Before concentrating on creating
books for children and young adults, Phoebe had a very
successful career established as a fine
art's painter. During that
time, she received two Vermont Council on the Arts
Fellowships in painting and exhibited her work in many
museums and galleries all around New England and New York
City, and influenced many New England artists with her
unique, brightly colored narrative and metaphorical
style. "I was already working in sequences," she says,
"but at some point I began to realize that I could
combine my love for images and words in picture books for
children."
Phoebe's most recent novel is Deep Down Popular, published March 1, 2008 by Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic. A novel for ages 9 and up, it has already been called "sweet and winning" by Kirkus Reviews. Phoebe Stone's first novel published in 2000 All the Blue Moons at the Wallace Hotel, was called "haunting . . . and poetic" by the New York Times and remains a favorite of children and adults alike.
Phoebe's novel
Sonata #1
for Riley Red was published in
the Fall of 2003. In a review The Boston
Globe said: "Stone's books
speak to the heart of youth -- its frailty, wild
ambitions, and promise. Literature doesn't get much
better than this."
When the Wind
Bears Go Dancing, the first
children's book both written and illustrated by Phoebe
Stone, was published in the fall of 1997 by Little, Brown
and Company to much critical acclaim and attention. Six
original pieces of art from the book were included in the
exhibit, Telling Stories with Pictures, the Art of
Children's Book Illustration, at the DeCordova Museum
in the Boston area. The show featured the work of 30
prominent children's book illustrators from the past 25
years. Well-known artists such as Maurice Sendak, Chris
van Allsburg, Marc Brown, Edward Gorey and Eric Carle
were also featured. Phoebe was selected as one of the new
illustrators working in the field today to be included in
the exhibit.
When the Wind Bears Go Dancing
was also selected by The Society of Illustrators to be
included in their Original Art '97 exhibition. The
show was held at the Museum of American Illustration in
New York City, and featured the original art from the
year's best illustrated children's books.
Booklist
also featured art from When the Wind Bears Go
Dancing on the cover of their February 1998
cover.
We've had news that
When the Wind Bears Go Dancing was published in
Korea.
What Night Do the
Angels Wander? was Phoebe
Stone's second book as both author and illustrator. It
was published September 1998 by Little, Brown and
Company. The book is best described as a dreamy and
poetic personification of the spirit of Christmas. One
night each year, following a flurry of celestial
preparation, all the angels come together for a single
purpose. It is a night of heavenly celebration, one that
brings together all the children and animals of the
earth. It is a night filled with light. It is a night to
hear the angels sing because it's Christmas
Eve.
What Night Do the Angels
Wander? received as great deal of attention and
generated a lot of excitement last fall. It was a
November selection of the Children's Book-of-the-Month
Club and was featured on the December cover of the
Hearthsong
Catalog. You can read what Kirkus
Reviews had to say about this
new book.
Phoebe's picture book:
Go Away Shelly
Boo, was published book
by Little, Brown and Company for fall 1999. It has
appeared on the cover of the Hearthsong Autumn catalog
and been chosen by the American Bookseller's Association
as a "Pick of the Lists". Kirkus Reviews describes
Phoebe's drawings as "exhuberant" and writes of the book:
"Children will identify with Emily Louise's anxiety about
a new neighbor and share her relief when she finally does
meet the infamous 'Shelley Boo'…" The Boston
Globe called Go
Away Shelley Boo! --"totally
irresistible."
In God's
Name, written by Sandy Sasso
and illustrated by Phoebe Stone, is an award-winning book
that celebrates multiculturalism as well as
nondenominational and nonsectarian religion. First
published in 1994, In God's Name is in its fifth
printing. A One Spirit Book-of-the-Month Club
selection, it still remains at the top of many religious
and spiritual book bestseller lists. In God's Name
was a finalist in the Hungry Mind Review Children's
Books of Distinction Awards, a finalist in the
Marion Vannett Ridgeway Awards and part of The
Children's Book Councils exhibit, Not Just for
Children Anymore, at the 1997 American Booksellers
Association Conference.
Read an
article about Phoebe Stone
that appeared in
The Boston Globe
Read an
article about Phoebe Stone and
When the Wind Bears Go Dancing that appeared in
the Rutland Herald
Listen
to an interview with Phoebe
Stone that aired on Vermont Public Radio
