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The Self-Portrait Collection
Self-Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman
An artist writes about her life and the events that guided her to choose art as a career--with full-color illustrations by the artist herself
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
1 person is currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Trina Schart Hyman
148 books206 followersTrina Schart Hyman (April 8, 1939 – November 19, 2004) was an American illustrator of children's books. She illustrated over 150 books, including fairy tales and Arthurian legends.
She won the 1985 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing Saint George and the Dragon, retold by Margaret Hodges.
She won the 1985 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing Saint George and the Dragon, retold by Margaret Hodges.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 11, 2013
Hyman is one of my favorite illustrators so I was thrilled when I got to the H's in weeding J bios and discovered that we had an autobiography by her! Of course it has tons of lovely illustrations. She was fascinated with the story of Little Red Riding Hood as a small child and reenacted the story daily for about a year or so. She always had a great love of fairy tales which certainly shows in her work. I had not known she was involved with the Cricket magazine when it started. I found the book fascinating although, as an adult, there were subjects I wished she had covered that likely were not appropriate for a child's book. Oh well. That is expecting too much and cannot be construed as a criticism of the book. What the book covered was interesting. It was pretty short on dates. It starts by saying 42 (I THINK) years ago I was born. Well, that is of no help until you check the copyright and do a bit of math. On the other hand you do get a real feel for what the artist is like as a person. She loves having a lot of people around her. She loves cats and dogs. She seems to prefer a cluttered place filled with activity to a sterile place with no one around. I did enjoy the book. Realistically this is probably more like 3 stars in many ways, but Hyman is NEVER only three stars!
November 7, 2016
While I'm certain I read some of Schart Hyman's children's books as a child, I didn't know anything about her until well into adulthood, but what I've learned I've liked. She seems to have been a good egg and tough critic. And her illustrations really are sublime, full of imaginative details and whimsy, sly and wry and downright pretty. As an autobiography, this one from 1981, when she was 42, certainly doesn't capture everything about her or her life in over-explicit detail -- if I'd read this as a kid, there's no way I (having been a very dumb kid) would've pieced together anything useful from her marriage (to a man who at least in illustrations looked to be decades older) that seemed, from one page to the next, to dissolve; her friend Barbara would've remained purely in the platonic realm. Schart Hyman's work, which over the years proved to feature on good, complicated women and people of color (in part because her own grandchildren were biracial), stands as a larger testament to her creativity than this short book, but Self-Portrait nevertheless charmed me. Though she talks bittersweetly about everything changing always, it's clear she enjoyed being an artist, having an artist's life and eye, and having the freedom to remember.
September 21, 2022
Boy, I hate to give anything by Trina Schart Hyman -- one of my favorite of all times modern illustrators! -- only 2 stars. But it is not a purely "picture book" but claims to be an autobiography. As that, it is an utter failure.
Thin as a wafer... it offers some lovely illustrations of her life, from childhood to her adult success (published in 1981, she is only 42 here). But that's about it. It tells you next to nothing about the reality of a life as an artist and illustrator in that time period. She was born in 1939 (but this is NOT mentioned here, you have to "do math" to figure it out!) and therefore, went to art college in the 1950s. She clearly had a great time there, with tremendous support and friendships (which is 100% NOT my experience of art college, which I attended in the mid-70s)... then met and married her husband, who gets very short shrift here. (Was he a lot older than her? he is drawn as a bald guy in his 40s, when she had to be only 20 or so!) Did he support her work? it seems so... he took her to Sweden, where her work was first noticed and she got her first illustrations published! he disappears shortly, to be replaced with a string of female names... now, as an adult, I know Hyman was an "out" lesbian. But surely some of these woman were beloved partners and others mentioned here just friends or colleagues. But there's nothing to tell us who is who.
If they were not important, and it was too controversial in 1981 to say they were her partners, then probably they should have been left out entirely. The effect here (if you were a kid, and couldn't figure out why she went from a married woman with a child, to a singleton with "female roommates") is to make her look shallow and like her relationships were trivial and of no influence on her art.
