Eugene Yelchin

Eugene Yelchin (born Yevgeny Arkadievich Yelchin, Russian: Евгений Аркадьевич Ельчин, born October 18, 1956) is a Russian-American artist best known as an illustrator and writer of books for children. His novel Breaking Stalin's Nose was awarded a Newbery Honor in 2012. His nephew was actor Anton Yelchin.

Yelchin was born in Leningrad, Russia, to a Jewish family. In 1979, Yelchin graduated from the St. Petersburg State Theater Academy. From 1979 to 1983 he designed sets and costumes for leading Russian theater companies including Alexandrinsky (Pushkin’s) Theater and Akimov Comedy Theater in St. Petersburg. In 1979-80, with a group of peers from the Theater Academy he co-founded Tomsk Children’s Theater in Siberia. In 1983 Yelchin emigrated to the United States. In 1988 Yelchin graduated from the Southern California Film School in Los Angeles and began directing TV commercials and illustrating advertising campaigns.

In 2006 at the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators conference Yelchin received Tomie DePaola Illustration Award and began writing and illustrating books for children. His books have been published by Scholastic Press, Henry Holt, HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, Roaring Brook Press, Clarion Books and Harcourt. In 2010 his illustrations for The Rooster Prince of Breslov received a National Jewish Book Award. In 2011/2012 Won Ton, A Cat Tale Told In Haiku that he illustrated received over forty awards. In 2012 Breaking Stalin’s Nose, a middle grade novel that he wrote and illustrated received Newbery Honor and has been translated into several languages.

Yelchin’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited along with former Soviet non-conformist artists in “Russian Revolutions: Generations of Russian Jewish Avant-Garde Artists” at the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture (2002), “Territories of Terror: Mythologies and Memories of the Gulag in Contemporary Russian-American Art” at Boston University (2006), and "Shattered Utopia: Russian Art of the Soviet and Post-Soviet Periods" at Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art (2010). Yelchin is a member of the Jewish Artists Initiative of Southern California. His paintings and drawings are represented by Sloane Gallery of Contemporary Russian Art.

(For Breaking Stalin's Nose)

• Newbery Honor Book
• Washington Post Best Children’s Book of the Year
• ALA Notable Children’s Book
• Booklist Top Ten Historical Fiction Book for Youth
• Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year
• Horn Book Best Children’s Book of the Year
• Junior Library Guild Selection
• Women’s National Book Association’s Judy Lopez Memorial Award Winner
• Michigan Library Association Mitten Award Recipient
• KS William Allen White Award
• Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choice
• Children’s Literature Council of Southern California Distinguished Work of Historical Fiction
• Children’s Choice Book of the Year in Russia

Yelchin created original storyboards for the popular Coca Cola Polar Bears campaign. He also created the illustrations for the opening credits of the HBO series Rome and designed characters for the animated feature Rango (2012 Oscar for Best Animated Feature).