Gammell, Stephen (1943-…), is an American illustrator of children’s books. Gammell uses a variety of media in his illustrations, especially pen and ink, water color, and pencil. He received the 1989 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations for Song and Dance Man (1988). The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the best picture book by an American artist. Song and Dance Man was written by the American children’s author Karen Ackerman. The story tells about a grandfather who performs his old “song and dance” vaudeville act for his three grandchildren in his attic. Gammell won high praise for his colored-pencil drawings.
Gammell has illustrated a wide variety of children’s books, including historical fiction, realistic modern fiction, poetry, folklore, picture books, fantasies, and humorous stories. Gammell created brooding black-and-white illustrations for a series of “Scary Stories,” collections of folk tales retold by the American author Alvin Schwartz. The series consists of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Collected from American Folklore (1981), More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Collected and Retold from Folklore (1984), and Scary Stories Three: More Tales to Chill Your Bones (1991). For The Relatives Came (1985), written by the American author Cynthia Rylant, Gammell created exuberant, colorful drawings portraying a family gathering in Appalachia.
Gammell illustrated several other notable books by American authors. They include The Kelpie’s Pearls (1976) by Mollie Hunter, The Hawks of Chelney (1978) by Adrienne Jones, Stonewall (1979) by Jean Fritz, Where the Buffaloes Begin (1981) by Olaf Baker, Old Henry (1987) by Joan W. Blos, Old Black Fly (1992) by Jim Aylesworth, Humble Pie (2002) by Jennifer Donnelly, and Hey, Pancakes! (2003) by Tamson Weston.
Most of Gammell’s work illustrates books by other authors, but he has written a few children’s books that he also illustrated. His first was the picture book Once upon MacDonald’s Farm (1981, revised 2000). Ride (2001) is a picture book inspired by Gammell’s memories of childhood car trips.
Gammell was born on Feb. 10, 1943, in Des Moines, Iowa. He worked as a free-lance illustrator in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. Gammell began his career as a children’s illustrator with A Nutty Business (1973), written by the American author Ida Chittum.