Also: was her success really THIS instantaneous? she never struggled? went through a dry period? had to take on boring commercial work, in order to do the "arty" stuff she loved? how did changes in the culture, in society affect her? living from the 1940s (WWII era!) through the conservative 50s and onto the rebellious 60s... man, what an interesting era to live through! but you get NONE OF IT HERE. She never even so much says "boy how things have changed from my art college days to now".
Hyman lived until 2004 and the age of 65... died too young. I often think of her and her work, which was a big influence on me, and wonder about what she might have done had she lived until now (2022) when she would only be 83. (Think of the fabulous Beverly Cleary, who lived to the gobsmacking age of 104!) An artist of 83 could have still been drawing and painting, creating new books and maybe, just maybe... re-visited her "Self Portrait" here with fresh eyes, in a new modern era of openness and acceptance, and talked more honestly about how she had lived. Too bad. Our loss.... I am so sorry to say this book is a total disappointment.
Thin as a wafer... it offers some lovely illustrations of her life, from childhood to her adult success (published in 1981, she is only 42 here). But that's about it. It tells you next to nothing about the reality of a life as an artist and illustrator in that time period. She was born in 1939 (but this is NOT mentioned here, you have to "do math" to figure it out!) and therefore, went to art college in the 1950s. She clearly had a great time there, with tremendous support and friendships (which is 100% NOT my experience of art college, which I attended in the mid-70s)... then met and married her husband, who gets very short shrift here. (Was he a lot older than her? he is drawn as a bald guy in his 40s, when she had to be only 20 or so!) Did he support her work? it seems so... he took her to Sweden, where her work was first noticed and she got her first illustrations published! he disappears shortly, to be replaced with a string of female names... now, as an adult, I know Hyman was an "out" lesbian. But surely some of these woman were beloved partners and others mentioned here just friends or colleagues. But there's nothing to tell us who is who.
If they were not important, and it was too controversial in 1981 to say they were her partners, then probably they should have been left out entirely. The effect here (if you were a kid, and couldn't figure out why she went from a married woman with a child, to a singleton with "female roommates") is to make her look shallow and like her relationships were trivial and of no influence on her art.
Also: was her success really THIS instantaneous? she never struggled? went through a dry period? had to take on boring commercial work, in order to do the "arty" stuff she loved? how did changes in the culture, in society affect her? living from the 1940s (WWII era!) through the conservative 50s and onto the rebellious 60s... man, what an interesting era to live through! but you get NONE OF IT HERE. She never even so much says "boy how things have changed from my art college days to now".
Hyman lived until 2004 and the age of 65... died too young. I often think of her and her work, which was a big influence on me, and wonder about what she might have done had she lived until now (2022) when she would only be 83. (Think of the fabulous Beverly Cleary, who lived to the gobsmacking age of 104!) An artist of 83 could have still been drawing and painting, creating new books and maybe, just maybe... re-visited her "Self Portrait" here with fresh eyes, in a new modern era of openness and acceptance, and talked more honestly about how she had lived. Too bad. Our loss.... I am so sorry to say this book is a total disappointment.
February 21, 2025
I've fallen in love with Trina Schart Hyman's art over the past few months, so naturally I grabbed this autobiography from the library. Published in 1981, it sees Hyman reminiscing about her first forty-odd years alongside some of her excellent artwork.
Hyman glosses over plenty, but the episodes she focuses on (like biking thousands of miles around Sweden) are a delight. Really makes me long for the days before cell phones and the internet, when all you needed was a big country house and numerous good friends who are keen to drop by.
Just a really pleasant read.
Hyman glosses over plenty, but the episodes she focuses on (like biking thousands of miles around Sweden) are a delight. Really makes me long for the days before cell phones and the internet, when all you needed was a big country house and numerous good friends who are keen to drop by.
Just a really pleasant read.
