We, the children of Phyllis and Leonard Weisgard, are so happy to see a renewed interest in the artwork of our father.
His work is being republished to great extent in countries such as Japan, China, Holland, Italy, and America.
We’ve created this website to share the artwork and achievements of our father Leonard Weisgard, author and illustrator of over 200 children’s books. Enjoy!
Leonard Weisgard as a featured artist on the Eric Carl Museum’s website
A wonderful chance to view some of the pieces, which we donated to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Leonard Weisgard
© 1948 Leonard Weisgard.
The wonderful publishing company, Orecchio Acerbo, has published The Summer Noisy Book now in Italian!
I rumori dell’estate
di Margaret Wise Brown illustrazioni di Leonard Weisgard
Thank you! Orecchio Acerbo Publishing
Brave Baby Elephant second publishing in China!
Brave Baby Elephant
Sesyle Joslin, illustrations by Leonard Weisgard
Trustbridge Publishing Limited China 2016
The Simplified Chinese edition is published by Everafter Books 2020
Leonard’s reply to a nine-year-old
We received an e-mail from Kathy Reid:
“Dear Weisgard family,
I was just clearing out a box of old papers when I came across a letter I received in 1964. Clearly it meant a lot to me, both as a nine-year-old child and every time I came across these papers thereafter…”
Leonard Weisgard letter as PDF file
A QUEBEC PETER RABBIT WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY LEONARD WEISGARD!
The beloved children’s book The Tale of Peter Rabbit, created almost 120 years ago
by Beatrix Potter, is in bookstores now! It is published for the first time in Quebec. This version was translated by Dominique Fortier and published by Le Lièvre de Mars.
Read the article from La Presse in English here>>
or the original article in French here>>
Pierre Lapin by Beatrix Potter illustrations by Leonard Weisgard. Published by Le Lièvre de Mars
Pierre Lapin by Beatrix Potter illustrations by Leonard Weisgard. Published by Le Lièvre de Mars
Dial B for Biography: The Case of the Forgotten Photo Shoot by Leonard S. Marcus Author of “Awakened by the Moon”
“You’ve done it!” began Leonard Weisgard’s characteristically warm and encouraging letter to me, written in the spring of 1992 soon after he’d read my just published biography of Margaret Wise Brown. During the ten years I spent writing my book, Leonard had done everything possible to help. He had welcomed me to Denmark and allowed me to interview him for days on end. He and his wife Phyllis had both made it clear that no question was off-limits. Read full story here>>
Whale’s Way Penguin’s Way by Johanna Johnston with illustrations by Leonard Weisgard published by The Bodleian Library Oxford UK
We are so honoured and excited about these two books republished by The Bodleian Library Oxford University. See them here: See Penguin’s Way > (opens in a new tab)”>here>>
Whale’s Way Penguin’s Way by Johanna Johnston with illustrations by Leonard Weisgard published by The Bodleian Library Oxford UK
On-line review from The New York Times:
SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW | CHILDREN’S BOOKS
“The illustrations alone warrant this handsome new edition of Johnston and Weisgard’s satisfying deep dive into the world of emperor penguins, first published in 1962. Weisgard’s dappled print technique wonderfully evokes a snowy Antarctic clime, and his penguins are, true to their name, majestic.” Read more: http://www.nytimes.com
Another on-line review from “Books in my House” (Blog post Tuesday 11th August 2015)
“Johanna Johnston was a renowned children’s author based in the USA. She also wrote scripts for radio, including for the long-running children’s series Let’s Pretend, as well as children’s stories, retellings of myths and children’s history.
Leonard Weisgard was a Caldecott award-winning illustrator who published over 200 children’s books. After studying illustration in New York he began a successful collaboration with the author Margaret Wise Brown as well as writing books of his own. He also worked with the American Library Association in the field of children’s education” See more at The Bodleian Shop
Pictured Worlds “a fascinating encapsulation of 101 illustrators worldwide” by Leonard Marcus.
