Illustration Press
Sally Wern Comport is represented by Shannon Associates
Awards & Recognition
Recent Reviews
What they’re saying about…
★ "Anderson (Lizzie Demands a Seat!, 2020) weaves questions through the text to heighten reader engagement in the events and employs a succinct sentence structure that palpably conveys the mission’s urgency... Comport immerses us in the drama with sepia-toned artwork that lends an aged feel to the framed pages. Meticulous illustrations employ the 'scrapbook house' collage style of the era, highlights of which include superbly detailed garments and period furniture. The subtle inclusion of timepieces throughout amplifies the exigency of Warne’s work. An apt companion to Marissa Moss’ books on Warne and Pinkerton, this is a lively choice for U.S. history or Women’s History Month displays [for a U.S. history or Women’s History Month display OR for U.S. history and Women’s History Month displays]."—Booklist, starred review
"A detective foils a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. This expertly paced tale ratchets up the tension as readers learn that Lincoln’s life was in danger as he set out by train to Washington, D.C., for his 1861 presidential inauguration. Anderson adeptly plays with dramatic irony: Readers likely already know that he ultimately made it. But how? Enter Kate Warne, 'the first female detective in the United States,' who uncovered a plot to kill Lincoln in Baltimore, his only stop in the South. Organized chronologically, each spread opens like a scrapbook, with pictorial maps of Lincoln’s train route and framed portraits of principal characters and events, all suffused in an ominous, dusky palette. Cleverly, Comport incorporates recurring images of timepieces, matching the sense of suspense layered into Anderson’s text—time is indeed of the essence. A lively, luminous account of a lesser-known woman’s ingenious contribution to presidential history.' —Kirkus Reviews
"The tight focus on the duration of the inaugural train makes for an urgent, almost thriller-like pace... (the) collage art... is stunning (and) inspired..."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
By Project
The Zora & Me Series
SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS • ILLUSTRATION ANNUAL EXHIBIT 61
GOLD MEDAL SELECTION
SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS • ILLUSTRATION ANNUAL EXHIBITS 61 & 63
Up.St.Art Annapolis Fall 2017 Issue
Click HERE to read the Fall 2017 issue of Up.St.Art Annapolis featuring Sally Wern Comport,
Principal of Art at Large, Inc., as their selected Cover Artist
National Parks Service Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, Illustrations
WINNER OF
Society of Illustrators 60th Illustration Annual Selection
Communication Arts 2018 Illustration Annual Selection
Best of Show, “Image & Imagination”, The Mitchell Gallery at St. John’s College, 2019
Reviews
Ada's Violin
WINNER OF
The Christopher Award
2017 Flora Stieglitz Straus Award by the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education
2017 Américas Award for Children's & Young Adult Literature, The Consortium of Latin American Studies Program (CLASP)
EUREKA! Nonfiction Gold Award (CA)
Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Multicultural Books List
NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book
New York Public Library Best Books for Kids
2017 Green Earth Book Award Short List
Texas Bluebonnet 2017-18 Master List
Junior Library Guild Spring 2016 Selection
2017-18 Black Eyed Susan Nominee
ILA Notable Books for a Global Society
ALA Notables nomination list
GoodReads Popular Mock Caldecott 2017
BooksNational Education Association Read Across America Resource Calendar
2019 Bluestem Award: Illinois’ Grades 3-5 Readers’ Choice Award
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL –Luann Toth
"Comport’s mixed-media collages are nothing short of brilliant as she plays with light and dark throughout. The spreads capture the look and feel of the cramped and stinking landfill, the oppressive heat, and the hardscrabble lives of the residents. They also convey the resourcefulness and warmth of the families and the aspirations of the children. The scenes of the kids embracing their instruments and sharing their joy at making music are absolutely transcendent. 'With her violin, Ada could close her eyes and imagine a different life. She could soar on the high, bright, bittersweet notes to a place far away. She could be who she was meant to be.' ”
VERDICT A virtuoso piece of nonfiction, gloriously told and illustrated.
BOOKLIST
"The mixed-media collages are a particular effective medium for this true story, layering images of Ada and the orchestra over the landfill. The nuances of the subject may strike a stronger chord with adults rather than children, but the interesting visuals and the underlying message of hope and perseverance should help this find an audience."
KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Comport's complex, digitally enhanced collages combine acrylics, drawing, and layered typographic elements, conveying both the oppressive omnipresence of garbage and the functional beauty of the handcrafted instruments. . . . Pair with the suggested video links to experience the music of a remarkable, resilient cultural community."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, STARRED REVIEW
Hood’s (Rooting for You) beautifully narrated true tale begins in Cateura, a “noisy, stinking, sweltering slum” of Paraguay. That’s where Ada Ríos lives with her family, recyclers (gancheros) who collect and sell trash from the nearby landfill. When engineer Favio Chávez begins teaching music to at-risk children there, Ada learns the violin, and she and other students play instruments made from recycled trash. Comport (Love Will See You Through) employs a vibrant collage technique, using pictures of food labels, tires, and other detritus to form colorful, almost ethereal backdrops. Light-infused scenes of gancheros picking through mountains of trash, children playing soccer in Cateura’s streets, and Ada practicing violin all include hopeful shades of yellow. Torn bits of a musical score edge out the garbage scraps as the story progresses. When the Recycled Orchestra gains fame, its members perform in some of the world’s biggest, brightest cities: “Buried in the trash was music. And buried in themselves was something to be proud of.” An author’s note expands on this uplifting, instructive story; a Spanish-language edition is available simultaneously.
SCHOOL LIBRARY CONNECTION
The illustrations, compilations of torn paper, paint, and pen and ink illustrations, add to the feeling of being within the landfill, and are a beautiful representation of the location...Highly Recommended.
Nile Crossing
WINNER OF
• School Library Journal Fall 2017 Selection
• The Original Art Show, Juried Selection, The Society of Illustrators
Love Will See You Through: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Six Guiding Beliefs (As Told by His Niece)
WINNER OF
The Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year
Society of Illustrators 58th Illustration Annual Selection
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
The bold, colorful mixed-media illustrations capture the emotion of the situations described, and Watkins’s writing style is conversational but impassioned.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Watkins again uses events in King’s life...to illustrate his dedication to acting on his convictions. Comport (Hanging Off Jefferson’s Nose) features intense shades of orange, fuchsia, and purple in her energetic mixed-media art, which incorporates imposing display type and occasional newspaper excerpts illuminating the turbulence of the time. Especially striking are her conspicuous portraits of hands: raised in protest, folded in prayer, and linked in solidarity.
BOOKLIST
The picture-book format features compelling, expressive artwork. King’s guiding beliefs spill across the pages in bold, oversize font, accompanied by detailed illustrations in rich, somber hues.
Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama, Interior Art
WINNER OF
Society of Illustrators 60th Annual Selection
Communication Arts 2018 Illustration Annual Competition
Dream March
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
STARRED REVIEW
A smart narrative and skillfully done illustrations make this introduction to Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement one all libraries will want to consider.