February 26, 2016
Cute mini-memoir (with lots of illustrations) of one of my favorite illustrators ever. I had no idea her first illustration job was a Swedish book for Astrid Lindgren, or that she was the first art director of Cricket magazine.
October 30, 2009
Wonderfully illustrated with great tales about this children's illustrator and Cricket art director.
February 10, 2010
A childrens picture book autobiography of illustrator Trina Schart Hyman. I enjoyed this.
April 12, 2011
I've always loved her illustrations, so it was nice getting to know her and some of her history. I'd actually like to read more about her. :)
April 11, 2021
Trina Schart Hyman is one of my favorite illustrators, and has been for years. I have been trying to find a copy of this autobiography, long out of print, for quite some time. I was finally able to find one through the local library network. It was like finding a unicorn.
There were many things that I did not know about Trina before I read this book. I did not know that she grew up on a farm outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that she lived in Boston, Stockholm, Sweden, New York and New Hampshire. That she and her husband spent two months trekking around Scandinavia on an ancient tandem bicycle. That she studied at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston when she lived there. That she had a younger sister, was married, had a daughter, was divorced, smoked, and had a menagerie's worth of pets including dogs, cat, and 47 pet mice.
All of this, and also filled with her charming and beautiful illustrations, many of which I had never seen before. I highly recommend this book, if you area fan of Trina Schart Hyman's work, children's books, or just beautiful illustrations.
There were many things that I did not know about Trina before I read this book. I did not know that she grew up on a farm outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that she lived in Boston, Stockholm, Sweden, New York and New Hampshire. That she and her husband spent two months trekking around Scandinavia on an ancient tandem bicycle. That she studied at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston when she lived there. That she had a younger sister, was married, had a daughter, was divorced, smoked, and had a menagerie's worth of pets including dogs, cat, and 47 pet mice.
All of this, and also filled with her charming and beautiful illustrations, many of which I had never seen before. I highly recommend this book, if you area fan of Trina Schart Hyman's work, children's books, or just beautiful illustrations.
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April 4, 2020Trina Schart Hyman’s brief self-portrait is one part of a series of autobiographical books by distinguished children’s book illustrators. Trina describes herself as a strange, shy, and fearful child who was afraid of just about everything. The reader watches her transformation from a girl “living out” the part of Little Red Riding to an adult working as art director of Cricket magazine. A love of drawing and make-believe is the thread that is carried throughout her life.
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March 26, 2021Just a quick little illustrated memoir about an illustrator I don’t really know. (A friend mentioned one of her children’s books, so I checked out a handful of those in addition to this.) The visuals are great, and the story is a lovely example of how to capture a life *without* having to write 100,000 words about it. I really appreciated the overall sensibility of it.
September 3, 2022
I bought this book used, it used to be a library book from an elementary school. The most recent check-out date was in 1992. I wonder if any of the kids who read it had any idea the author was queer. I wouldn’t have known. But I like to think that maybe it brought at least one queer child comfort to imagine the gender of the person they settled down with didn’t have to be decided for them.
January 18, 2022
The only thing to regret about this series is they only made three of them. So fabulous to meet these groundbreaking creators in their own words and it only made me want to know about this unsung pioneer of kids lit.
January 5, 2019
I'm in love with this book. Just got it from the library, but want to buy it now. It's out of print, but I'm looking for the perfectly wonderful used copy! :)
May 29, 2019
Interesting reminisces of the very talented illustrator and author, Trina Schart Hyman. Biographical for sure but not in a straight forward biography way. Fascinating.
December 12, 2019
Real life is not as pretty as illustrations, but still fascinating.
December 11, 2021
Finally ordered a used once library copy of my favourite illustrator's autobiography - full of her beautiful work
February 26, 2022
I love reading bios on female illustrators, for some reason. This was a wonderfully illustrated self portrait.
December 23, 2016
Hired by editor Astrid Lindgren for first children's book illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews