Before March gives way to April, I have to share some about Gyo Fujikawa, my very favorite illustrator. In honor of Women's History Month, I'd like to share some brief highlights from her life that are an inspiration to me.
Fujikawa achieved great success as an artist despite the barriers she faced as a Japanese-American woman in the 1930s. While she was able to continue her work as an artist in New York during WW2, her family was interred in Arkansas.
She published her first two children's books (as both writer and illustrator) in 1963 and they became quick bestsellers. In the next 20 years she produced 40 different titles. Her work has been translated into many languages. She was one of the first children's authors to command author's royalties instead of a flat fee and she was among the first to include racial diversity in her illustrations of children.
All of this talent, achievement, beauty, and progressive art from an unmarried, Japanese-American woman during decades that were especially un-friendly to someone like herself.
This spread is from "Our Best Friends" (1977) and it's my earliest childhood memory of her work. This is the spread that made me fall so much in love with her art. Only later did I learn of her strength and brilliance. 💛
(Bio info from "The Great Unknown: Japanese American Sketches" by Greg Robinson)