Pass It Down

Our families help shape who we are-what we look like, what we like to eat, even what our strengths and abilities are. So when a parent is a renowned children's book author or illustrator, creative ability may be part of an amazing legacy.

Leonard S. Marcus introduces readers to five best-selling and award-winning families with talent that spans the generations. By opening up these family albums-sharing personal memories, scrapbooks, book dummies, model shots, and final art, Marcus chronicles the way books come into being, the way artists are nurtured and grown, and the way where we come from influences who and what we become.

Includes in depth interviews and extensive histories of five famous multi-generational families of children's book creators:
Jerry Pinkney and his son Brian Pinkney

Anne and Harlow Rockwell and their daughter Lizzy

Donald Crews and Ann Jonas, and their daughter Nina Crews

Walter Dean Myers and his son Christopher Myers

Edith and Clement Hurd and their son Thacher Hurd