Introduction
James E. Ransome (born September 25, 1961) is an American illustrator of children's books.
Biography
He was born in North Carolina. During high school years the family moved to Bergenfield, New Jersey; he attended film making and photography classes, which influenced his style. He obtained a Batchelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where his mentor was the illustrator Jerry Pinkney.
James Ransome has illustrated over 60 picture books, and has illustrated greetings cards and magazines. Commissioned murals include three for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
He is an Associate Professor in the School of Art at Syracuse University. He and his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome, and family live in Rhinebeck, New York.
Awards
- 1994 Coretta Scott King Award Illustrator Honor for Uncle Jed's Barbershop (text by Margaree King Mitchell)
- 1999 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Children's for Let My People Go: Bible Stories Told By A Freeman Of Color (text by Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack).
- 1995 Coretta Scott King Award Illustrator Award for The Creation (text by James Weldon Johnson)
- 2018 Coretta Scott King Award Illustrator Honor for Before She Was Harriet: The Story of Harriet Tubman (text by Lesa Cline-Ransome).