Julian Hector's Picture Book List

Julian Hector was born in Los Angeles, and raised by two evil biologists outside of Austin, Tx.  For solace, Julian studied the fauna of Texas, and would often draw them wearing cloths, standing upright, and entertaining themselves with high-tea, and various candlelight suppers.  On the weekends, Julian was forced to go to Sunday school, where he would sculpt the Sea Quest DSV submarine out of clay, disregarding the "must be present in the bible" creativity rule.  When Julian was 11, he was kicked out of Sunday School for supporting abortion, and being Jewish, via his mother.  In high-school, he was berated for drawing in the margins of his homework assignments, so, to express himself, he auditioned and was accepted into a theatre class, using a monologue from Seinfeld.  Due to creative differences with several cast members, Julian's time in theatre was short, and to this day, he harbors an obstinate distrust of thespians.  In 2002, Julian entered the Parsons School of Design, with the intent of becoming an architect for Sir Norman Foster.  Julian wisely switched to illustration, when he discovered that chocolate and cotton candy were not sound construction materials. In Illustration, Julian recalled his days of animal drawing, and found a happy home in children's publishing.   

Julian's latest book The Gentleman Bug was published this spring by Atheneum.

Here's his list:

- THE ARRIVAL by Shaun Tan. My absolute favorite Book!  I don't know what else to say; the book is an experience.  

- THE STORY OF FERDINAND by Munro Leaf, Robert Lawson.  I love this book to the point that my first picture book was told from a Matador's point of view. 

- THE BUTTERFLY BALL AND THE GRASSHOPPER'S FEAST by Alan Aldridge and William Plomer. My first textbook in anthropomorphism. To this day, I imagine that wasps wear armor and sword-fight, and that old snails ride on butterfly drawn leafs.

   

 

- AMPHIGOREY by Edward Gorey. I like all of Gorey's compilations, but Amphigorey has the "The Gashlycrumb Tinies," "The Doubtful Guest," and "The Hapless Child."
 

- THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by E.H. Shepard. This is my second textbook in anthropomorphism.  

- MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS by Robert McCloskey. I like this book for a lot of reasons, but these days, I look at for its construction.  From its size, to the creamy paper, chocolaty ink, green jacket, and the fonts, I think that it's one of the best built picture books. 

- AND TANGO MAKES THREE by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, illustrated by Henry Cole. My favorite family story. 

- MOMMY? by Maurice Sendak, Arthur Yorinks, and Matthew Reinhart. This is one of the most fun books to open. 

- BRUNDIBAR by Maurice Sendak and Tony Kushner. I really like the backstory behind this book, and Tony Kushner's rhyme at the end is both haunting and honest.  This is a great book for dealing with bullies.    

- OLIVIA by Ian Falconer. This book was published during my sophomore year of high-school, and I'll always love it for bringing picture books back into my life.  It's surreal to me that I now share Ian Falconer's editor and art director.