Tom Pohrt

Illustrator and children's author Tom Pohrt grew up in the automobile-manufacturing town of Flint, Michigan. A self-taught artist whose love of animals is evident in his artwork, Pohrt has been interested in writing and drawing ever since he was a little boy. Despite his lack of guidance as a youngster, Pohrt has become a well-established illustrator, working with texts by authors such as Philippa Pierce, Julia Durango, Barry Lopez, Jim Heynen, Wendell Berry, and Jim Harrison as well as penning...See more

Illustrator and children's author Tom Pohrt grew up in the automobile-manufacturing town of Flint, Michigan. A self-taught artist whose love of animals is evident in his artwork, Pohrt has been interested in writing and drawing ever since he was a little boy. Despite his lack of guidance as a youngster, Pohrt has become a well-established illustrator, working with texts by authors such as Philippa Pierce, Julia Durango, Barry Lopez, Jim Heynen, Wendell Berry, and Jim Harrison as well as penning the text for two self-illustrated books featuring his original stories. The precise, delicate lines of his drawings, coupled with his slightly moody, sepia-toned palette, suggest antique etchings, wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor in reviewing Pohrt's work for Howard Norman's Trickster and the Fainting Birds , the critic dubbing the picture book beautifully designed and presented. In Coyote Goes Walking Pohrt retells four Native-American trickster tales, bringing his animal characters to life in what a Publishers Weekly contributor described as warm, earth-toned watercolors that contain a subtle humor. Described by a Publishers Weekly contributor as one off-beat destination that's definitely worth a visit, Pohrt's quirky picture book Having a Wonderful Time finds a girl and a talking cat on a vacation where unexpected animal-sightings abound. The reviewer had special praise for the author/illustrator's confidently deadpan text with its dry, understated humor, but also commended the author's characteristic detailed pen-and-ink drawings. See less