Laurel Molk

Laurel Molk is an illustrator and author of children's books.

Career

Molk attended the Rhode Island School of Design. She lives in the Boston area.^[1][2]

Molk has published several books as author and illustrator and more as the illustrator of books by other authors, including Jane Yolen and Alice B. McGinty.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Her illustrations for Yolen's Beneath the Ghost Moon (Little, Brown & Company, 1994) were praised in a Publishers Weekly review: "Molk's careful, cool-hued watercolors depict a well-appointed farm house and an endearing cast of gentle-eyed mice".^[7]

Publishers Weekly wrote that the text of Good Job, Oliver (Knopf, 1999) "cheerily conveys several important messages, including the value of self-confidence and conviction".^[4] Kirkus Reviews wrote positively of the book: "While Molk’s storytelling is entertaining, her watercolors steal the show. Her inventive use of the page makes the book practically boundless".^[10]

Publishers Weekly said about When You Were Just a Heartbeat (Little, Brown, 2004): "Molk certainly sends a heartfelt message to young listeners," but "the book may be too esoteric and its illustrations too quiet to capture—and keep—children's attention".^[3] About the same book, Kirkus Reviews said, "Placed on broad expanses of white, each portrait will draw the eyes even of very young viewers".^[11]

A reviewer for School Library Journal called Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo, and Flo! (Viking, 2015) "the perfect combination of text and illustration creates a fun choice for storytime or one-on-one reading".^[12] Kirkus Reviews called it "brisk and bouncy," and noted, "using a different, handwritten-style type for the dialogue keeps things clear, though read-alouds could still be a bit tricky".^[6]

There Might Be Lobsters (Candlewick, 2017) received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. "There’s ample humor in the watercolor, acrylic, and ink illustrations and heaping doses of compassion, too".^[13]

Molk's Knitting for Dogs (Random House Studio, 2022) was reviewed by Publishers Weekly as "Molk... demystifies the problem-solving process with measured storytelling, wry images, and a cool but approachable protagonist, acknowledging both the frustrations of hitting a metaphoric wall and the joys of discovering new depths of personal ingenuity".^[5]

Selected works

As author and illustrator

• Good Job, Oliver. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1999.^[4][10][14]
• When You Were Just a Heartbeat. Little, Brown, 2004.^[3][11][15]
• Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo, and Flo! Viking, 2015.^[6][12]
• Knitting for Dogs. Random House Studio, 2022.^[5][16][17]

As illustrator

• On the Farm. Edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Little, Brown, 1991.^[18][19]
• Beneath the Ghost Moon. Written by Jane Yolen. Little, Brown and Company, 1994.^[7][20][21]
• Off We Go. Written by Jane Yolen. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2002.^[8][22][23]
• It's a... It's a... It's a Mitzvah. Written by Liz Suneby & Diane Heiman. Jewish Lights Publishing, 2012.^{[24][25][26][27][28]}
• Take Your Time: A Tale of Harriet, the Galápagos Tortoise. Written by Eva Furrow & Donna Jo Napoli. Henry Holt, 2017.^[29][30]
• There Might Be Lobsters. Written by Carolyn Crimi. Candlewick, 2017.^[13][31][32]
• No Room for a Pup. Written by Elizabeth Suneby. Kids Can, 2019.^[33]
• A Synagogue Just Like Home. Written by Alice Blumenthal McGinty. Candlewick Press, 2022.^[9][34][35]