Stacey Schuett (1960–) Biography

Born 1960, in Elmhurst, IL; Education: Sierra College, A.A., 1980; University of California, Davis, B.A., 1983.

Career

Illustrator.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Graphic Artists Guild, Phi Kappa Phi.

Honors Awards

The Moon Comes Home was included on the John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers, 1990.

Writings

(And illustrator) Somewhere in the World Right Now, Knopf (New York, NY), 1995.

ILLUSTRATOR

Mavis Jukes, Lights around the Palm, Knopf, 1987.

Mary Jo Salter, The Moon Comes Home, Knopf (New York, NY), 1989.

Anne Mazer, Watch Me, Knopf (New York, NY), 1990.

Mary D. Lankford, Is It Dark? Is It Light?, Knopf (New York, NY), 1991.

Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, When Springs Comes, Dutton (New York, NY), 1993.

Jukes, I'll See You in My Dreams, Knopf (New York, NY), 1993.

Virginia L. Kroll, Beginnings: How Families Come to Be, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1994.

Midnight, Lost and Found, Knopf (New York, NY), 1994.

Anna Egan Smucker, Outside the Window, Knopf (New York, NY), 1994.

Paula Kurzband Feder, The Feather-Bed Journey, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1995.

Sharon Creech, Pleasing the Ghost, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

Teresa Reed, Rain, Rain, Go Away, Aladdin (New York, NY), 1996.

Teresa Reed, Happy Birthday, Daddy, Aladdin (New York, NY), 1996.

Denise Lewis Patrick, Shaina's Garden, Aladdin (New York, NY), 1996.

Denise Lewis Patrick, Case of the Missing Cookies, Aladdin (New York, NY), 1996.

Patricia Lee Gauch, Christina Katerina and Fats and the Great Neighborhood War, Putnam's (New York, NY), 1997.

Evangeline Nicholas, Too Tight Shoes, Wright Group (Bothell, WA), 1997.

Betsy James, Flashlight, Knopf (New York, NY), 1997.

Jean Craighead George, Gorilla Gang, Disney Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Becky R. McCain, Grandmother's Dreamcatcher, A. Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1998.

Laura Godwin, Forest, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1998.

Jean Craighead George, Rhino Romp, Disney Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Connie Roop, Grace's Letter to Lincoln, Hyperion (New York, NY), 1998.

Franklyn Mansfield Branley, Day Light, Night Light: Where Light Comes From, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1998.

Barbara Younger, Purple Mountain Majesties: The Story of Katharine Lee Bates and America the Beautiful, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Monica Mayper, Come and See: A Christmas Story, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

Steven Schnur, Spring Thaw, Viking (New York, NY), 2000.

Margarita Robleda Moguel, Poncho y la rifa, Hampton-Brown (Carmel, CA), 2000.

Steven Schnur, Night Lights, Frances Foster Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Patricia Lakin, Fat Chance Thanksgiving, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 2001.

C. Drew Lamn, Pirates, Hyperion Books for Children (New York, NY), 2001.

Clyde Robert Bulla, A Tree Is a Plant, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

Louise Borden, America Is—, Margaret K. McElderry Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Debbie S. Miller, Are Trees Alive?, Walker (New York, NY), 2002.

Marjorie Dennis Murray, Little Wolf and the Moon, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2002.

Nancy Smiler Levinson, Prairie Friends, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

Lynn Downey, Pap's Birthday Gift, Augsburg (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

Janet S. Wong, Alex and the Wednesday Chess Club, Margaret K. McElderry Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Raffi, The Little Light of Mine, Knopf (New York, NY), 2004.

Michelle Edwards, Papa's Latkes, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 2004.

David R. González, Tio José and the Singing Trees, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Lee Bennett Hopkins, Halloween Howls: Holiday Poetry, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

Laurie Lears, Nathan's Wish: A Story about Cerebral Palsy, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 2005.

Lisa Moser, Watermelon Wishes, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Sidelights

Illustrator Stacey Schuett has been dreaming up stories and pictures for fun since childhood and as an adult she makes a living illustrating the pages of children's books by authors such as Laura Godwin, Jean Craighead George, and Lee Bennett Hopkins. She has also turned her hand to storytelling in Somewhere in the World Right Now, which School Library Journal critic Joy Fleishhacker praised for its "lushly colored artwork" and "lyrical text," all which provide young readers a view of life as it is lived at the exact same moment in different parts of the world. Of her work in Are Trees Alive? by Debbie S. Miller, Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst stated in the same periodical that Schuett's "vibrant acrylic-and-gouache illustrations are scientifically accurate and inviting."

Schuett once told SATA: "As a kid, I spent almost all my time reading, drawing, and making things; putting words to pictures, and vice versa, was a natural thing to do. I was fortunate in that I had a supportive family who not only tolerated, for the most part, my state of preoccupation, but encouraged it. I was given a constant supply of materials: paper, paint, etc., and my grandparents hung my paintings beside prints by artists like Dutch painter Jan Vermeer. I also received one memorable gift from my grandmother, a box of brilliant glass mosaic pieces—I was mesmerized by the color, depth, and clarity of the glass, and the way it was illuminated by light.

"In school, I was lucky to have understanding teachers who gave me plenty to read and look at, but let me wander and find out things for myself. Being a dreamy sort of kid, I usually paid little attention to what was going on in class, but instead filled notebooks with pages of labored poetry, snatches of what was meant to be meaningful dialogue, and drawings. Horses, especially, figured big; though there was almost always some other kid in class who drew more perfectly rendered, realistic horses than I did, I persisted.

"When I was twelve, I was allowed to spend my entire savings account on a horse of my own: an elderly roan mare named Snorky. After that, the world opened up for me. Even though I grew up in a suburban tract-home neighborhood, we lived at the very edge of a valley bordered by undeveloped foothills. On horseback, I had much freedom, and I wandered farther than my parents ever knew. Being outside so much, often by myself, gave me the opportunity to pay close attention to the way things look—particularly how objects are affected by different qualities of light and the sensations certain kinds of lighting can produce. The way a shadow fell or how a branch divided evenly into light and dark seemed enormously significant and mysterious. It was important, I thought, to notice everything. Now, when I make paintings to illustrate a story, I put a lot of what I've noticed, remembered, and imagined, to use.

"I have strong memories of books I loved as a child, particularly stories and pictures that made me see a little differently and gave me another angle on the world. I like to think and hope that the pictures I make might sometimes affect other imaginations in a similar way."