Remembering Uri Shulevitz

Uri Shulevitz was born in 1935 in Warsaw, Poland. By the age of three he was already starting to draw, sketching out, with paper, pencil and pen, his own little world. Sadly, those early carefree days were not to last. Just shortly after his fourth birthday the Nazis arrived on his doorstep and the only life he had ever known suddenly took a dark and dangerous turn. 

Eventually, as the Holocaust began to take shape, Uri’s family made their escape from Warsaw and thus began a nearly eight-year flight across Russia. At times the family was separated, at other times they found themselves sheltered thanks to the kindness of strangers. There were other times, however, when soldiers threw them into sordid detention camps where starvation and death were daily threats. More than once, Uri used art to buy their freedom. Sometimes all it took to get a guard to look the other way was to present the soldier with a flattering portrait drawn up on the spot by the talented young artist.

Chance, a 2020 graphic novel written and illustrated by Uri, tells this gripping story in the most vivid and moving way. We recommend this book most highly.

After the war the family made their way to Paris, then immigrated a few years later to Israel, where Uri took on odd jobs while continuing to draw and paint. After two years in the Israeli army during the Sinai War, he moved to New York where he furthered his art education at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. 

In 1963 Uri sold his first picture book,The Moon in my Room, to Harper and Row. Over the years he went on to publish more than 40 books including when in1968 he illustrated Arthur Ransome’s Russian fairy tale, The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, for which he was awarded the 1969 Caldecott Medal. Additionally, over the years he received numerous awards including two Caldecott Honors. Just last year he was named a Carle Honor Honoree by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

We first met Uri in 1972, not long after the founding of our organization. One year later, at the invitation of Jane Yolen, he keynoted our very first New England conference.

Through more than fifty years of his association with the SCBWI, Uri generously shared his time and expertise with legions of new and aspiring illustrators, many of whom went on to successful careers of their own.  

In 2009 his whimsical art decorated the cover of the March—April SCBWI Bulletin. Members can find it by searching our online Bulletin archive in the SCBWI Member Home.

Uri Shulevitz had an exceptional life, miraculous in a way, 

We mourn his loss, but are grateful that he lives on in the body of work he has left behind.