Henry
1999
Chronicle Books (August 1, 1999)
Reading age : 9 - 12 years
Order:
Henry
This book is about the dog I had growing up. His name was Homer. Before moving to California I went back to my parents’ farm to take care of their puppy, whose name was Henry. Henry got me thinking about Homer. Homer was a poetic and quirky dog. I spent a lot of time walking with him and my goats around the farm. Since I didn’t want people to think I was writing about Homer Simpson, Homer became Henry. This book is the story of one dog’s life.
Ballpark
1998
Greenwillow Books (March 23, 1998)
Reading age : 5 - 8 years
Order:
Ballpark
To research this book I went to games at Fenway Park, Camden Yards, and Jacob’s Field. I saw inside Shea Stadium’s locker room. Mostly I took the subway up to Yankee Stadium and watched games and sketched. There’s something about the rhythms of baseball that lends itself to sketching. In college I wrote my senior essay about Ebbets Field (the Brooklyn home of the Dodgers), and how important a ballpark can be to its community. In this book I looked at the community inside the ballpark: groundskeepers, trainers, umpires, and fans.
RECOMMENDED BOOK, PARENTS CHOICE AWARDS
“Cooper catches it all here in whimsical watercolors.”
— The New York Times
“Children will be engaged for the full nine innings.”
— Kirkus
A day at yale
1998
Yale Bookstore (January 1, 1998)
Order:
a Day at Yale
Since I went to Yale, writing this book was fun and easy. I came up with most of the ideas on a train ride to New Haven, remembering my college experiences: lunches in the dining hall, football teammates holding hands and playing tag, walking across campus late at night. I drew favorite places, like the roof of Jonathan Edwards, and sketched parts of Yale I had not known: an English seminar on Chaucer, students practicing capoeira, a fencing team practice. This book let me see college in a new light.
Country Fair)
1997
Greenwillow Books (August 19, 1997)
Reading age : 5 - 8 years
Order:
country fair
For my first children’s book, I spent a fall sketching country fairs in New England. I drew huge bulls, huge pumpkins, and lots of pies. I liked watching oxen pulls. Also log chopping and sheep shearing. What interested me most may have been different from the reality: fairs are a mess of fried food and funnel cakes and spilled soda. When I came home from the fairs I headed straight to the shower.
HIGHLY COMMENDED CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW AWARD 1998
★ “A quirky, engaging look at the sights, sounds, and scents of a country fair.”
— Kirkus, starred review
OFF THE ROAD: AN AMERICAN SKETCHBOOK
1996
Villard (December 3, 1996)
Order:
OFF THE ROAD: AN AMERICAN SKETCHBOOK
After my first book came out, I quit my job at The New Yorker and drove around America in my parents’ ’89 Honda. I brought forty-eight maps, sixty sketchbooks, and a guidebook listing every Motel 6 in the country (though most nights I ended up sleeping in car). I went to some predictable places, let some unpredictable places come to me: sunbathers in Florida, the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont, firefighters in Idaho, the Chicago Board of Trade. I put 14,000 miles on the car. The trip took all summer. When I was done I put my experiences in this book.
“ Cooper chronicles his 50-day adventure with wit and whimsy.”
— USA Today
A year in New york
1995
City & Co (October 1, 1995)
Reading age : 5 - 8 years
Order:
a year in new york
After college I was a messenger at The New Yorker Magazine. When I was carrying manuscripts around the city, I also brought my sketchbook and drew galleries, taxis, markets — then came back late to the office. At night I sketched dance performances, or pick-up basketball games. I didn’t realize until halfway through the year that I was making a book. Everyone who comes to New York thinks they’re the first to discover it. In a way, that’s true, because they’re discovering it for themselves. This book is my journal of that year.