THOMAS LOCKER
HIS LIFE AND WORKS
Thomas Locker began his life in 1937. He has always loved
painting and nature, and has used his painting to express his love for nature.
He began to exhibit his art work in 1964 at the Banter Gallery in New York
City, and since then he has had more than 50 exhibitions internationally. It was
1982 before he began to write and illustrate children's books, and his pictures
have added beauty to over 30 of them. As you can see by the cover art below, a
book illustrated by Thomas Locker is an art exhibit in itself. Not only will
young readers be exposed to fine art, but they will also be exposed to many of
the author's insights on art and the natural world.
Here are the titles I currently have in stock:
 Anna
and the Bagpiper by Thomas Locker. Philomel Books, 1994, hardcover,
first edition. Anna is lured to a nearby hilltop when a strange sound seems to
beckon her. He she climbed the hill, she saw an old man playing the bagpipes. At
first she hid, but he discovered her, smiled, and played a special song just for
her. As the sun set, he played a sad song, and when the moon rose he stopped.
When Anna returned home and turned back to wave, the man was gone. She told her
mother about the experience, but she just nodded. And as Anna drifted off to
sleep that night, she wondered if the whole thing had just been a dream.
Unpaginated.
Condition: Used book with moderate wear to edges and corners of
boards. Previous owner inscription on front free end paper. Dust jacket has
several creases and tears, most small, on edges and ends of spine. There are
also several clear impressions in the shiny surface of the dust jacket which
only show when the light shines on them. ISBN: 0399225563. $15.00-U (B)
 The
Boy who Held Back the Sea by Thomas Locker. A Dial Pied Piper book.
©1987. Later printing, softcover. Jan is a devious and mischievous little boy
who lived in Holland, where his small town was protected from the sea by the
dikes that held it back. Jan had a reputation similar to that of the boy who
cried wolf in the old fable, so people had learned not to take his "emergencies"
too seriously. One day, after getting excused from church to visit and read to a
blind man, he spends the day in mischief instead, never visiting the man at all,
and eating the pie he was supposed to take to him. His activities made him
tired, so he wandered over to the dike and noticed a hole where the ocean was
leaking through. Even he knew that if the sea should break through the dike it
could destroy the town and all who lived there. So he tried to get help, but no
one paid attention to him. When he got got back to the dike, the leak was a bit
bigger and since no one had followed him, he wrapped his handkerchief around his
finger and stuck it in the hole to hold back the sea until help came. He was
lying there through a storm and was shivering and nearly delirious by the time
help arrived, but he saved the town and became a hero. And he also became a
better boy.
Condition: New. ISBN: 0140546138. Unpaginated. $6.29-D
 Cloud
Dance by Thomas Locker. Harcourt, Inc Voyager Books. First paperback
printing, 2003. This book is a poetic essay illustrated by Locker's gorgeous
paintings of cloud formations and sky. At the end are some questions and answers
about clouds and a picture diagram of the different types of clouds in the sky,
labeled. The inside back cover has some directions for making your own "cloud"
and also an idea for creative writing.
Condition: New. ISBN: 0152045961. Unpaginated. $5.40-D
Grandfather's
Christmas Tree by Keith Strand. Illustrated by Locker.
HB-63743. $5.40-D
 Home:
A Journey through America, by Thomas Locker. Harcourt, Inc Voyager
Books. Paperback, later printing. This picture book is a
splendid mix of art and literature . The magnificent paintings are by Thomas
Locker, as is one of the poems, but the other poetry and prose selections are by
writers as varied as Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, John Muir, Pat Mora, Willa
Cather, Jane Yolen, Abraham Lincoln, Merle Good, and more. Each literary
selection is enhanced by one of Locker's landscape paintings illustrating a
scene from the author's home territory. From San Francisco to Walden Pond, we
are treated to a small tour of America as seen through Locker's eyes. We see the
Pacific Ocean, Yosemite Falls, the southwest desert, the Midwestern prairie,
Chicago (in the fog, of course), the Connecticut River in Massachusetts,
Comanche country in Texas, a tree-lined street in North Carolina, Spencer
County, Illinois, Amish country near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the Hudson Valley
of New York, and Walden Pond. At the end of the book is a map of the United
States showing the locations pictured and written about as each author described
his or her hometown. Next to the map is a list of the authors with their year
and place of birth.
