This site is designed to explore the writings and illustrations of Lois Ehlert.  To understand her writings and works of art it helps to know more about her as a person and we will explore her life a little, to help us do this.
 

This website contains:

A list of her books for anyone who is interrested in doing further reading

A number of pictures of her books

A brief biography

A short write up on her style of art and illustrations

Exploration activity worksheet

A series of links related to Lois Ehlert
 
 

Books By Lois Ehlert

Lois Ehlert has written many wonderful children’s book. Below is a list of some of her books. Not only does Lois write children‘s books, but she also illustrates all of her stories and other author’s stories. Have you ever read any of Lois Ehlert’s books or seen any of her illustrations? Scroll down the list to read the titles of some of Lois Ehlert’s books.

Hands, 1997

Growing Vegetables Soup, 1990

Planting A Rainbow, 1992

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, 1991

Fish Eyes, 1992

Feathers For Lunch, 1990

Eating The Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables From A to Z, 1993

Nuts to You, 1993

Snowballs, 1995

Color Zoo, 1997

A Pair Of Socks, 1995

Waiting In The Wings, 2001

Moon Rope, 1992

Color Farm, 1990

Color Farm Board Book, 1997

Top Cat, 2001

In My World, 2002

Angel Hide and Seek, 1998

Market Day: A Story Told with Folk Art, 2000

Circus, 1992

Cuckoo/Cucu: A Mexican Folktale, 1997

Plumas Para Almorzor, 1996

Designs, 1983

Under My Nose, 1996
 
 

Lois Ehlert writes and illustrates all of her books.  I always find that when an author illustrates their own book that the pictures can more truly match the feel that the author intended for the story.  All of Lois Ehlert’s illustrations are highly colorful and bold, which helps to catch the eye and hold the interest of all readers, especially visually focused younger children.  Most of her illustrations are done in collage form so that each object really jumps out of the page, giving a three dimensional feel to the scene.
 In the book Moon Rope,  Lois Ehlert’s illustrations are especially chunky, geometric, and bright.  This book is an adaptation of a Peruvian folk tale.  She used her love and knowledge of all kinds of pre-Columbian artwork to make the illustrations match the story.  Most of her other books are stories that she herself has made up.  The words to the story are written in bold black print on the page.  What I appreciate is the extra information she includes in her books that can be part of the story or not.  She includes the specific names in smaller type of almost every object on each page.  For example, in her book Growing Vegetable Soup, she puts the names of each of the vegetables on the picture of them.  In the back of the book she includes an actual recipe for the soup made in the book.  Feathers For Lunch, another of her books, shows many types of birds and plants and gives each of their names, and in the back of the book there is a list and picture of each bird that tells their actual size, food preferences, type of home, and area that they live in.  Each of the bird except for two are depicted at life size.  These extra informational parts of her books are very valuable teaching tools.  Some of these books could even be used in teaching a unit in the classroom.

 
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Have you ever read any of Lois Ehlert's books?

What do you like best about her style?

What do you notice about her illustrations?

What extra details do you notice in some of her books?

How many books did she write in 1996?

What animal is on the cover of the book Nuts To You