vincent x. kirsch
I am Vincent X. Kirsch.
I am an author, illustrator, toy-maker, playwright and screenwriter living in Pasadena, California. In the past, I have lived in Florence (Italy), New York City and Boston. My most recent illustrations are a two-dimensional adaptations of the "Paperbox Playhouses" toy theaters that I have been fiddling around with for most of my life. My work is very influenced by theater, puppetry, poster art, classical painting techniques and Hollywood films. My whimsical character designs and storylines range from the fantastically out-of-this-world to inspiringly down-to-earth.
My black-and-white and color illustrations appeared regularly on the pages of The New York Times Book Review & Op-Ed pages, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and a wide array of magazines (see sample to the right).
Coincidentally, the illustrations on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times landed me a three-year job designing and directing the windows of Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue. My work with mannequins and small window spaces lead to the creation of three-dimensional characters and revived a fascination with puppetry and Victorian toy theaters.
An editor at BloomsburyUSA discovered one of my illustrations in The New York Times Book Review and thought it a perfect match for children’s books. Out of all the sketches and dummies books that I showed her, she noticed a teensy-tiny doodle of two girls, one neat-as-a pin and the other clown-like. Those two girls became Natalie and Naughtily Nopps who live on top of “the greatest department store in the world” which became my very first book.
With that book, I landed in the very happy land of creating and illustrating picture books, chapter books and middle grade fiction and have lived happily ever after.
Thanks for visiting,
Vincent
MY BOOKS
NATALIE & NAUGHTILY / Author & Illustrator / BloomsburyUSA / Fall 2008 / Selected for the 2008 Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators
TWO LITTLE BOYS FROM TOOLITTLE TOYS / Author & Illustrator / BloomsburyUSA / Summer 2010 / Selected for the 2010 Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators
FORSYTHIA & ME / Author & Illustrator / Farrar Straus Giroux / Winter 2011
THE CHANDELIERS / Author & Illustrator / Farrar Straus Giroux / August 2012
NOAH WEBSTER & HIS WORDS / Illustrator / Houghton Mifflin / October 2012 / Golden Kite Award 2012: Best Non-Fiction Picture Book / Selected for the 2013 Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators
Included in the traveling Original Art exhibition (A Junior Library Guild Selection)
FREDDIE & GINGERSNAP / Author & Illustrator / DisneyHyperion / January 2014
FREDDIE & GINGERSNAP FIND A CLOUD TO KEEP / Author & Illustrator / DisneyHyperion / January 2015
GINGERBREAD FOR LIBERTY! / Illustrator / Houghton Mifflin / January 2015 (A Junior Library Guild Selection)
THE HOLE STORY OF THE DOUGHNUT / Illustrator / Houghton Mifflin / Spring 2016
(A Junior Library Guild Selection)
CAN YOU FIND PUP? / Author & Illustrator / Holiday House / Autumn 2018 (A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection)
HOW I LEARNED TO FALL OUT OF TREES / Author & Illustrator / Abrams Books for Young Readers/ Spring 2019
A well-cultivated story that plants a seed about the value of friends and what they leave with us,
even when they're gone.
~ Kirkus Reviews 2019
Kirsch's tender tale is illustrated in seasonal watercolors and ink with cut tracing.
The story and illustrations are a champion team, like Adelia and Roger.
~ School Library Journal 2019
This tender story, sweet without being saccharine, is an eloquent metaphor for saying goodbye
and allowing memories to cushion the blow.
~ The Horn Book 2019
FROM ARCHIE TO ZACK / Author & Illustrator / Abrams Books for Young Readers / December 2020 (2021 SCBWI Golden Kite Finalist: Best Picture Book)
CAN PUP FIND THE PUPS? / Author & Illustrator / Holiday House / January 2022
EXTRA EZRA / Illustrator / Harper Collins / Spring 2022
SELECTED AWARDS & HONORS
2008, 2010 & 2013 - Society of Illustrators Original Art Show
2013 - SCBWI Golden Kite Award/Non-Fiction
2013 - Bank Street Best Book
2013, 2015, 2016 & 2018 - Junior Library Guild Selections
2016 - Children's Literature Council of Southern California/Best Picture Book
2018 - Garden State Children's Book Award/Non-Fiction
2018 - Land of Enchantment Book Award/Coyote(Grades 3-5)
2021 - SCBWI Golden Kite Finalist/Best Illustrated Picture Book
EXHIBITIONS
2008, 2010 & 2013 - Society of Illustrators Original Art Show
2019-20 - "Show Of Hands" Exhibition, Dana Younger Gallery, Mazza Museum, Findlay, Ohio
INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES
Chats with Matthew Winner on THE CHILDREN'S BOOK PODCAST, listen here and here
Speaking with Pilar Alessandra on the ON THE PAGE podcast talking about picture books and screenwriting, listen here
Teaching Authors with Prof. April Halprin Wayland, read it here
Writing & Illustrating Blog by Kathy Tamean, read it here
Another with Kathy Tamean, read it here
Henry Herz's Blog, read it here
Tots, Tweens & Teens Blog, read it here
Warburton Labs blog, read it here
Amazon Look Inside How The Book Was Made/Gingerbread For Liberty!, scroll down on this link
From Dani Duck's blog post, read it here
Lee Wind's I'm Here. I'm Queer. blog, read it here
ILLUSTRATION CLIENTS
The New York Times | The Washington Post | The Los Angeles Times | The Boston Globe
The Nation Magazine | St. Martin's Press | Random House | Scribners | Dutton