Author Study – Matthew Cordell

As a child, Matthew Cordell really liked comic books and comic book art. After studying art in high school and college, he was eager to work in the fine arts industry. It was his girlfriend Julie Halpern, now wife, who talked him into collaborating on a picture book she wrote, Toby and the Snowflakes. After their book published, Cordell was hooked on creating children’s books.

Cordell started out illustrating picture books and eventually began to write and illustrate his own stories. This post focuses on three things writers can learn from his work as an illustrator and author-illustrator:

• Visual Storytelling
• Origin Stories: Creating Fiction From Real Life
• Finding the Heart of a Story

Visual Storytelling

Cordell won the 2018 Caldecott Medal for his book Wolf in the Snow, a story about a girl and a wolf cub with a powerful message about how overcoming stereotypes allowed each character to survive. Cordell drew the people in the story in his usual cartoony style and drew the wolves realistically. The visual distinction shows their differences in contrast to the story which highlights their similarities. Empathy, fear, and courage are on display in Cordell’s illustrations.

Lost. Found., written by Marsha Diane Arnold and illustrated by Cordell is the story of a bear and his scarf that’s lost and found over and over and repurposed by different animals. The two words in the title are the only two words used throughout the book. Cordell’s illustrations drive the conflict, tension, and resolution. The author provided a general idea of what was happening in the story with illustration notes and Cordell delivered the visual humor and heart.

Origin Stories: Creating Fiction from Real Life

Cordell writes and illustrates books for families so it’s fitting that he looks to his own for inspiration and ideas. King Alice is about a dad and daughter making a book together when stuck indoors on a snow day. It’s based on the day Cordell and his daughter made a book together. The text and illustrations capture the main character’s strong personality and her big imagination.

“Idea!” said Alice. “Let’s make…a…book!”

“A book about King Alice the First!”

Hello! Hello! delivers a powerful message about unplugging from the virtual world to enjoy the natural world.  The idea came to Cordell after he checked his email while playing with his then 2-year-old daughter and she said, “Dada, stop checking email and play.”

Using sparse text, color, and white space, the story begins when a girl named Lydia is bored with her tech toys and entertainment. She appears in color in contrast to her family members who won’t unplug and engage to her “Hello.”

Lured by a leaf, Lydia goes outdoors. As she connects with nature and her imagination, Cordell fills the pages with bright colors. The ending is in full color when Lydia convinces her family to unplug, too.

Finding the Heart of a Story

Wish is a heartwarming story about an elephant couple’s wish for a baby. The whimsical illustrations show them planning, waiting, going out on a journey to search for their baby and waiting some more. They are heartbroken when the baby doesn’t come, but they carry on. Readers feel their pain and their joy when the baby finally arrives.

“At first, there is us. There is only us. But even then, even before we can know to know it, we wish you were here.”

After Wish, Cordell wrote and illustrated Dream, a story about the many feelings a gorilla couple experiences after they become parents. While their baby sleeps, the new parents dream about the joys and heartaches they could all face as their baby grows. When the baby wakes, they wonder what he or she will dream.

“We looked upon you, impossible you, and we felt everything. Who would you be?”

In Hope, Cordell’s latest book in this companion series, two lions celebrate their love for their grandchild. A child that brings them love, and dreams, and hope. And when they are gone, that grandchild reflects on what they passed on to him.

“Your greatest wish,

your greatest dream,

your greatest hope,

lives in me.”

Cordell is an exceptional artist. He’s committed to living a creative life, developed a unique style, and has combined his visual storytelling talents with writing to create a body of work that is his own.  His imaginative, heartfelt, and funny books have contributed significantly to the world of children’s literature.

Learn More from Matthew Cordell

Now’s your chance to learn from Matthew Cordell directly!

At Picture Book Summit 2019, Matthew will be presenting “How to Build the Bridge Between Pictures and Story.” The art of the picture book is a wonderfully unique pairing of text and image to communicate story. Join Caldecott Medalist, Matthew Cordell, for an in-depth look at how he creates a balance of words and pictures in his work collaborating with other authors as well as his own picture books—both traditional and wordless.

Don’t miss the chance to hear from Matthew live and ask questions—all from the comfort of home—during the online conference! Check out Matthew’s presentation as well as our other workshops coming October 5th on our Program Page.

Keila V. Dawson is a regular contributor to the Reading for Research Month (ReFoReMo) blog and reviews books for Multicultural Children’s Book Day. She is the author of THE KING CAKE BABY, (Pelican Publishing 2015) and co-editor of the forthcoming nonfiction poetry anthology NO VOICE TOO SMALL: Fourteen Young Americans Making Change (Charlesbridge, 2020).