Robert Sabuda's Biography
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In an era of sequels and prequels, Robert Sabuda is that rare artist who refuses to repeat himself. Despite the amazing success of his pop-up books The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Little Simon, 2000), The Moveable Mother Goose (Little Simon, 1999), Cookie Count: A Tasty Pop-Up (Little Simon, 1997), and The 12 Days of Christmas (Little Simon, 1996) Robert Sabuda has never created sequels to his bestsellers. Each Sabuda book is a fresh idea. "The style for a project often comes to me in what I call 'the moment of inspiration.' It just happens. I read a story, or I see an image, and that becomes something that I aspire to attempt, because of the beauty of what I am seeing," explains Sabuda. Among picture book and pop-up enthusiasts, Robert Sabuda is renowned for experimenting with various media. On past projects he has used such diverse styles as mosaics (St. Valentine, Atheneum, 1992), cut paper and papyrus (Tutankamun's Gift, Atheneum, 1994), faux stained glass (Arthur and the Sword, Atheneum, 1995), and batik (The Blizzard's Robe, Atheneum, 1999). But then, Robert Sabuda has always been the sort of fellow brave enough to go against the grain. "I have always been, well, different," says Sabuda. Growing up in the rural town of Pinckney, Michigan, Sabuda learned to love working with his hands from his father, who was a mason and carpenter. He gleaned an appreciation for grace and beauty from his mother, a dance teacher who taught ballet, tap, and even belly-dancing. "While most kids in my town were playing sports, I was experimenting with my first pop-ups and writing, directing, and starring in lavish elementary school productions such as The Wizard of Oz (in which the role of the Scarecrow was for some reason much larger than Dorothy's)," muses Sabuda. When his high-school peers applied to a range of liberal arts schools, Sabuda applied to only one school: Pratt, the New York City arts college from which he eventually graduated. To fulfill Pratt's internship requirement, Robert Sabuda took a summer job at Dial Books for Young Readers, where he fell in love with children's books and made up his mind to be a professional illustrator. Robert Sabuda lives in New York City. He teaches paper engineering at Pratt and frequently does workshops with school-age children. Except for the time he puts aside to teach people about art, he works in his studio "around-the-clock." Sabuda says, "I think my aspirations are still pretty different from most people's. For example, most people want to settle down with a wife or husband who works in a professional field that provides support and security. I'm happy to settle down with a man who works as an artist and is just as crazy and neurotic as I am!" |
I grew up in the small rural town of Pinckney, in southeastern Michigan. Every night in our little house by the lake, my mother would read a story to my older brother and me (later to be joined by a sister) before we went to bed. Reading was very important and promoted at every opportunity. Apparently it worked, because I don't even recall learning how to read.
With the ability to hold a crayon came the discovery that I was an artist. I spent hours, days and weeks drawing, painting, cutting, and gluing. My bedroom was a constant whirlwind of pencil shavings, drippy paintbrushes, and mounds of paper scraps. My mother's pleas of "when are you going to clean up this mess?!" went unanswered.
My father was a mason and a carpenter so I learned (or perhaps inherited) the ability to work creatively with my hands. He had an old lathe on which he carefully shaped rough pieces of wood into graceful objects of knotty beauty. As a mason he patiently dabbed each brick with just the right amount of mortar until a towering wall or arch rose high above my head.
My mother, Judy, had a local dancing school where I tap-danced away my spare time and first experienced the art of visual storytelling. Each year at Miss Judy's Dance School the students performed a recital. We also made the scenery and backdrops for the show. Paint and glitter was slapped onto pieces of cloth or plywood to create a magical world for the recital to take place in.
At school my teachers asked me to create their bulletin boards because they knew how much I loved art. This was the first time I discovered that paper could be used for more than just drawing and painting on. I covered the bulletin boards with cut paper collages. At home I started to fold and glue paper together to make little model houses. But the best discovery was when I folded together many pieces of paper, stapled them down the middle and created a book. I immediately began making books of all sizes filled with simple stories and happy pictures.
My passion for books took an unexpected twist after a trip to a new dentist. On a previous visit to have a cavity filled (my second passion being candy) my old dentist didn't numb my tooth enough and I began to howl with pain. My mother came running in and, with a scowl at the dentist, whisked me away never to return. Arriving at the new dentist's office, I was understandably scared. Noticing a wicker basket filled with books, my mother suggested I bring one over for us to share while we waited. I went to the basket and realized right away that these books were special. They were very thick and had hard covers, which to me meant they were expensive. I opened the first one and was shocked and delighted when something leapt right off the page. It was a pop-up book! I was so excited I forgot all about the dentist.
Shortly after that, my mother brought home some old, manila filing folders from Ford Motor Company where she worked during the day as a secretary. The folders were perfect for making pop-ups. Everyone started giving me pop-up books as birthday or holiday gifts and soon I was able to make simple pop-ups by carefully examining these books.
Throughout middle school and high school I continued to improve as an artist and left Michigan after graduating to attend Pratt Institute in New York City to study art. During my junior year at Pratt I did an internship at Dial Books for Young Readers. I learned everything about how a children's book is created, but more important, I fetched the mail. I'm sure this may not seem very exciting, but it is when the mail you're opening is original artwork from Barbara Cooney, Thomas Locker, and James Marshall! I decided then and there that I would be a children's book illustrator.
When I graduated from Pratt I went from one children's publishing house to another, showing my work and trying to get an illustrating project. To make money to support myself, I worked as a package designer creating the boxes for ladies' underpants and bras!
Finally I began to receive very small jobs illustrating coloring books (based on popular movie characters like Rambo!). Eventually these jobs led to other book projects, and slowly I discovered that I was a children's book illustrator. I began to write my own stories and illustrate those as well. Picture books were wonderful but I always hoped that one day I could create a pop-up book, too. So I pulled out my old pop-up books and taught myself how to make even better ones as a grown up.
Today I work in my studio in New York City that I share with my partner, children's book creator Matthew Reinhart. We love making books. It's hard work but the best part is not having to worry about making a mess. When being an artist is your job, you can make as many messes as you want to!
Return to Children's Literature's interview with Robert Sabuda
Also take a look at our feature on the history of Pop-Ups
For more information on Robert Sabuda, please visit www.simonsayskids.com or www.robertsabuda.com
Added 12/01/02
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