Tomie DePaola
Tomie DePaola was born on September 15th 1934 in Meriden, Connecticut, USA. His father Joseph was a barber and his mother Florence, a homemaker. Tomie had an older brother and two younger sisters. He came from a loving family of Irish and Italian descent and later drew on his heritage for many of his books. His best known series of picture books, 'Strega Nona' were inspired by his paternal grandparents and their home in Italy.
Tomie knew at the age of four that he wanted to be an artist and his family supported him. He earned fine arts degrees as well as a doctoral-level degree in fine arts from Lone Mountain College. At the age of 31 he illustrated his first picture book and he soon established the bright, folksy style he became famous for.
Tomie illustrated over 270 books and wrote more than a quarter of them - many based on his own life.
Five fun facts about Tomie DePaola:
1. His art studio was a large barn.
2. He was also a singer and tap dancer.
3. At one time he received more than 100,000 fan letters a year.
4. His pictures are full of hearts, doves, flowers and cats.
5. He loved dogs, popcorn and the colour white.
Sadly, Tomie DePaola died on March the 30th this year at the age of 85.
Email:sharontregenza@gmail.com
3 comments:
Thank you, Sharon. What a lovely reminder of his work! So cheerful and comforting and offering reminders of another culture.
Hi Penny, thank you. He seems to have been a very jolly fellow and you can't have too many of those.
What a lovely and inspiring post!
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