About Nina Crews
I was raised in a creative environment, by parents who were designers and author-artists of picture books. My parents are Donald Crews - author of Freight Train; Truck; Ten Black Dots; Shortcut and Ann Jonas - author of Round Trip; The Quilt; Splash; Color Dance. I grew up in New York City and live there now. I love living in the city. As a child, our family would go exploring – regularly leaving our neighborhood streets and playgrounds to go uptown or downtown to take advantage of other parks, zoos, museums, restaurants or just look around somewhere new.
Art materials were always accessible, because my parents’ studio was in our house, and art projects were regular family activities. We had books of all kinds and I don’t recall ever being told that any were off limits. My parents also had a large number of books about artists, which I would flip through for hours.
I always felt that art would be a part of whatever career I chose, but I didn’t originally consider children’s books. Photography had become my favorite medium while in college at Yale University and I continued photographing in NY after moving back to the city, concentrating on personal projects. In 1989-1990, I participated in the Whitney Independent Study Program for studio artists. I earned money working in animation production and many projects involved cutting, pasting and collaging. Soon I was bringing collage techniques into my personal work and creating photocollages for editorial clients including Parenting, A Quarterly and the Village Voice. Collage allowed me to use photography more playfully and became central to the look of my first picture books. By the time I had a portfolio meeting with Greenwillow Books just before writing One Hot Summer Day, I had a clear sense of how I might approach a picture book and a strong desire to tell a story in images. Writing the story was a bit intimidating as writing was a private pastime at that point. Creating a publishable story was thrilling.
I chose to make photographic books because photography was and is my favorite medium to work in. As I’ve read my work to children, I have found that they really respond enthusiastically to “real” pictures. They love hearing about the children who pose for the books – their names, ages and where they live. All of my subjects are family, friends and friends of friends. The books tell my stories, but also record these children at certain ages – they are stars. I write the story first, though most often a visual idea motivates me to start a book. Once the story is in place, I start to work with my models. The interaction between us always adds something to the project; their performances often generate new ideas.
One Hot Summer Day was published by Greenwillow Books in 1995. Kirkus Reviews hailed it as "the debut of a welcome new voice and vision." This was followed by I'll Catch the Moon, 1996, which Horn Book called "a knockout in both concept and execution." Snowball, 1997, was chosen as one of Bank Street College Best Books of the Year in 1998. A starred review in ALA Booklist described You Are Here, 1998, as "a joyful book, to be sure, one that will make children want to jump up and begin active, imaginative play." A High, Low, Near, Far, Loud, Quiet Story, 1999, Publisher's Weekly said that "Crews is highly skilled at seeing through her photographic lens with the eyes of a child." My collection of Mother Goose rhymes - The Neighborhood Mother Goose, an ALA Notable Children's book for 2005, was selected by Kirkus and School Library Journals as one of the Best Books of 2004. Horn Book says in its starred review - "This is truly a Mother Goose for young children growing up in a new century." Below, was published in the spring of 2006 was also selected as an ALA Notable Children's book and a Junior Library Guild selection. A sequel to Below is due out April 2010 - Sky-High Guy.
I have also illustrated with photographs When Will Sarah Come, by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard and created photocollages for We the People, by Bobbi Katz.
I am always thrilled to learn that someone has copies of my books at home or to see them on the shelves of libraries. I hope that my books may play a small role in inspiring in children today the same love of a good story that I had as a child.
more about Nina Crews
Here are some links to more information about me and my work:
audio link to Thera Martin Connolly interview with Nina Crews
http://nccil.org/experience/artists/crewsfam/ncrews.htm
http://thebrownbookshelf.com/2008/02/12/nina-crews/
http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/16150/Nina_Crews/index.aspx
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ninacrews