Condition: New. ISBN: 0152024522. Unpaginated. $5.40-D
 The Mare on the
Hill by Thomas Locker. A Penguin Puffin book, paper, ©1995, later
printing. Two children and a stallion patiently woo a white, but wild mare, whom
they are finally able to tame just before the mare's foal is born. The story
line provides opportunities for Locker's brush to capture a variety of
magnificent rural landscapes. As always, the paintings provide a feast for the
eyes.
Condition: New. ISBN: 0140553398. Unpaginated. $6.29-D
The Mare on the Hill by Thomas Locker. A Penguin
Puffin book, paper, ©1995, fourth printing. Two children and a stallion
patiently woo a white, but wild mare, whom they are finally able to tame just
before the mare's foal is born. The story line provides opportunities for
Locker's brush to capture a variety of magnificent rural landscapes. As
always, the paintings provide a feast for the eyes.
Condition: Used. Cover is moderately worn and corners are
a bit dog-eared. ISBN: 0140553398. Unpaginated. $3.50-U
 Sky Tree: Seeing
Science Through Art by Thomas Locker with Candace Christiansen.
HarperCollins, 1995. The author himself says of this book in his Author's Note,
" Sky Tree invites adults and children to experience the life of a tree
and its relationship to the sky in several different ways. Through storytelling,
art appreciation, and scientific exploration, Sky Tree attempts to reach
both the heart and mind." It does. As each season progresses and changes, the
reader sees a full-page color painting of the tree against the sky. On the
facing page are a sentence or two describing the picture and at the bottom a
question to help the reader interact with the picture. At the back of the book
is a section where the author or Ms. Christiansen gives answers to the questions
at the bottoms of the pages. The author is referred to in the third person in
this section. This book can cross the curriculum from art to science and can
suit all ages interested in art, trees, or seasons. Unpaginated. BTH-3226.
$6.29-D
 The Ugly
Duckling as told by Marianna Mayer. Illustrated by Thomas Locker.
Macmillan, HC, First Edition, 1987. VG/G+. Dust Jacket is price-clipped and has
creases and small tears around the edges. ISBN: 0027651304. $29.95-U
 Water
Dance by Thomas Locker. Harcourt Voyager Book, paperback. ©1997,
later printing. This is an illustrated poem on the water cycle. At the end of
the book is a scientific explanation of what is happening in each picture beside
a thumbnail of each picture that appeared earlier. This is a great
science/literature tie-in. Condition: New. ISBN: 0152163964 Unpaginated. $5.40-D
 Where
the River Begins by Thomas Locker. Penguin, 1993. Unpaginated. Two boys
like to sit on the summer evenings and watch a nearby river flow by them. They
wondered where it began. Since they knew how much their grandfather loved the
river, they decided to ask him to take them on a camping trip to find the
river's beginning. He agrees, and young readers follow them along the river.
Each double page spread has a gorgeous painting of whatever river view they are
seeing. BTH-2809. $6.29-D
 The Young Artist
by Thomas Locker. Dial Books, HC, 1989 first edition. Adrian, a talented
young man apprenticed to an artist, hates doing portraits for people because he
has been taught to paint the truth, and people don't want the truth in a
portrait -- they want to look better than they are. Imagine his horror when
commanded to come to the king's palace to paint a large portrait that included
all 27 members of the court! He is saved from the wrath of the vain nobles by
the beautiful pictures he has painted of his one friend at court -- the king's
beloved daughter. Locker's paintings that illustrate this book are an art
gallery in themselves. For children 4-8.
Condition: Used. Light wear to boards, mostly at edges and
corners. There is a some light fading at the top and bottom of the blue cloth
band that covers the spine. Out of print. ISBN: 0893706251. Unpaginated.
$19.95-U
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