Home The Christmas Story A Dream Vacation The Princess Tree Elephant Overboard! Christmas Cows
Carol J. Haile - Photo by John Pankratz - August, 2007
Carol J. Haile
Author, Illustrator, Calligrapher
Carol J. Haile has been writing stories since she was ten years old. She traces her family lineage to the Schwenkfelder District of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a region well known for its folk art and the exquisite Pennsylvania German frakturs and calligraphy created in that Pennsylvania “Dutch” area during the 1800’s. A juried calligrapher with the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, Carol J Haile is largely a self-taught artist who credits her love of craft and folk art to her Pennsylvania “Dutch” grandmother who instilled within her a sense of curiosity, practicality, and, most importantly, beauty.
THE CHRISTMAS STORY was the first book published by Carol J. Haile. The Christmas Story is a fascinating allegorical retelling of the first Christmas in the setting of the farmlands of a Pennsylvania Amish community using words taken directly from the gospels. The 60 page work is packed with Carol’s calligraphy and Pennsylvania German fraktur along with other paintings and illustrations of common events experienced in the everyday activities of the Amish Pennsylvania “Dutch” by Lancaster County, Pennsylvania artist Freiman F. Stoltzfus.
A DREAM VACATION is the second book written by Carol J. Haile. A Dream Vacation is a 32 page full color children’s picture book featuring a whimsical tale about a fascinating journey on the newly built Noah’s Ark. It is a tale about Joe and Amanda Panda, two pandas who seek to find A Dream Vacation full of sightseeing, concerts, parties, and, of course, time to relax and nap. The tale of A Dream Vacation is extensively illustrated throughout with richly expressive and colorful artwork by the distinguished, award winning artist Robert Miller of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
Carol's third book, THE PRINCESS TREE, is an artistic milestone. Carol not only authored the text but also illustrated the story. This 32 page children's picture book was inspired by Carol's visit to a fairy mound near Dublin, Ireland. Her fascination with Ireland's astonishingly beautiful "Book of Kells" emboldened her to illustrate her story in the time-honored tradition of a medieval illuminated manuscript.
In ELEPHANT OVERBOARD!, Carol revisits Noah's Ark. This humorous tale is yet another 32 page children's picture book illustrated by the author herself.
Carol's fifth book, CHRISTMAS COWS (A Mooving Alphabet - pun intended) features the Berks County cows which fascinated Carol as she grew up in Pennsylvania 'Dutch' country. The book showcases 40 pages of exquisitely rendered illumination and shows cows in a variety of humorous holiday situations.
Stay tuned! Book #6 is already in the works! Carol will return to the Ark for yet a third time with a tale told entirely in rhyme. This book should appear quite soon.........as soon as Carol is finished illustrating it!
So much to anticipate!
Carol was recently voted a prestigious Life Membership in the Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen. She lives in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, with her husband John. www.rbcrafts.org