~Susan Jeffers~

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Born October 7, 1942 Oakland, New Jersey
Susan Jeffers is an American illustrator of
children's book who has been gracing author's works
with her pen and ink drawings for forty-odd years
and has illustrated some fifty books.
She is the author/illustrator for eight of them.
She is perhaps most known for her current collaboration
with Rosemary Wells on the McDuff series.
Her story is a relatively straight-forward one.
Born in Oakland, New Jersey, she grew up with
an early interest and demonstrated aptitude in art.
She graduated from the New York Pratt Institute in 1964
and began an initial career in the publishing industry
in New York City. She became interested in children's
books and began freelancing in children's books design
and illustration. She was involved with a number
of books by various authors in the late 1960's.
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After a number of publications including
The Buried Moon by Joseph Jacobs in 1969,
she started a project to retell and illustrate the
traditional story of The Three Jovial Huntsmen.
After preparing a complete version of the story,
Jeffers and her publisher decided that it was not quite
what they were looking for. Jeffers sat down and
rewrote and re-illustrated the whole story which
was then published in 1973 and received a 1974
Caldecott Honor Award. If you are going to rewrite
and re-illustrate a whole story, it is nice if it is
then recognized so prestigiously.
..
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.  
. .
By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
.. 
Longing to own a pony, a young girl finds that the
one she draws seems to come alive and
take her on a fantastic journey.
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http://www.susanjeffers-art.com/default.html

Her Bibliography (Just a few)
*The Wild Swans written by HC Andersen
and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1981
*The Snow Queen written by HC Andersen
and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1982
*Hiawatha written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1983
*Silent Night written by Joseph Mohr
and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1984
*Cinderella written by Charles Perrault
and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 1985
*My Pony written and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2003
*The Nutcracker written by Mary-Claire Helldorfer
and illustrated by Susan Jeffers 2007
*Blueberries for the Queen written by John Paterson
and illustrated by Susan Jeffers