The Twelve Cats of Christmas by Kandy Radzinski

I think it was printed three times,' she said. It was published in the United States, Canada, England, Austria and Japan. Using neighbors' and friends' cats as models, she brought 'The Twelve Cats of Christmas' to the page in 1992. The experience of working on a children's book was everything she had hoped it would be. In 1989, she illustrated 'Lullaby' in her signature 'quirky realism' style.

One of her keepers eventually drew the attention of Chronicle Books, which picked her to illustrate its first children's book. Because that's what I had to look at when I was a child,' Radzinski said. 'It's something I wanted to do as a child is illustrate children's books. But her dream of illustrating children's books eluded her for years, even as she showered publishers with keepers. Her artwork appeared on greeting cards, pet food containers, notepads and catalogs. Keepers are reproductions of work artists send to companies for them to consider and keep in their files. She moved to Tulsa in 1973 to teach printmaking and drawing at the University of Tulsa.Īfter five years, Radzinski gave up teaching to create art full time, selling paintings in galleries, working on commission and sending out keepers to card and gift companies. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in art from East Texas State University in Commerce and taught printmaking and drawing at Central Washington State College in Ellensburg for a year. 'I'd have to fill up the front and back of my notebook before my mother would buy me a new one, a Big Chief notebook,' she said. She said art chose her, and she has been drawing for as long as she can remember.

'I've met so many Oklahoma teachers who really like it.'īorn in Washington, Radzinski doesn't believe she chose an art career. Hopefully, it will help the book sell,' she said. 'The Twelve Cats of Christmas' won for illustration in 1993. It is the second of the three children's books she has illustrated to win at the state awards. The challenging project earned Radzinski the 2004 Oklahoma Book Award for illustration. 'I had to paint things I've never painted before. 'It was really a challenge,' Radzinski said. The Tulsa illustrator often includes her family in her artwork, but she also had to explore new territory for 'S is for Sooner.' Her Scottish terrier Kirby is part of the crowd examining the 'uh-oh,' a crater left from a fake bomb mistakenly dropped on Boise City in 1943, on the 'U' pages. The boy wearing the Eskimo Joe's shirt for the letter 'E' is her son Ian, 14, while the 'sooner' staking his claim on the cover is her husband, Mark. FOR Kandy Radzinski, the famous faces she painted for the pages of 'S is for Sooner: An Oklahoma Alphabet,' aren't the most familiar ones.

The Twelve Cats of Christmas by Kandy Radzinski