As part of its mission to provide independent learning and recreational opportunities for our community, the Library has committed to featuring changing exhibits that help supplement and highlight our existing services and collections, as well as excite the curiosity and imagination of our community members. These educational and artistic exhibits are offered at no cost to our community.

Everyday People: The Art of James Ransome

This exhibition was organized by the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

Exhibition possible courtesy of the Friends of the Carrollton Public Library

When: Monday, June 1 - Saturday, August 1

Where: Josey Ranch Lake Library

Cost: Free

Exhibit Rules

1. No food or drink is allowed around exhibit at any time.
2. No touching of any part of the Exhibition
3. Photographs of the work contained in the Exhibition are prohibited.

About the Exhibit

Visit the Josey Ranch Lake Library this summer to view the vibrant art of award-winning illustrator and contemporary expressionist, James Ransome.

The Children's Book Council named James E. Ransome as one of seventy-five authors and illustrators everyone should know.

Currently a member of the Society of Illustrators, Ransome has received both the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration and the IBBY Honor Award for his book, The Creation. He has also received a Coretta Scott King Honor Award for Illustration for Uncle Jed's Barbershop which was selected as an ALA Notable Book and featured on Reading Rainbow. How Many Stars in the Sky? and Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt were also Reading Rainbow selections. PBS's Storytime featured his book, The Old Dog.

Ransome on Illustrating Books 

"What makes illustrating books so exciting is that because each book has a special voice, my approach toward each is different. Whether it be through my choice of palette, design or perspective, there is always a desire to experiment and explore what makes each book unique."

About the Artist

Born in North Carolina, James grew up in the rural South. There were no opportunities to meet artists or visit museums, but he was drawn to the artwork he saw in comic books and the illustrations in the Bible that he read to his grandmother. These pictures of magnificent landscapes and detailed architecture sparked his imagination. Soon he was trying to imitate those pictures and create his own stories.

His school had no art classes, so he borrowed the few how-to-draw books his school library had.

Around the fifth or sixth grade, Ransome enrolled in a correspondence course that he found in the back of a comic book titled, How to Draw Gags and Cartoons and Get Rich, Rich, Rich! "Well, 1 didn't get rich, but I did begin to understand some basic things about cartoon characters."

As he grew older, James was impressed by the images on television. He became fascinated by cinematography and how scenes were set up and he shifted his attention to film making.

When James was in high school his family moved to Bergenfield, New Jersey. There he began to develop his artist talents by taking film making and photography classes. The impact of these courses greatly influenced Ransome's style of illustration. He discovered the power that perspective, value, and cropping could have on a single image. Through film making, he discovered the many ways to pace a story with the aid of camera angles and framing images.

This new understanding of a different form of art made James reflect and rekindle his passion in illustration and inspired him to earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt lnstitute in Brooklyn, New York. ln art history classes he discovered artists such as Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and Edgar Degas, all of whom have had a major influence on his style of painting.

lt was also at the Pratt that he first met African-American illustrator Jerry Pinkney who became Ransome's mentor. "I had always been given the impression that there were virtually no African-American artists, so meeting Jerry Pinkney and discovering his large body of work was very encouraging."

Exhibition Possible Courtesy of