Sandra Boynton

Sandra
Boynton

SANDRA BOYNTON (1953-present) is an American cartoonist, songwriter, director, music producer, children's author, and illustrator. Since 1974, Boynton has written and illustrated over seventy-five books for children and seven general audience books, including five New York Times bestsellers, as well as over four thousand greeting cards, and five music albums. She has also designed calendars, wallpaper, bedding, stationery, paper goods, clothing, jewelry, and plush toys for various companies. She lives in rural New England, and her studio is in a barn with perhaps the only hippopotamus weathervane in America.

Boynton grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where her school's rich art program would have a lasting influence on her - known as a constant doodler, she created her own cartoon characters, including an animal–like sports car named Furrari. In 1970, she started at Yale University, where she studied English and took writing and illustrating for children taught by the celebrated author/illustrator Maurice Sendak, best known for his now famous book, Where The Wild Things Are.

"I still have the same pleasure a child has in creating something, finishing it, looking at it, and saying, 'I made that."

Upon her graduation from Yale, Boynton began career as a theatre director, while drawing greeting cards on the side to make extra money. With their witty word play and clever animal illustrations, Boynton's cards appealed to a wide audience. Among her best–selling creations, one birthday card shows a group of animals with the words "Hippo Birdie Two Ewe”, which has sold over ten million copies to date.

In 1979, Boynton also started writing and illustrating books, the first of which was the children's counting book, Hippos Go Berserk! The same year, she published Hester in the Wild and Gopher Baroque and Other Beastly Conceits. She followed those up with her first adult humour title, The Compleat Turkey. By 1980, Boynton had established herself as a best–selling greeting card designer, cartoonist, and author. Her designs could be found on sheets, quilts, wallpaper, and even a line of Carter's children's clothing. In 1982, her illustrated book Chocolate: The Consuming Passion topped the New York Times bestseller list for 24 weeks.

Boynton's cast of characters have included hippos, cats, turkeys, and gophers—all surrogates for people. Frequently asked why she has not directly represented people, Boynton has joked that she does not know how to draw them, but she has also noted the benefits of depicting only animals. "[U]sing [animals], an artist becomes largely freed from the constraints of age, gender, race, and so on," Boynton explained. She designs her cartoons with a technical pen and watercolours, using a computer only for typography.

Boynton has also written and produced six albums of children’s music. Three of her six albums have been certified Gold (over 500,000 copies sold) and Philadelphia Chickens (starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline), was nominated for a Grammy, and was been certified Platinum (over 1 million copies sold). Boynton has also directed twelve music videos of her songs, including the award-winning “One Shoe Blues” starring B.B. King, “Alligator Stroll” starring Josh Turner, and “Tyrannosaurus Funk”, sung by Samuel L. Jackson.

With more than 85 million of her books have been sold (“mostly to friends and family,” she has modestly joked), Boynton shows no signs of slowing her pace. "I still have the same pleasure a child has in creating something, finishing it, looking at it, and saying, 'I made that." 📖