The following is an article written by Joshua Firman, age 12 (a Troy Elementary School school student, Troy, New Hampshire - Appeared in the school news April 1998 - based on a live interview)

Erick Ingraham

On April 14, Erick Ingraham came to our school. He made two presentations about his career. Erick Ingraham is an illustrator for children's books and is highly noted around the world. He read us a book he illustrated and did a slide show of another book. He also did some wonderful impromptu drawings based on an animal and a sport.

Though most people know Erick Ingraham as an illustrator, he has some other talents and hobbies as well. Mr. Ingraham admits that he is good at skiing and singing and that he is also a great problem solver. Erick's one time favorite is a day off with fresh snow. His favorite food is shellfish and his favorite movie is "Sound of Music", but for the most part Erick Ingraham likes variety. He finds it fun to stay interested in different things.

Another one of Erick Ingraham's special talents is photography. Not only is photography one of his talents, but he also uses it in his job! The way Erick Ingraham gets his drawings to look so lifelike is by using photos he has taken.

The first "Henry" book Erick Ingraham illustrated was Cross-Country Cat. It was a very funny coincidence that he got to illustrate the book. One day he got a phone call from the publisher. They asked him two questions, - did he know how to cross-country ski, and -did he have cats? The answer to both questions was yes so they sent him the story by Mary Calhoun to illustrate. "I was very lucky," said Erick. Erick has made three other Henry books and is just finishing up "Blue-Ribbon Henry", where Henry goes to the fair.
It can take anywhere from two minutes to two years for Erick to create a drawing. The more detailed the drawing, the longer it takes to draw. To learn more about drawing, he went to college and got a Fine Arts degree in Painting.

Erick Ingraham feels he is a good role model for young children. He thinks of himself as a great example of what you can do if you like to do it. Erick loves making presentations to groups because it makes him proud to have something to share with others. As a child, Erick was pretty quiet and didn't raise his hand very much. He was helpful and polite but not very good at reading. Erick feels that the way he acted as a kid really affected the way he is today. Since he was quiet, he saw a lot of things. Everything he saw he would try to remember for later on in life. Some things that he remembers he uses in his illustrations.

Erick Ingraham's advice for kids who want to be illustrators is:

have perseverance, have a will to stick to it

have drawing skills

always try to go and see the thing you're drawing

enjoy being alone

but most of all, enjoy what you're doing