Peter H. Reynolds By: Taylor Dishman

This picture shows Paul (left) and Peter (right) with some of the characters from Peter's books resting upon their shoulders.

Peter H. Reynolds was born on March 16, 1961 in Toronto, Canada. He also has a twin brother, Paul, shown above. Peter and Paul work together to run the company that helps to fun Peter's books. Paul has also helped to co-write a few books with Peter such as Full STEAM Ahead and Going Places.

Peter attended the Massachusetts College of Art and Fitchburg State College. He received the Communications Student of The Year Award in 1983 and the Alumni Recognition Award in 1999.

Peter is also the CEO of the Reynolds educational media firm FableVision.

Books Written:

Peter H. Reynolds has written and illustrated many books. His most popular books are pictured below and The Dot even has an entire holiday focused around it called International Dot Day.

These are just some of the books that Peter H. Reynolds has both written and illustrated.

Peter has also illustrated for several other authors such as Megan McDonald and Judy Blume. Peter is responsible for all the illustrations within McDonald's Judy Moody series and has done the artwork several of the covers of Judy Blume's books. Below are some examples of both of these.

Below is an Adobe Spark Video with a reading of one of Peter's books, Sky Color.

For an entire list of the books that Peter has written, illustrated or even just somehow been a part of, click the link below.

Common Themes:

Within his books there are a few recurring themes, the biggest being creativity. Within the books Ish, Sky Color, and The Dot, creativity is a very common theme with all characters working on improving and utilizing their inner creativity.

Another common theme within Peter's books is self-expression and self-acceptance. A lot of the characters start out at the beginning of the book having problems with liking or accepting some part of themselves, but by the end of the book they learn to love themselves for who they are. This is so important for young children to experience in their readings because it will let them know that they too should love themselves for who they truly are.

A boy asked, "What color is THAT?" "That?" Marisol said. "THAT is sky color."

Trademarks

One of Peter's biggest trademarks is that most of his books are both written and illustrated by him. He has written some books and not illustrated them and vice versa, but several of his books such as The North Star, I'm Here, and So Few of Me.

This is another image illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds.

Another trademark of Peter's is that all of the books that he both writes and illustrates, he also hand letters them all. Just like in the image above, the words written are in his handwriting. All of his books follow this as well and it is a very unique trait of his.

A third trademark that Peter has within his books has to do with his use of color. In most all of his books, the illustrations are completely in black in white except for the main character and whatever he or she is creating. Above is an example from The Dot. The only thing in color are Vashti's creations.

International Dot Day

International Dot Day is celebrated every year on September 15th. Teachers use this day and the time leading up to it to help the students find their inner creativity and express it.

This photo is taken directly from the book.

These are some examples of what some students did to celebrate International Dot Day.

This photo is taken from the book The Dot. Vashti is passing on her knowledge to a student in awe of her work at the school art show.

There are several things and resources for teachers to use in their room. Below is a song that was written specifically about Reynolds' The Dot. For this video, Peter provided all illustrations and the handwriting.

Other Fun Facts

  • Peter H. Reynolds is the co-owner of his family's bookstore, The Blue Bunny Bookstore in Massachusetts
  • Reynolds has created a few animated shorts The Blue Shoe and Living Forever.
  • His books Ish and The Dot also have film adaptations.
  • The Dot has been published in over 20 languages including Braille.
  • Peter H. Reynolds has won many awards for both his short films and his books, including The Oppenheim Platinum Toy Award and Borders Books Original Voices 2003 Award.
  • Below is a video that was written and animated by Peter H. Reynolds called He Was Me about the inner child that lives within everyone as they grow older. This also shows how Peter creatively uses color to enhance the meaning of his work.
"Just make a mark and see where it takes you."

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