Happy 80th, James Watling! (British illustrator, "Christopher Columbus" by Ann McGovern, 1999)

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, he immigrated to Canada (as an
adult?) and now lives in Rawdon, Quebec.

McGovern's elementary-level book "Christopher Columbus" was illustrated by Joe Lasker in the early 1960s, but Watling illustrated it in gorgeous color in 1999.

He's illustrated more than 50 books, almost all nonfiction. Authors include Hans Christian Andersen, Louis Sabin, Stephen Krensky, Anita Larsen, Jean van Leeuwen, Avi, and Lynne Reid Banks.

Unfortunately, the only way to show a simple list of covers and titles
(most likely not complete) is through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=James%20Watling&page=1

There are six pages of titles.

One of his latest is "If You Were A Pioneer On The Prairie" by Anne Kamma, 2003.

Here's another link:

http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=%22james+watling%22+illustrator

Most of the books are historical (some are semi-fictionalized), but others are: "The Emperor & the Nightingale" (that was his first, in 1979), "Tales of Magic and Spells" by Corinne Denan, Jacob Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen, "King of the Golden Mountain" in 1988, "Children of the Earth and Sky: Five Stories about Native American Children" by Stephen Krensky, 1991, "Children of the Wind and Water: Five stories about Native American Children" by Stephen Krensky, 1994, and "The Key to the Indian" by Lynne Reid Banks, 1998.

Lenona.

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Turns out I goofed up TWICE with him - he died in 2006.

It also turned out that to find his obituary, you have to use quotation marks around his name and add Rawdon - or McGill, the Montreal university where he taught art education.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montrealgazette/obituary.aspx?n=james-watling&pid=16990328
(tiny notice)

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/james-watling-obituary?pid=16990328
(guest book)

He had two entries in the "Something About the Author" encyclopedia series - one in volume 67 and in volume 117. (That one has more than four pages.)

He illustrated at least 53 books.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/170751.James_Watling
(reader reviews - not a complete list)

https://www.google.com/search?q=james+watling+books&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiSm4rp3KbdAhWNVt8KHbviAukQ_AUICygC&biw=1920&bih=974
(book covers - there's a photo of him as well, with a white beard)

http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AWatling%2C+James%2C&qt=hot_author
(booklist)


Lenona.