Hyman, Trina Schart (1939-2004), was an American illustrator of children’s books. She became known for her imaginative illustrations of legends, myths, and fairy tales. She created her illustrations in a variety of media, including pen and ink, acrylic, oil, and water color. Critics praised Hyman for her expressive blending of fantasy and humor with realism. She illustrated more than 130 books, some of which she wrote herself.
Hyman won the 1985 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations for Saint George and the Dragon (1984), retold by the American children’s author Margaret Hodges. The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the best picture book by an American.
Hyman illustrated numerous classics of children’s literature, including her own retellings of the fairy tales The Sleeping Beauty (1977) and Little Red Riding Hood (1983). She also illustrated such well-known books as The Ugly Ducking and Two Other Stories (1973) by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, Peter Pan (1980) by the English author J. M. Barrie, A Christmas Carol (1983) by the English author Charles Dickens, A Child’s Christmas in Wales (1985) by the Welsh author Dylan Thomas, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1988) by the American author Mark Twain, and a retelling for children of The Canterbury Tales (1988) by the medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer.
Hyman’s books of fairy tales and folk tales include Favourite Fairy Tales Told in Czechoslovakia (1966), retold by the American author Virginia Haviland; and Let’s Steal the Moon: Jewish Tales, Ancient and Recent (1970) retold by the American author Blanche Luria Serwer. Among Hyman’s other notable works are her illustrations for King Stork (1973) by the American author Howard Pyle, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (1989) by the American author Eric Kimmel, The Fortune-Tellers (1992) by the American author Lloyd Alexander, A Child’s Calendar (1999) by the American author John Updike, and Merlin and the Making of the King (2004) by Margaret Hodges.
Trina Schart was born on April 8, 1939, in Philadelphia. She married Harris J. Hyman, an engineer and mathematician, in 1959. She studied at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art (now University of the Arts) from 1956 to 1959, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1959 and 1960, and Konstfack (now the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design) in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1960 and 1961. Hyman illustrated her first children’s book in 1961. She served as art director for the children’s magazine Cricket from 1972 to 1979. She died on Nov. 19, 2004.
