nineties. She even had a studio added to her daughter's house. Alice Provensen passed away in 2018, just four months before her 100th birthday.

Books Illustrated or Written by the Provensens

Here is a list of some of the many books Alice and Martin Provensen worked on:

• The Fuzzy Duckling, by Jane Werner Watson (Little Golden Book 1949)
• Katie the Kitten, by Kathryn & Byron Jackson
• The Little Fat Policeman, by Margaret Wise Brown and Edith Thacher Hurd (Little Golden Book 1950)
• Tales from the Ballet, selected by Louis Untermeyer (Golden Press, 1968)
• The Mother Goose Book (Random House, 1976)
• The Provensen Animal Book (Golden Press, 1952), also known as The Animal Fair
• A Horse and a Hound, A Goat and A Gander
• Town & Country
• My Little Hen (Random House, 1973)
• A Child's Garden of Verses (Simon and Schuster, 1951)
• Leonardo da Vinci (Paper engineering by John Strejan, The Viking Press,1984)
• The Golden Bible: The New Testament (Golden Press, 1953)
• The Golden Treasury of Myths and Legends by Anne Terry White (Golden Press, 1959)
• Aesop's Fables (Golden Press)
• The Iliad and the Odyssey by Jane Werner Watson (Golden Press, 1956)
• What Is a Color?
• The Book of Seasons (Random House)
• Golden Book of Fun and Nonsense
• The Provensen Book of Fairy Tales
• The Color Kittens, by Margaret Wise Brown (Little Golden Books, 1949)
• Alfred Lord Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade (Golden; Paul Hamlyn, 1964) — an edition of Tennyson's 1854 poem
• Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm (Random House, 1974)
• A Peaceable Kingdom: the Shaker abecedarius (Viking, 1978)
• The Year at Maple Hill Farm (Atheneum, 1978)
• An Owl and Three Pussycats (Atheneum, 1981)
• A Visit to William Blake's Inn: poems for innocent and experienced travelers, by Nancy Willard (Harcourt Brace, 1981)
• The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot, July 25, 1909 (Viking, 1983)
• The Voyage of the Ludgate Hill: travels with Robert Louis Stevenson, by Nancy Willard (Harcourt Brace, 1987)
• Shaker Lane (Viking, 1987)
• Come, Lord Jesus (~1965)
• Funny Bunny by Rachel Learnard (Golden)
• Fireside Book of Folk Songs
• Fireside Book of Love Songs
• Fireside Cookbook
• Roses Are Red, Are Violets Blue? (Random House)
• Instruments of the Orchestra, by Jane Bunche
• Ten Great Plays, by William Shakespeare (Hamlyn, 1963)
• Who's in the Egg? (Golden, 1970)
• A Play on Words (Random House, 1970)
• The Golden Serpent by Walter Dean Myers (Viking, 1980)
• Birds, beasts, and the third thing: poems by D.H. Lawrence (Viking, 1982)
• Karen's Opposites (Golden, 1963)
• Karen's Curiosity (Golden, 1963)
• "The Old-Fashioned Cookbook" by Jan McBride Carlton (Weathervane Books, 1975)

Books by Alice Provensen after 1988

• The Buck Stops Here: the presidents of the United States (Harper & Row, 1990)
• Punch in New York (Viking, 1991)
• My Fellow Americans: a family album (San Diego: Browndeer Press, 1995)
• Count on me (Harcourt Brace, 1998) — a set of 10 board books
• The Master Swordsman & The Magic Doorway: two legends from ancient China, retold and illustrated by Alice Provensen (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2001)
• A Day in the Life of Murphy (S&S BYR, 2003)
• Klondike Gold (S&S BYR, 2005)