ABOUT THE ARTIST
#1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator, Tony DiTerlizzi, has been creating children’s books for twenty years. From fanciful picture books like The Broken Ornament and The Spider & The Fly (a Caldecott Honor book), to chapter books like Kenny and The Dragon and The Search for WondLa, DiTerlizzi imbues his stories with rich imagination. With Holly Black, he created the middle-grade series, The Spiderwick Chronicles, which has sold over 20 million copies, been adapted into a feature film, and translated in over thirty countries. He teamed up with Lucasfilm to retell the original Star Wars trilogy as a picture book and his collaboration with celebrated author Mo Willems created the bestseller The Story of Diva & Flea. The Norman Rockwell museum’s retrospective, “Never Abandon Imagination”, featured artwork from the beginning of DiTerlizzi’s career as a contributing artist for Dungeons & Dragons and broke attendance records. He has been featured in Time magazine, USA Today, CNN, PBS, NPR the BBC and The Today Show.
TONY DITERLIZZI: NEVER ABANDON IMAGINATION
Imagination is a world of possibility that exists within each of us. It is what makes us uniquely human. It is our creative fingerprint that touches and influences the world around us. Imagination is essential to art and science; to innovation and prosperity. It gives us hope, calls us to action and leads to change.
Whether it’s fairies, dragons, robots or aliens, all of my children’s book characters are siblings born of my imagination – an imagination strengthened through years of encouragement from family, teachers and friends. While so many others abandoned it during their transition from childhood to adulthood, I fiercely held onto mine, hoping for a day when I could share it to inspire the next generation of dreamers. Innovators. World changers.
Imagination empowers us to envision and create a reality of what could be. We must hold it dear, foster it and never abandon it.
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Tony DiTerlizzi – Photo credit “Jim Gipe photo / Pivot Media”
ABOUT THE SERIES
Wonder. Storytelling. Human Connection. From a converted carriage barn on South Street in Stockbridge, MA, Norman Rockwell painted his way into the hearts and lives of people around the world. In this Studio—his last and “best yet”—Rockwell’s imaginative artistry established a legacy of creativity that continues to inspire artists and visitors alike. Today, illustration art is everywhere: books and graphic novels, editorials and advertising, video games and the metaverse, posters, comics, clothing, and tattoos.
This monthly series of online and on-demand programs features leading illustrators demonstrating their craft and discussing ways in which published illustration reflects and shapes society, and advances social good.