Deeley, P. & Feeney, T. (2005). Snobby Cat. Dublin, Ireland: O'Brien Press. For ages 4-8.
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Snobby Cat is the only book in this bibliography, for which Feeney contributed solely as an illustrator. The narrative of the book was written by Patrick Deeney, a teacher and poet. It is part of the O’Brien Press Panda series, a collection of picture books for children.
This story is about a particularly choosy feline named Orlando. Orlando is a picky eater, who tries out a variety of different foods during this story. To fit with the already established style of the Panda series, Feeney strays from her typical illustrative style. The illustrations include more detail and background than her usual work. The characters are also more cartoonish than the simple and abstract depictions Feeney usually employs. |
Little Frog’s Tadpole Trouble is a parent friendly story, designed to be read to young children attempting to deal with one big change in their lives. That change is getting a new baby brother or sister. The story opens with Little Frog living happily with his two parents. When nine younger siblings suddenly enter the picture, Little Frog does not accept them well at first. In his eyes, they are unable to do anything fun with him. In the end, Little Frog realizes that his brothers and sisters will one day grow up to be great playmates and frogs, just like him.
Feeney often chooses one color to display prominently throughout her story. However, in Little Frog’s Tadpole Trouble, she actually chooses two. Green shows most strongly throughout the story, however the color red is used to contrast and break apart the otherwise homogeneous and peaceful illustrations. The red brings change and disorder to the images, and is a great symbol of the feelings that Little Frog is attempting to reconcile with. |
Feeney, T. (2014). Little Frog’s Tadpole Trouble. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. For ages 0-3.
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Feeney, T. (2015). Little Owl’s Orange Scarf. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. Kate Greenway Medal. Rotherham Children's Book Award. For ages 0-3.
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Little Owl’s Orange Scarf is another of Feeney’s parent and child friendly picture books. With a very young audience in mind, this book tells the story of Little Owl and his most hated scarf. Throughout the story, Little Owl tries over and over again to lose the scarf. After finally succeeding, Little Owl finds that, despite being too big and too orange, the scarf at least kept him warm.
Orange plays a prominent theme in this story, and Feeney uses collage and printing techniques to make the most of the white space on the page. With doodle-like characters, the color of the scarf really draws the focus of the reader. |
Small Bunny’s Blue Blanket is Feeney’s most notable and popular work as both author and illustrator. A story about change, the narrative follows Small Bunny and his trusted Blue Blanket on a journey of friendship. Blue Blanket has helped Small Bunny do everything for his whole life. One day, Small Bunny’s mother has to wash Blue Blanket. After the washing, Small Bunny is not sure that Blue Blanket is the same as we was before.
Feeney uses a combination of printing inks and collage material to create the images on the page. Like most of her illustrations, the characters are drawn simply. In this particular picture book, the blue of the blanket plays a large role in bringing color and life to each page. |
Feeney, T. (2012). Small Bunny’s Blue Blanket. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. Waterstone's Book Award nominee. Cambridgeshire Children's Picture Book Award nominee. For ages 2-5.
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Feeney, T. (2015). Small Elephant's Bathtime. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. For ages 2-5.
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Small Elephant hates baths. He will play in the water all day, but when it comes to bathtime he must simply refuse. However, his father had some tricks up his trunk. This is a story about finding a way to learn the things that must be done.
In Small Elephant’s Bathtime, Feeney uses bright red text and a lot of white space on each page. Her illustrations combine print and collage materials, creating unique textures and colors through the story. More colorful that many of her other books, Small Elephant’s Bathtime does not rely on a prominent color to aid in the story, but rather the variety of visual textures utilized by Feeney. |
How to Catch a Star is Oliver Jeffers first novel, and was inspired by the night sky on a trip to Sydney, Australia. The protagonist of the story is a boy, who loves stars and decides to try and catch one. Try what he might, he is always unsuccessful. In the end, the boy discovers that some stars are within his reach.
Jeffers uses beautifully contrasting colors in the sky to depict the light of the sun and stars. Sparse landscapes compliment the simple plot of the story. On many pages you see the boy succeed, only to realize on the next page that he was using his vivid imagination. In this debut novel, Jeffers brings to light his abstract and slightly whimsical style. |
Jeffers, O. (2004). How to Catch a Star. New York: Philomel Books. Nestle Children's Book Prize Gold Award. For ages 3-7.
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Jeffers, O. (2007). The Incredible Book Eating Boy. New York: Philomel Books. Irish Book Award, 2007. For ages 4-8.
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The Incredible Book Eating Boy lends a new definition to literary connoisseur. Henry is a true bibliophile, but rather than read his books, he eats them. The more he eats, the more knowledge he gains. That is, until one day he becomes sick from eating too many books. Now, Henry must find a way to enjoy books in a different manner.
Jeffers uses a mixtures of die cut and paper collage techniques to illustrate this story. The background of each page utilizes different paper materials, from index cards to pages of books. The words appear hand-written or typed directly onto the background. This style makes the characters feel as if they are really living on the pages of the book. Jeffers also uses his illustrations to lend humor to the story. |
Lost and Found tells the story of two unlikely friends. One day a boy finds a penguin on his step. In an attempt to help, he returns to the penguin to his home at the South Pole. After doing so, the boy realizes that he made a huge mistake. The penguin was actually just lonely and looking for a friend. The boy sets out to be reunited with the penguin by the end of their journey.
Jeffers uses watercolor to bring this sea voyage story to life. His lines are clean, simple, and without fuss. This matches the short and simple narrative present on each page. To further the feeling of isolation for each character, Jeffers regularly depicts objects in the background as much larger than the characters. One example of this is the ship at port that looms over the boy as he sets off from the dock. |
Jeffers, O. (2005). Lost and Found. New York: Philomel Books. Nestles Smarties Book Prize, 2005. Blue Peter Book Award, 2006. For ages 3-7.
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Jeffers, O. (2012). The Moose Belongs to Me. New York: Philomel Books. Irish Book Award, 2012. CBI Book of the Year, 2013. For ages 3-7.
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The Moose Belongs to Me is the story of a boy and his pet. Wilfred loves his pet moose, though his moose might not realize he is a pet. Despite this fact, the moose listens to Wilfred. Or at least, he listens to Wilfred regarding all things except who he belongs to.
Jeffers again uses simple, cartoonish characters in his illustrations. However, this story include linotypes and oil landscape paintings that add a slightly pixelated feel to the read. The narrative appears in both type and handwritten text, and some pages even use speech and thought bubbles to aid in dialogue. This continues Jeffers already famous style of mixed media and unique combinations of mediums. |
Once Upon an Alphabet is an alphabet book that creates a unique story for each of the letters of the alphabet. As Jeffers longest children’s book, this story dedicates multiple pages to each letter in order to interconnect the themes into one unified tale.
The text of this picture book is often spare and surreal in its descriptions. Jeffers uses the pages of the books creatively to keep the reader entertained for over a hundred pages. On several pages involving the letter Q, the character actually peals back the page of the books to look for something hiding behind. These illustrations present almost as optical illusions to keep the reader guessing what Jeffers will bring into the story next. |
Jeffers, O. (2014). Once Upon an Alphabet. New York: Philomel Books. CBI Book of the Year, 2015. Boston Globe Honor Award, 2015. Kate Greenway Meday Nominee. For ages 3-5.
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