April 2, 1997

Press Contact: Helen Dalrymple (202) 707-1940
Public Contact: Children¹s Literature Center (202) 707-5535

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Children's Literature Center Spring Celebration Features Artist Remy Charlip

Artist, writer, choreographer Remy Charlip will be the special guest at the annual spring program of the Children's Literature Center in the Library of Congress on Thursday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m.

The program, held in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., is free and open to the public but reservations are required. Telephone the Children's Literature Center at (202) 707-5535 or fax at (202) 707-4632 to make reservations.

The evening will consist of an introduction by Mr. Charlip's long-time friend, prominent children's book writer/illustrator Vera B. Williams; an audiovisual and dance presentation by Mr. Charlip; a performance based on his book Arm in Arm, and an interview with Mr. Charlip by Sybille A. Jagusch, chief of the Children¹s Literature Center.

Original art from Arm in Arm will be on display, and Mr. Charlip will autograph books at 6:30 p.m. in the Mumford Room Foyer. Books will also be available for sale.

A writer and illustrator of 27 picture books, Mr. Charlip is also a dancer, choreographer, playwright and stage director, set and costume designer, singer and songwriter, lecturer and teacher.

His children's books consist of innovative narratives, word games, puns and simple reading exercises. He works in a variety of media, including pencil, ink, watercolor, collage and photography.

Mr. Charlip's diverse career includes performing with John Cage, dancing and designing costumes for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, co-founding the Paper Bag Players, directing the National Theater of the Deaf, and being the head of the Children's Theater and Literature Department at Sarah Lawrence College.

Mr. Charlip has won many awards: two Village Voice Obies; three New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year citations; the first choreographer to receive a three-year grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, and a six-month residence in Kyoto from the Japan/U.S. Commission on the Arts.

His books include Fortunately (Parents Magazine Press, 1964), Arm in Arm: A Collection of Connections, Endless Tales, Reiterations and other Echolalia (Parents Magazine Press, 1969; reissued by Tricyle Press, 1997), Handtalk: An ABC of Fingerspelling (with Mary Beth and George Ancona; Simon and Schuster, 1974), Thirteen (with Jerry Joyner; Parents Magazine Press, 1975), Hooray for Me! (with Lilian Moore and Vera B. Williams; Tricycle Press, 1996), The Dead Bird (with Margaret Wise Brown; Harper Collins, 1958), David's Little Indian (with Margaret Wise Brown; Hyperion, 1956, 1989), The Seeing Stick (with Jane Yolen and Demetra Maraslis; Thomas Y. Crowell, 1977), Harlequin and the Gift of Many Colors (1973), and Mother, Mother, I Feel Sick, Send for the Doctor, Quick, Quick, Quick, 1966 (both with Burton Supree, Parents Magazine Press).

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PR 97-57
4/2/97
ISSN 0731-3527