Alice Provensen (1918–2018)
Author of The glorious flight : across the Channel with Louis Blériot, July 25, 1909
About the Author
Alice Provensen was born Alice Rose Twitchell in Chicago, Illinois on August 14, 1918. She took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the University of California at Los Angeles before finding a job at the animation studio of Walter Lantz. She met her future husband, Martin Provensen, show more while he was working on a Navy training film during World War II. They married in 1944 and relocated to Washington D.C., where she worked as a graphic artist for the Office of Strategic Services. They later moved to New York and became known as an author-illustrator picture book team. They created many award-winning picture books including A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Inexperienced Travelers by Nancy Willard, which won a 1982 Caldecott Honor, and The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot, which won the 1984 Caldecott Medal. Their other books included A Year at Maple Hill Farm, Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm, Karen's Curiosity, Karen's Opposites, The Fuzzy Duckling, Katie the Kitten, The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown, and A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. They also created Tony the Tiger, which was the advertising symbol of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. She continued working after her husband's death in 1987. Her books included The Buck Stops Here: The Presidents of the United States, A Day in the Life of Murphy, Punch in New York, and Klondike Gold. She died on April 23, 2018 at the age of 99. show less
Series
Works by Alice Provensen
The glorious flight : across the Channel with Louis Blériot, July 25, 1909 (1983) 2,049 copies, 30 reviews
The Master Swordsman / The Magic Doorway: Two Legends from Ancient China (2001) 76 copies, 2 reviews
Karen's Curiosity 4 copies
Æsop's Fables (A Giant Golden Book) 2 copies
Associated Works
A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers (1981) — Illustrator — 1,634 copies, 44 reviews
The Voyage of the Ludgate Hill: Travels with Robert Louis Stevenson (1987) — Illustrator — 163 copies, 2 reviews
The Iliad and the Odyssey: The Heroic Story of the Trojan War and the Fabulous Adventures of Odysseus (1956) — Illustrator — 132 copies, 4 reviews
The Golden Treasury of Children's Literature Volume 09: Legendary Animals (1963) — Illustrator, some editions — 19 copies
The Holy Bible The Old Testament and New Adapted for Young Catholic Readers (1960) — Illustrator — 18 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Provensen, Alice Rose
- Other names
- Twitchell, Alice Rose (birth name)
- Birthdate
- 1918-08-14
- Date of death
- 2018-04-23
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Place of death
- San Clemente, California, USA
- Places of residence
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Education
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago
University of California - Occupations
- children's book author
illustrator - Relationships
- Provensen, Martin (husband)
- Organizations
- Walter Lantz Studio
- Awards and honors
- Society of Illustrators Lifetime Achievement Award (Historic, 2010)
Members
Reviews
The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis… by Alice Provensen
In my personal opinion, the art style and palette made the history seem distant, irrelevant, uninteresting. This would do nothing for young me, to encourage me to read more nonfiction. Or to inspire me to be any sort of pioneer. His poor family, too, always knowing his next crash could be fatal. The plus is the lesson about persistence.
Moving, poignant portrayal of people who don't have much of a voice in most books or in real life. I sure do hope they found good new places to settle... but it's also a good thing they're resourceful folks. When I picked it up I was hoping it had something to do with Shakers, but no. It would be a good companion to [b:The 100 Dresses|16143358|The 100 Dresses|Eleanor Estes|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1352679349s/16143358.jpg|1000219] and [b:Letting Swift River Go|355951|Letting Swift River Go|Jane Yolen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1440695567s/355951.jpg|346125].
Thank you to Little Free Libraries for introducing me to books I'd not have seen otherwise. This was found in Monk Botanical Gardens in Wausau, Wisconsin, which is currently almost empty (I had nothing left to exchange, sorry... but I did drop it off further south in another LFL..).… (more)
Thank you to Little Free Libraries for introducing me to books I'd not have seen otherwise. This was found in Monk Botanical Gardens in Wausau, Wisconsin, which is currently almost empty (I had nothing left to exchange, sorry... but I did drop it off further south in another LFL..).… (more)
In a way, I loved this. Smart, engaging, wise, funny. But it's def. not as beautifully illustrated as the Provenson's Maple Hill Farm books, and there are problems. For example, there's a lion hunter, and a terrifying wolf, and it is so oversize I don't know how a child could enjoy it (at least the newer release is). If you remember it, leave it there in your nostalgia memory file... if you don't, skip it.
The sweet look at animals and farm life are what make this writing and illustrating team so special. So nice to get one more book by them published!
Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 42
- Also by
- 22
- Members
- 8,538
- Popularity
- #2,818
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 103
- ISBNs
- 166
- Languages
- 9
- Favorited
- 1