Elise Primavera facts for kids

Elise Primavera, born on May 19, 1955, is an American author and illustrator. She creates wonderful books for children. She started her career in 1981 by drawing pictures for books published by companies like Atheneum and Putnam. For over 40 years, she has been a very busy artist, writing and illustrating many popular books of her own.

About Elise Primavera

Her Early Life

Elise Primavera was born in West Long Branch, New Jersey. When she was a young girl, her brother, who was an artist, taught her how to draw. She loved copying cartoons from comic books. She would draw on anything she could find, like her school books and even her clothes!

When she was 11, Elise got sick with rheumatic fever. She had to stay in bed for a whole summer. During this time, she used "learn-to-draw" books to get better at her art. Before she got sick, her big dream was to become an Olympic horseback rider. After she recovered, she went back to her love for horses.

Discovering Her Artistic Path

As a child, Elise admired famous artists like Michelangelo. Her parents had large copies of his paintings that she enjoyed. She believes that being sick helped her focus seriously on her art skills. She also liked the work of Howard Pyle, an artist she found at a college art museum.

After visiting an art museum during college, she decided to change her dream. Instead of becoming an Olympian, she chose to focus completely on becoming an artist. Elise Primavera has lived in Red Bank, New Jersey, and now lives in New York City.

Elise Primavera's Career

How She Started

Even though Elise loved art from a young age, she once said, "I can't say I ever really dreamed I'd grow up to be an artist." She had always wanted to be an Olympic horseback rider. In college, she tried fashion illustration, but it was hard to start a career in that field. After college, she decided to become an artist instead.

Her first published drawings appeared in 1981 in books like The Mermaid's Cape and The Snug Little House. Her first book that she wrote herself, Basil and Maggie, came out in 1983.

Her Creative Process

Elise Primavera has shared that she often gets her best ideas while taking showers! For example, she wrote her book Auntie Claus in 1999 after one of these "shower sessions."

The New York Times newspaper said that her drawings in Auntie Claus were full of "fantastic energy." They were so good that special displays based on her illustrations were even shown in the windows of the famous Saks Fifth Avenue store in New York City.

In 2005, Elise Primavera was chosen to create the art for the White House's Holiday Program. Her first full-length novel, The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls, was released in 2006. She has been very busy since then, releasing two books in the Fred and Anthony series in 2007. She is also working on another book about the Gumm Street Girls.