These books present nature in living color

Everyone knows that books have authors. But kids' picture books also need an artist to bring the writer's words to life. That's what artist Sylvia Long does. "An Egg Is Quiet" was a collaboration with author Dianna Hutts Aston. Open its pages, and speckled wonders burst forth.

Ms. Long used her skills with watercolor and ink to let readers take a peek at different eggs – from their shell color to the shape and size of each one.

As the book relates the journey of an egg from yolk to freshly hatched critter, readers learn about birds and other oviparous (or egg-laying) creatures such as crabs, turtles, and even crickets.

The first pages of this book feature dozens of eggs – mottled, speckled, brightly colored, and more. In a fun twist, the last two pages show the creatures that will hatch from each of the eggs, giving readers the opportunity to match egg to critter. So many people were enthralled by "An Egg Is Quiet" that in 2006 it received the first Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Award for best nonfiction picture book.

In all, Ms. Long has illustrated 17 books. She did her first book in 1991 just for fun with a friend (author Virginia Grossman). So she was surprised when she got a letter from Chronicle Books saying that the company wanted to publish "Ten Little Rabbits," a counting book that celebrates native American cultures. "I went hollering and leaping down the street to tell a friend," she says. "That was a real high point for me." Since then, opportunities to illustrate have kept coming.

After hatching "An Egg Is Quiet," Ms. Long and Ms. Aston worked together to create another book that was released earlier this year. "A Seed Is Sleepy" is filled with more watercolors of the natural world.

This book relates the journey of various seeds as they float and fly to new ground, where they flower, fruit, and grow into mature plants or trees.

Readers enjoy the illustrations in Ms. Long's books, but few realize that the work on each project starts long before her first brush stroke.

"I love taking walks in all sorts of places, picking up seeds, rocks, feathers, bleached animal bones, snake sheds, shells...." she says. It's these found items that inspire her artwork.

Once she has researched her topic sufficiently, she starts with a pencil sketch – and erases a lot!

When the first drawing is complete, she enlarges it to full size, adding details and making sure there's enough room for the text that will accompany it.

She then transfers the sketch to good watercolor paper in light pencil and completes the final drawing in ink.

Now it's time to add the vivid watercolors that make the images come alive.

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