Illustrator Christian Robinson Creates Vintage-Inspired Collages That Tell Inclusive Children’s Stories

Award-win­ning illus­tra­tor and author Chris­t­ian Robin­son cre­ates chil­dren’s book illus­tra­tions in a cut-paper col­lage style. (My favorite!) Inspired by illus­tra­tion and graph­ic art from the 1950s and 60s, he uti­lizes paint and col­lage to con­jure charm­ing char­ac­ters that high­light inclu­siv­i­ty and diverse stories.

One of his most popular—and laud­ed books—is Last Stop on Mar­ket Street writ­ten by Matt de la Peña. In the sto­ry, CJ and his grand­ma ride the bus across town after church. One day, CJ notices how his life is dif­fer­ent from oth­ers; they don’t own a car like his friend, and the oth­er boys on the bus have iPods. Each time CJ asks his grand­ma about it, she answers in a way that helps him to see the “beau­ty and fun in their rou­tine and the world around them.” The book was the win­ner of a 2016 New­bery Medal, a 2016 Calde­cott Hon­or Book (the Calde­cott was always a big deal in my house grow­ing up), and Chris­t­ian also received a Coret­ta Scott King Illus­tra­tor Honor.

“I can say that my favorite part of illus­trat­ing any book I work on is design­ing the jack­et, book­case, and end pages,” Chris­t­ian tells Book Riot. “There’s such an oppor­tu­ni­ty to set the scene and invite read­ers into the world of the sto­ry. It’s the most chal­leng­ing but also the most reward­ing part, because it is what gives read­ers a first impres­sion, as we all know we total­ly judge books by their covers.”

See what Chris­t­ian work­ing on next —his newest book, You Mat­ter, was released today—when you fol­low him on Insta­gram.

From “Last Stop on Mar­ket Street”

From “Last Stop on Mar­ket Street”

From “Last Stop on Mar­ket Street”

From “You Matter”

From “You Matter”

From “Rain!”

From “Rain!”