Christopher Manson facts for kids
Christopher Manson is a talented author and illustrator who creates amazing children's books. He is known for making his own pictures using old-fashioned hand tools. He carves his designs into pine wood, making special woodcuts for his books. Many of his books have won awards!
Early Life and Education
Christopher Manson was born in Buffalo, New York. He went to college at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He studied printmaking there, which is the art of making pictures by printing them. He also earned a special degree called a Master of Fine Arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz.
After college, he went back to Buffalo. He worked for an arts council, which helps artists. His job involved finding money for art projects. But he soon realized this wasn't for him. He said he was "tired of helping others make their art." He wanted to create his own art!
Becoming an Author and Illustrator
Christopher Manson started his career by illustrating a cookbook for a friend. Then, he published a super popular children's book called MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle in 1985. A big company, Henry Holt and Company, published it.
This book was special because it promised a $10,000 prize to anyone who could solve all its visual puzzles. Even though the contest is over, the book is still printed today! It even became a computer game on a CD-ROM.
Christopher Manson has a clear idea about making children's books. He wants to create "the perfect book." He means a book where the words and pictures fit together so well, you can't imagine them apart. He compares it to books by famous authors like A. A. Milne, who wrote Winnie-the-Pooh. He works hard to make his books just right. He even said that if he won a huge lottery, he would still keep making books. He'd just have a fancier studio!
Works
Author and illustrator:
- MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle (1985)
- The Rails I Tote: Forty-Five Illustrated Spoonerisms to Decipher (1987)
- The Practical Alchemist: Showing The Way An Ordinary House-Cat May Be Transformed Into True Gold (1988)
- A Gift For The King: A Persian Tale (1989)
- Two Travelers (1990)
- The Crab Prince: An Entertainment For Children (1991)
- The Marvellous Blue Mouse (1992)
Illustrator:
- The Norman Table: The Traditional Cooking of Normandy (1985)
- A Farmyard Song (1992)
- The Tree in the Wood: An Old Nursery Song (1993)
- Good King Wenceslas (1994)
- Till Year's Good End (1997)
- Over the River and through the Wood (1998)
- Uncle Sam and Old Glory (2000)
- Black Swan/White Crow (2007)
