Meet the illustrator Beth Krommes

One of our large chain bookstores recently filled a table with children's books that had been on their shelves since 2018. All of the books were 50% off the retail price. I saw Blue on Blue by Joyce Sidman (2014) illustrated by Beth Krommes. Silly me - I didn't buy it - and now I regret that decision. When I visited a school library this week, I grabbed three other books by Joyce Sidman illustrated by Beth Krommes. I really love her illustration style. Sadly, here in Australia her books are fairly expensive but perhaps you can add one or two to your library or pop them onto your wish list. 

Here are some Kirkus star review comments that describe her work:

Before Morning: Krommes' inimitable scratchboard illustrations play with perspective and point of view as they flesh out Sidman’s short poem, written in the form of an invocation. Washed with orange, tan, and icy blue, they open and close with landscapes reminiscent of Virginia Lee Burton’s work.

Blue on Blue: Folk-art–inspired illustrations, astonishing in both their technical accomplishment and their heart, harmonize beautifully with lyrical language.

Beth Krommes is a Caldecott medalist (The House in the Night) and Joyce Sidman is a Newbery Honor winner (Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night). Beth Krommes lives in Peterborough, USA. Read more about her Caldecott medal here. 

Here is a list of all books illustrated by Beth Krommes with details of the awards they have won. Check out my previous post about Butterfly eyes and Other Secrets. 

We are Branches is the latest book illustrated by Beth. In this book readers can explore the myriad of ways you can see branches at work. Yes, they are part of trees but also the way tree roots stretch through the soil is another example of branches. Flowers are found at the end of the branches on plants. Rivers form branches as they flow towards the ocean. Look up at lightning and you will see branches of light and energy. The dry land after years of drought is filled with branches carved into the soil. And think about ice crystals and coral, the bones that show on the wings of a bat, and the branches inside each of us as our blood pumps through arteries and veins. 

In Swirl by Swirl even the imprint page is presented in a swirl. On the first page we see a coiled snake which, on turning the page, uncoils. The obvious spiral is a snail shell but what about a Nautilus shell and a fern frond, a hedgehog curled into a protective ball and the horns on a ram. Elephants coil their trunks to hold each other's tails and grab forest branches - the shape is a swirl. And there are spirals in plants - sunflower, rose, hibiscus, and daisy. Oh, and the tornado page is spectacular.

Before Morning is a poem:

In the deep woolen dark,
as we slumber unknowing,
let the sky fill with flurry and flight.
Let the air turn to feathers,
the earth turn to sugar,
and all that is heavy turn light.
Let quick things be swaddled,
Let urgent plans flounder,
let pathways be hidden from sight.
Please - just this once
change the world before morning:
make it slow
and delightful
and white.

Imagine receiving this lyrical text (you are the illustrator) what do you see? Beth Krommes interprets each line in a delightful way and there are also pages in between with no words - to my mind they work to give a reader time to pause, and breathe, and ponder. See inside this book here. And read this review which has teaching ideas for Before Morning. 

Blurb: There are planes to fly and buses to catch, but a small child wishes for a different sort of day. When clouds gather and heavy flakes begin to fall, her invocation comes true.

Book List

• We Are Branches Clarion/HarperCollins, 2023
• Before Morning HMH Books for Young Readers, Fall 2016
• Blue on Blue Beach Lane Books, 2014
• Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature Houghton Mifflin, 2011
• The House in the Night Houghton Mifflin, 2008 
• Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow Houghton Mifflin, 2006 
• The Hidden Folk Houghton Mifflin, 2004 
• The Barefoot Book of Earth Poems (formerly The Sun in Me) Barefoot Books, 2003
• The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish Houghton Mifflin, 2001
• Grandmother Winter Houghton Mifflin, 1999

Scratchboard and Watercolor Illustration Demo by Beth Krommes

Beth Krommes | Steps to Illustrating a Picture Book

“I found my way to this medium through my interest in wood engraving,” says Krommes, who was working as an art director for a computer magazine when she began creating commercial art of her own. “Back in 1982, I happened to attend an exhibition called ‘Three New Hampshire Wood Engravers: Nora Unwin, Herbert Waters, and Randy Miller’ at the Sharon Arts Center in New Hampshire. Soon afterward I took up wood engraving and was juried into the 

League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.”

From The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson

Image source: Artists network (note this site contains advertisements)