Writer-Artist Introduces Children to the Real World

Books are a lot like children, writer and illustrator Mary Ann Fraser says with a laugh. “You love them all, but for different reasons.”

As the author and illustrator of six nonfiction children’s books and the mother of three school-age sons, the 37-year-old Fraser should know.

Her books, written about subjects ranging from the Grand Canyon to the Transcontinental Railroad, have earned her critical praise and several “Book of the Year” awards from a number of trade groups including the International Reading Assn. and the American Bookseller.

A selection of her illustrations and paintings now hangs on display in a gallery at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center through Oct. 13.

Staid image or not, Simi Valley is the perfect place for an artist such as herself to live and work--quiet, relatively affordable and a safe place to raise a family. The only drawback, she said, is finding the acrylic paints, fine-bristle brushes and other supplies her intricate work requires.

“A lot of outside people know about [Fraser] but not her neighbors,” explained David Ralphe, general manager of the Cultural Arts Center. “There are so many talented people in Simi. . . . Once you scratch the surface, it’s a surprise who lives here.”

To acquaint Simi Valley residents with Fraser and her work--including 14 illustrations from Fraser’s books “Forest Fire!” “One Giant Leap” and “Top of the World”--there will be a reception in the artist’s honor tonight in the lower gallery of the Los Angeles Avenue arts center.

A close look at the painstakingly detailed illustrations--vibrant, near photographic renditions of silky animals scurrying from a woodland blaze; the Apollo 11 mission to the fat, mottled moon, and the first journey up a misty, snow-shrouded Mt. Everest--reveals Fraser’s passion for history and science.

Through her books, Fraser hopes to impart a love of reality and reading to her young audience. “What’s exciting about doing nonfiction is showing kids that there are people and events in history that are at least as exciting as those in fiction books,” explained the petite, freckled, blond author.

Once determined to be a doctor, Fraser opted instead to indulge her “God-given talent” for drawing. She studied art in Los Angeles and at Exeter College of Art and Design in England.

Thinking only “very special people” could be writers, Fraser spent years doing commercial illustration for other authors’ books, magazines and even a Frederick’s of Hollywood catalog.

It was not until Fraser took classes in children’s literature and met a book publisher that she had the confidence to write her first book, “Top of the World,” in 1987. It was also then that Fraser learned that writing a kids tome is much harder than it looks.

Once she picks a story topic, Fraser’s perfectionist streak compels her to learn as much about that topic as possible. A book about a wildlife sanctuary meant a trip to the Three Arch Rocks off the Oregon Coast. For “One Giant Step,” Fraser obtained NASA slides and photographs of the mission to the moon.

“I have to investigate every detail and really try to be accurate,” she said. “I don’t make up dialogue. I don’t create characters.”

While Fraser researches, writes and paints, her accountant husband, Todd, and sons--Ian, 7, Alex, 5, and Brett, 3--get in on the act. They accompany her on cross-country train trips and jaunts to California missions.

So when it comes to story time for her own sons, Fraser prefers other authors. “I don’t read my books after they’re written. I like reading stories that are fresh to me.”

FYI

Mary Ann Fraser’s illustrations and paintings are on display at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, 3050 Los Angeles Ave., through Oct. 13. The center’s public viewing hours are between 1 and 5 p.m. on Sundays and by appointment. The reception in her honor, which is free and open to the public, will take place between 6 and 8 p.m. tonight. For information, call 581-2714.