Illustrator and Caldecott Medal winner Beth Krommes visited the Harvard Elementary school this year to speak with third graders who were studying Caldecott Medal winning books. She took the children through the various stages of developing a book from the initial concept through to its final form. Children were also given an opportunity to see her draw on scratchboard and try their own hands at it. Beth also gave a talk at the Harvard Public Library about her experience winning the prestigious award in 2009 and her influences that helped her develop her style.

Beth received the Caldecott Medal for her picture book The House in the Night written by Susan Marie Swanson. The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year by the Association of Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. It is named in honor of the nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott and is the most prestigious American children's book award for an illustrator. Beth was announced as the 2009 winner of the Caldecott on January 26, 2009. Click here to see Beth on the Today Show with Neil Gaiman the following day.

Beth has been a full-time illustrator since 1989. Previously, she worked as a public school art teacher, a manager of a fine handcraft shop, and an art director for a computer magazine. She has a BFA degree in painting from Syracuse University and a MAT in art education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She also spent a year at St. Martin's School of Art in London.

Beth's first illustrations were wood engravings. She was drawn to its small scale and fine line work but soon switched to scratchboard, which has the same look but is faster. To create the color in the illustrations, Beth makes high quality copies of her black and white scratchboard art and then watercolors then after mounting the copies on a thick board.

Her first children's book, Grandmother Winter, was published in 1999. Her list of other books includes The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish (2001), The Sun in Me - Poems About the Planet( 2003), The Hidden Folk - Stories of Fairies, Dwarves, Selkies and Other Secret Beings (2004), Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow (2006), The House in the Night (2008), and Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature (2011). Her latest book, Swirl by Swirl just released this fall by Houghton Mifflin was inspired not initially by an author's manuscript as is more often the case but by some miniature round puzzle boxes from the 60s. She started out by creating circles about the size of the puzzle boxes and drew a series of objects that each contained a spiral shape. The concept evolved from there working back and forth with her editor at the publishing company and author Joyce Sidman. It is a delightful book described in Kirkus reviews as "exquisitely simple and memorable." Horn Books Magazine also says, "From the endpapers that gather together all the spirals depicted to the spiraling text on the title page verso, this book is elegantly constructed, and as poetry, picture book, or nonfiction, a success in every way." It is one of those sure-to-be-favorite books that is a pleasure to read over and over again to a young child before bedtime. Beth has also newly created the Winter's Night Pop-Up Advent Calendar which can be picked up locally at the Harvard General Store.

A good opportunity to visit Beth's studio is during the Monadnock Open Studios Art Tour each October. The tour is a self-directed art tour of artists in southwestern New Hampshire. Beth's studio, in Peterborough, NH where she lives, is a real treat to visit. There she has much work on display. Some of this work can be seen on her website such as her series dealing with themes of motherhood and family. She says, "Having children has helped me to see the world from a child's point of view, to notice the beauty in small moments, and to be more appreciative of all I have." Each engraving is printed by hand on an acid-free handmade Japanese paper called Sekishu using Daniel Smith Oil Based Relief Ink #79 Traditional Black. These are available for purchase on her website as well. To see more of her wood engravings or learn more about her books, go to www.bethkrommes.com. To see pictures of her visit on this website go to home and then events.