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I am Vincent X. Kirsch.

   

I am an internationally known author, illustrator, toy-maker, playwright, and screenwriter living in Pasadena, California. In the past, I have lived in Florence (Italy), New York City, Boston and Asheville. My most recent illustrations are two-dimensional adaptations of the "Paperbox Playhouses" toy theaters that I have been fiddling around with for most of my life. My work is significantly 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 led to creation of three-dimensional characters and revived a fascination with puppetry and Victorian toy theaters.

   

An editor at Bloomsbury USA discovered one of my illustrations in The New York Times Book Review and thought it a perfect match for children’s books. Of all the sketches and dummies books 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 first book.

   

With that book, I landed in the rewarding world of creating and illustrating picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade fiction and am living happily ever after.

   

Thanks for visiting,

 Vincent

MY BOOKS

NATALIE & NAUGHTILY / Author & Illustrator / Bloomsbury USA / Fall 2008 / Selected for the 2008 Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators

TWO LITTLE BOYS FROM TOOLITTLE TOYS  / Author & Illustrator / Bloomsbury USA / 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 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

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