Garth Williams
Garth Montgomery Williams (1912-04-16 - 1996-05-08) was an American artist most popular for his illustrations in children's books, and, to a lesser extent, a writer.
Personal
I first saw Williams's work in the reprints of the Little House book series that my mother had when I was very young. I really loved the pictures and still admire them as an adult; they really make the books come alive. In elementary school I got a box set of E.B. White's books, and I discovered that Williams also did the illustrations for Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web. I also saw his work in some of the books written by Margaret Wise Brown, and various other children's books, though I didn't always recognize his work.
I admire Garth Williams even more for how he handled a controversy in 1959 about his book The Rabbit's Wedding. Alabama racists were in an uproar because the book features a white rabbit and a black rabbit marrying. The White Citizens Council of Alabama attacked the book calling it "communistic" for promoting racial integration and E. O. Eddins, who would become an Alabama State Senator, called for the book to be burned. Alabama had criminalized marrying someone of a different skin tone in 1924 and interracial marriage remained illegal until 1967, not because Alabamians voted to care about individual rights, but because they had it forced upon them by the federal government. In a prepared statement, Williams said, "I was completely unaware that animals with white fur, such as white polar bears and white dogs and white rabbits, were considered blood relations of white human beings," and explained that the book, "was not written for adults, who will not understand it because it is only about a soft, furry love and has no hidden messages of hate." Alabama librarian Emily Reed advocated for the book, and, rather than destroy it, took the book off shelf and made it available upon request. Because she refused to ban the book, Alabama Legislature protected their racist law by passing another bigoted law requiring the state library chief to be born in Alabama and be a graduate of a Alabama college. This would have disqualified Reed, who was born North Carolina, but she moved to Washington D.C. before the law passed[1].
Illustrations
Here are some sample illustrations of Williams's work.
Ink cover of Charlotte's Web.
The cricket cage in The Cricket in Times Square.
Penciled cover of Farmer Boy.
Pencil of The two bears from Little House in the Big Woods.
Pencil cover of Little House on the Prairie.
Watercolor cover of The Long Winter.
The dugout from On the Banks of Plum Creek.
The Mermaid from The Tall Book of Make Believe.
Mother's washing from Wait Til the Moon Is Full.
The Rabbits' Wedding with controversy note.
Partial Bibliography
- Baby Farm Animals
- Bedtime for Frances
- A Brother for the Orphans
- By the Shores of Silver Lake
- Charlotte's Web
- The Cricket in Times Square
- Do You Know What I'll Do
- Elves and Fairies
- Emmet's Pig
- The Family Under the Bridge
- Farmer Boy
- The First Four Years
- Fox Eyes
- The Friendly Book
- Furry Tales
- The Gingerbread Rabbit
- Home for a Bunny
- Little Fur Family
- The Little House in the Big Woods
- The Little House on the Prairie
- The Little Town on the Prairie
- The Long Winter
- On the Banks of Plum Creek
- Over and Over
- The Rabbit's Wedding
- The Rescuers
- The Sailor Dog
- The Sky Was Blue
- Stuart Little
- The Tall Book of Make Believe
- These Happy Golden Years
- Three Bedtime Stories
- Three Little Animals
- Wait Til the Moon Is Full