Mike Wimmer
Activity Sheet

Biography from NCCIL
Born in 1961 and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Mike Wimmer has been sketching and painting since age 6. His stepfather brought home paper and cardboard from his job at a box factory for him to draw on while his mother, then a college student and later a teacher at Mike's middle school, introduced him to the world of books. Wimmer was deeply impressed with the classic adventure stories such as Treasure Island, especially those with the illustrations of such greats as N.C.Wyeth and Harvard Pyle.
Excelling both academically and athletically in high school, he began to take his artistic aspirations seriously as his graduation approached. He turned down his mother's offer to pay his college tuition for a practical field, such as law or medicine. Instead, Wimmer followed his grandfather's advice, that not only would he excel doing what he loved, he would be richly compensated for it as well.
Accordingly, he paid his own way when in 1979 he started a bachelor of art program at the University of Oklahoma, two years of which were at the Sketchpad Studio in Arlington, Texas on a commercial arts apprenticeship. His graduation in 1984 was made even sweeter by the fact that his own design was used on the diploma he and his fellow graduates received.
His first freelance assignments barely paid his and his new wife's bills. But, gradually through hard work (completing upwards of 150 paintings a year), he established himself as a respected commercial artist. Wimmer currently lives in Norman, Oklahoma, with his wife and their two children.
The Chicago Sun-Times has described Michael Wimmer's artwork as "reminiscent of some of Norman Rockwell's best." Wimmer won the 1995 Oklahoma Book Award for Design/Illustration for All the Places to Love. He lives with his family in Norman.

Summertime, from Porgy and Bess
Book Description from amazon.com
Nothing captures the feelings of summer better than the much-loved song from Porgy and Bess, "Summertime." Its majestic imagery and deep spirituality touch listeners today as they have for generations. Now, with acclaimed illustrator Mike Wimmer's lush oil paintings depicting a family's routine one summer day earlier in this century, an American classic takes on a whole new meaning. Including the score of the song, Summertime is both a gentle book for family sharing and a lavish gift to be treasured. Acclaimed illustrator Wimmer's lush oil paintings depicting a family's routine one summer day earlier in this century, this American classic takes on a whole new meaning.

Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth
Book Description from amazon.com
"He has always had this swing. This easy, upthrusting swing. This 'pretty' swing, not taught by any coach. One day the Babe just swung--and it was there. It was his." Combining stirring, poetic prose and Mike Wimmer's realistic illustrations, Home Run conveys the feeling of excitement and awe that must have been present at a baseball game in which the great Babe Ruth played. Robert Burleigh, who previously collaborated with Wimmer on the award-winning Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh, writes this picture-book tribute "for my Father -- who loved the game ... for my son, Eli, to help him learn the spirit of can-do." His great love for both shines through. Our stomachs knot and spirits soar as Ruth steps up to the plate. Home Run softly draws us into the story, and the illustrations, rendered in oil on canvas, have an expansiveness and glow that lift them from the page. The gentle tribute is enhanced by "vintage-style baseball cards" that highlight aspects of Babe Ruth's career ("The Bambino loved driving low-slung convertibles, donning silk shirts and coonskin coats, and downing huge meals"), allowing Burleigh the opportunity to include important information without destroying the perfect simplicity of the main story. A treasure for anyone with a love of the game, Home Run is also powerfully affecting for those new to the excitement it holds. Sample spread.

National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature Page
http://www.nccil.org/exhibit/wimmer.html