DUSTIN KELLY, the illustrator of Sky All Around (Trafford Publishing, 2005), was born in West Union, Iowa, and raised in Elkader, Iowa. He has two brothers and two sisters. Frank Asch’s Popcorn and The Cool Ride in the Skyby Diane Wolkstein and illustrated by Paul Galdone were his favorite books.The toy he never wanted to share was GI Joe: Snake Eyes (version 2). Minger, a Siamese cat, lived with his family.
Kelly started painting in the
mid-1990s, when he was around
20 years old. He received his BFA
in sculpture from the University of
Iowa and his MFA in sculpture from
the California College of the Arts.
His influences are Mike Kelley,
Paul Thek and Yayoi Kusama, all
mixed media artists.
The Agriculture Energy Alliance
used Kelly's illustration of the
harvest moon (right) for their
October 2006 and July 2009
campaigns.
The Haggard-Twogood Charitable
Trust generously provided a grant,
which helped make this 20-page
book possible.
PRAISE FOR
SKY ALL AROUND
"The book should be in the home of every misplaced Iowan with young children. I’d go so far as to say it should be in the home of every misplaced Iowa farm kid, regardless of age."—CARLA OFFENBURGER, Offenburger.com
"I love the book. Great color and movement."
—CASEY DUNAGAN, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
"The book creates soothing, bedtime images with poetic writing and vivid
illustrations by Dustin Kelly."
—JULIE BIRKEDAL, The (Mason City) Globe Gazette
"She choose to create a children's book about her hometown because not
enough books have been written about the area."
—ANDREA MASON, The (Fort Dodge) Messenger
SKY ALL AROUND
Story by Sarah Shey
Illustrations by
Dustin Kelly
Publication date:
June 2005
ISBN: 1-4120-4377-8
Pages: 16
Price: $12
Ages: 1+
There is a little town in Iowa. It is surrounded by farms. One day you might go there and hear the noon whistle blow—and see the water tower, tin soldier tall, and sky all around.
