Robert’s Snow: Molly Idle

It’s time for another Snowflake! By now, many of you have heard of Robert’s Snow, but on the rare chance that this is completely new to you, here is a quick overview. If you’ve read this before, skip down to see today’s snowflake.

Robert’s Snow was started in 2004 by Children’s illustrator Grace Lin when her husband Robert was diagnosed by with a rare form of cancer. That year, Grace gathered several children’s book illustrators together to each create a unique snowflake that could be auctioned off to raise funds for cancer research. Since it’s beginning, Robert’s Snow has raised over $200,000 dollars for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

And here’s Molly Idle’s 2007 snowflake: “Jolly Old St. Pinniped” (Make sure you click on the picture itself to enlarge it. Otherwise, it is impossible to fully appreciate this wonder.)

For those of you who don’t know Pinnipeds are marine mammals in the seal and walrus family. This snowflake has a walrus, but I love the Puffin “reindeer” too. I was unable to find out which auction this is part of, but I will let you know as soon as I can! Meanwhile, you can view the Robert’s Snow homepage for specific auction details.

Now I know you came here to learn about the artist too, so here we are:

After graduating from college, Molly Schaar Idle moved to Los Angeles, CA where she worked as an animator for five years with DreamWorks Animation. Including her work on Sinbad, The Road to El Dorado, and Spirit, she’s also done work on PBS’s Liberty Kids and Disney’s Lion King 1 ½.

In 2003, she decided to start a career as a children’s book author. Her first book, titled Emma’s Gift is now in it’s third printing. She is currently working on her In God We Trust series for Abingdon Press. Each of these books uses coins as a metaphor for life, and the illustrations are just darling!

Molly Idle currently lives in Arizona with her husband, two sons, and three cats (my kind of person!). To view her amazing online portfolio, hop on over to her website.