And Leonard Weisgard is included!
An article by Betsy Bird about the book, including an interview with Leonard Marcus
Society of Illustrators
“The Original Art Lifetime Achievement Award 2021” presented to Leonard Weisgard
Leonard Weisgard Prints for Sale
Leonard’s grandchildren, Yuji & Nanami, have created a website, where they sell a few “Personally produced and limited edition items, finely tuned and followed every step of the process.”
We are so grateful for their love and enthusiasm in regard to Leonard’s work. Thank you Nanami & Yuji!
Check it out!
https://www.leonardweisgardpatches.com/
The Noisy Books as board books!
Harper Collins Children’s Books has republished 2 of The Noisy Books as board books:
The Noisy Book Quiet Noisy Book Margaret Wise Brown & Illustrations by Leonard Weisgard
Golden Legacy THE STORY OF GOLDEN BOOKS By LEONARD S. MARCUS
The fascinating history of Little Golden Books, in celebration of their 75th anniversary in 2017! With a Foreword by Eric Carle.
”Leonard Marcus’ Golden Legacy is a lively, never-before-told history of a company, its line of books, the groundbreaking writers and artists who created them, the clever mavericks who marketed and sold them, and the cultural landscape that surrounded them.” (Diane Muldrow, Random House) PenguinRandom House
Caldecott Acceptance Speech – July 2, 1947 For The Little Island, By Golden MacDonald Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
“I saw this island grow tall and squat as the tides rose and fell. I’ve watched the mists blow in and hide the little island, sometimes leaving only the pine tree tops exposed, hanging in space.
I rowed to and from the little island with the seals spawning below the surface of the water.
I’ve seen the sun rise and make a golden island for just five seconds in an early morning sea.”
The Caldecott Acceptance Speech>>
100 Great Children’s Picture Books by Martin Salisbury
Leonard Weisgard’s illustrations for Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit .
Read about Martin Salisbury here
100 Great Children’s Picture Books by Martin Salisbury Read about Martin Salisbury here
Lot’s of reviews for this exciting book. Here are just two of many:
The Guardian
Good Reads
Literary Hub
“20 Artists’ Visions of Alice in Wonderland From the Last 155 Years
Curiouser and Curiouser!”
Alice in Wonderland – illustrations by Leonard Weisgard
By Emily Temple
“It was 155 years ago today, on May 4th, 1865, when Alice tumbled down the rabbit hole. Carroll chose the day because it was Alice Liddell’s birthday (in 1865, she turned 13). Since then, Alice and her compatriots have been reimagined countless times, and inspired creative work of just about every genre. “
Read more here>> https://lithub.com/20-artists-visions-of-alice-in-wonderland-from-the-last-155-years/
The wonderful team at Orecchio Acerbo has published The Important Book and Pelican Here Pelican There in Italian!
Orecchio Acerbo Publishing Italy
The Important Book – La cosa più importante 2018
Written by Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrations by Leonard Weisgard
Orecchio Acerbo Publishing
Pelican Here Pelican There written and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
Brave Baby Elephant – Piccolo Elefante Cresce
Brave Baby Elephant by Sesyle Joslin and illustrations by Leonard Weisgard was translated into Italian and has won the Hans Christian Andersen award in Italy for the best children’s book in the category for 0-6 year olds May 2015.
Orecchio Acerbo 2015
Orecchio Acerbo Publishing
And now Baby Elephant Goes to China is out in Italian!
Piccolo Elefante va in Cina
Orecchio Acerbo Publishing
Midoriko, Leonard’s daughter-in-law, came across this site with Leonard’s books in Japanese:
Ehonnavi
https://www.ehonnavi.net/author.asp?n=7130&pcf=1
Nibble Nibble – Poems for Children
By Margaret Wise Brown, illustrations by Leonard Weisgard
Published in Japan through HarperCollins Children’s Books