"Words are wings of our imagination, but pictures are the final destination."

Mike Wimmer

OETA recently won an Emmy for a documentary portrait on Mike showcasing how he got his start as an illustrator. We have posted the videos here for your enjoyment. Flight By Robert Burleigh, Illustrations by Mike Wimmer Flight. Loneliness. Fear. Danger. The courage to dream.    Charles Lindbergh didn't know he would ever see Paris when he left Long Island early that morning in May 1927. But he did know that he had to try. He had a dream and he knew he had to make it real. He was just twenty-five years old.    Many thought he was foolish, too young to know better. No one before him had ever flown across the Atlantic alone without a stop. Why did this Lindbergh think he could? With no radio or parachute, and only two compasses and the stars to guide him, Lindbergh set off on his journey. The rest is history.    In Robert Burleigh's vivid, intimate telling, experience Charles Lindbergh's thirty-three and a half hours across the Atlantic as if you were there. Coupled with Mike Wimmer's bold, dramatic paintings, Flight is an extraordinary story of courage and endurance that will inspire anyone who has ever will inspire anyone who has ever followed a dream.

Home Run By Robert Burleigh, Illustrations by Mike Wimmer    Babe, the legend. The man who made the game of baseball. George Herman Ruth.    But he wasn't always the Babe. One day, long ago, he was a boy playing baseball on a dirt lot. He hit the ball deep and far with his quick, strong swing. But he did not know that his swing would change the game of baseball. Forever.    Told from the moment of one at-bat and supplemented with vintage-style baseball cards detailing career highlights, this is the story of George Herman Ruth Jr. - a story of heroism, talent, and the will to be the best.

All the Places to Love By Patricia MacLachlan, Illustrations by Mike Wimmer    On the day Eli is born, his grandmother holds him up to the window, so that what he hears first is the wind, and what he sees first are all the places to love: the valley, the river falling down over rocks, the hilltop where blueberries grow. Everyone in Eli's family has a favorite place, and Eli will grow up knowing that no matter where the rest of his life takes him, all the places to love are right here, connected to a way of life that has time for affection and simple pleasures.    Patricia MacLachlan and Mike Wimmer have crafted a moving homage to the American farm, re-creating all the glory and sweet simplicity of on family's connection to the land. Animation of Book

Summertime By George Gershwin, Dubose Heyward, Dorothy Heyward, Ira Gershwin, Illustrations by Mike Wimmer    Summertime and the livin' is easy, fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high...    Nothing captures the feelings of summer better than the much-loved song from Porgy and Bess, "Summertime." Its majestic imagery and deep spirituality touch listeners today as they have for generations. Now, with acclaimed illustrator Mike Wimmer's lush oil paintings depicting a family's routine one summer day earlier in this century, an American classic takes on a whole new meaning. Including the score of the song, Summertime is both a gentle book for family sharing and a lavish gift to be treasured.    ...there's a nothin' can harm you with Daddy and Mama standin' by.

Train Song By Diane Siebert, Illustrations by Mike Wimmer Out in back Railroad track clickety-clack clickety-clack    Here are all kinds of trains coming and going. A train rolling through the countryside, past forest greens and desert browns. A train rushing past cities, suburbs, and little towns. A train rumbling through a tunnel and gliding, air brakes squealing, into the station where eager passengers wait to board.    Diane Siebert's rhyming text captures the very essence of the sound and feel of these mighty machines as they crisscross the land. Mike Wimmer's magnificent paintings are lush, evocative, and full of changing light.

Will Rogers By Frank Keating, illustrations by Mike Wimmer Will Rogers heeded the call of adventure from the time he was very young. As a boy, he learned to ride and rope as well as anyone, and he dreamed of touching distant skies. As a man, he traveled the four corners of the globe with a grin on his face and a smile in his heart, and he never met a man he didn’t like. In Will Rogers, Frank Keating and Mike Wimmer sensitively capture Will Rogers’ humanity, voice, and spirit. A larger-than-life figure of the twentieth century, Will Rogers lived by his own rules of modesty, plain living, friendship, and family. His life was the American dream.   Theodore by Frank Keating, paintings by Mike Wimmer His name was Theodore, but he is remembered as Teddy. As a young boy, he was a dreamer and a reader and had a curiosity about life he could never satisfy. As the youngest man ever to be president, he led a nation to greatness and he made every day count. Frank Keating's telling of incidents in Roosevelt's rich and varied life reminds readers how one person can make a difference. Mike Wimmer's exuberant paintings make Roosevelt come to life a century after his presidency. Down load a poster for "Theodore" Download an activity sheet about "Theodore"   Stealing Home  Few baseball players have inspired more books — for children or adults — than Jackie Robinson, who in 1947 became the first black in the major leagues. Stealing Home, through text and paintings, tells his story in a different way, framed around a brief shining moment in Robinson's storied career. In the opening game of the 1955 World Series (when the Brooklyn Dodgers finally beat the New York Yankees), he boldly stole home; "… and then the wild, dust-cloud-heaving slide and quick foot under the too-late tag." It notes Jesse Jackson's 1972 funeral eulogy: "Jackie danced on the base paths, but it was more than a game." "One Giant Leap" My new book "One Giant Leap", is another collaboration with my old friend Robert Burliegh, it is to be released in April, 2009. It is the  bookend of our first book together, "Flight. The Story of Charles Lindbergh". It is amazing to think that only 42 years separated  the two events that these two books remember; Lindberg's first flight across the Atlantic and Armstrong's first step on the moon. On July 20, 1969, as Americans sat glued to their televisions and radios, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did the seemingly impossible- something humans had dreamed of doing for centuries: They traveled 240,000 miles through space and set foot on the moon. One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.   View the videos showcasing how Mike got his start as an illustrator. We have posted the videos here for your enjoyment.   To order books from Mike, complete this order form and mail it to Mike. Please be sure to include payment with your order.   Mike's Calendar