Two men met and admired each others work at the Fay B. Kagler Children's Book Festival in April at the University of Southern Mississippi. A Hattiesburg Public School employee and local artist, Terry Evans met David Small, a Caldecott Medal winner.       After opening the envelope of various illustrations, David Small's eyes lit up. He wanted to meet the artist. Anyone looking at Terry Evans sketches knows that he has a special gift. His drawings come alive with his natural talent and imagination. Librarians and teachers stood nearby waiting to get autographed copies of books when the two men met. One librarian asked what was the new artist name? Many felt sure Terry Evans would be illustrating books in the near future because of  David Small's enthusiasm regarding his sketches. David Small gave Terry Evans some words of encouragement, a tool for inking his art and a copy of his new book Stitches, an autobiography.

David Small is a talented and prolific artist. He has illustrated many books including the Caldecott Medal winner So You Want to Be President?, Caldecott Honor book One Cool Friend, Reading Rainbow's Imogene's Antlers, Caldecott Honor book The Gardener, The Library, and When Dinasaurs Came with Everything. He has illustrated more than 4o books and his book  Imogene's Antlers has sold over one million copies.

Two questions remain. How many books written or illustrated by David Small have you read and how many books will be illustrated by Terry Evans in the future? Check out David Small's website at  http://davidsmallbooks.com/  for lesson plans and more information about his books and his wife, Sarah Stewart's books. They are an awesome team and share books with big ideas through their writing and art. Then go by Hattiesburg schools at Grace Christian Elementary and encourage Terry Evans to keep drawing his delightful illustrations.

Photograph by Linda Owens

Terry Evans meets David Small at the F. B. Kagler Children's Book Festival at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Submitted by

Linda Owens

Media Specialist

Grace Christian Library