Phil 3:17 Portrait - Tessa Colina

Philipians 3:17 - Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.

While attending a church book sale a few years ago, I came across the book pictured below. I bought it only for the curiosity of owning an older children's book about the Bible. Finally in preparation for some new articles this Easter, I picked this book up and took a closer look.  It is filled with great poems and stories about the life of Christ for the child's level.

Cover & dust jacket for "Bible Stories About Jesus" by Tessa Colina.
Standard Publishing. 1954

Then I took a closer look at the author's name. "Tessa Colina". It is a distinct name I thought, so I must do some research on her.

Tessa Mae Patterson Adams Colina 

November 16, 1915 - February 24, 2003

Tessa Colina was the author of at least 24 books for children and families about the Bible and biblical teaching. All of Colina's books were published by David C. Cook and/or  Standard Publishing where she was a writer and publisher for over 40 years. Her books touched on arts and crafts ("Fingerplay and How To Use Them", 1952), church youth education & program services ("A Year of Programs For Children's Church", 1962), and adaptations of Bible stories ("Bible Stories About Jesus", 1954).

A lot of information is not available online about Colina's life outside of what is printed in her brief obituary. Also look at her "Find A Grave" page.

The following is not a complete bibliography of Colina's books, but may be close based on what is available in libraries listed in World Cat: This listing is also available in World Cat

Colina, Tessa. 1949. Stories from Daniel. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing.

Colina, Tessa. 1952. Fingerplays and how to use them. Cincinnati: Standard Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa. 1952. How to conduct the primary department. Cincinnati: Standard Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa. 1954. How to conduct a vacation Bible school. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa. 1954. Bible stories about Jesus. Cincinnati: Standard.

Colina, Tessa. 1954. My Bible dictionary: with pictures. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa, and Vera Kennedy Gohman. 1955. Ark full of animals. Cincinnati, Ohio: The Standard Publishing Foundation.

Gohman, Vera Kennedy, and Tessa Colina. 1955. Ark full of animals. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa, and Romilda Dilley. 1960. Children in Bible lands: stick-on art. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa, and Romilda Dilley. 1960. Noah and the animals: stick-on art. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa. 1962. A year of programs for children's church. Cincinnati: Standard.

Colina, Tessa. 1963. Pattern book: ideas & patterns for decorations, teaching aids, handcraft. Elgin, Ill: D.C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1963. Missionary programs for the church. Cincinnati: Standard.

Colina, Tessa. 1963. Christmas programs for the church. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa. 1963. Easter programs for the church. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa. 1965. As we saw it. Chicago: D.C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1965. Tested ideas for presession activities. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1966. Easter program helper. Franklin, Ohio: Eldridge Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa. 1968. Tested ideas for socials. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1969. Christmas program helper number 15: program ideas for the Sunday School. Elgin, Ill: David C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1971. Christmas program helper number 16. Elgin, Ill: David C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1978. Jesus and me: 52 lessons on the life of Jesus with stories, illustrations, and activities. Cincinnati: Standard Pub.

Moncure, Jane Belk, Tessa Colina, and John Bolt. 1980. You and me: a handbook about needs. Elgin, Ill: Child's World.

Colina, Tessa, Jean Shannon, and Dan Loprieno. 1981. Tom's terrible secret. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa, Hertha Depper, and Marianne Lindgren. 1986. Den första julen. Örebro: Evangeliipress.

Phil. 3:17 Portrait - Jack Hamm, Centennial of a Life and Art Dedicated to God

Philipians 3:17 - Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.

"Who Wrote The Great Book?" From the Grace Bible Fellowship Collection.

Jack Beaumont Hamm (March 5, 1916 - December 22, 1996)

In my honest opinion, all how-to drawing and cartooning books pale in comparison to the finely detailed writings of Jack Hamm. The (still) best selling author, cartoonist, teacher and minister was born 100 years ago this week. In this blog post I would like to share a bibliography of links to biographies and collections of his amazing art so that more would be instructed and touched by how his work and his life were used for God.

"The Bible's Advice" from the Grace Bible Fellowship Collection.

ONLINE BIOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES

Jack Hamm Graphics - Grace Bible Fellowship
Hamm personally gave copies of his art to this ministry for use of spreading the Gospel.
http://www.gbfc-tx.org/Pages/Jack%20Hamm.html
Wayback Machine Link for titles and bio: https://web.archive.org/web/20161106043524/http://www.gbfc-tx.org/Pages/Jack%20Hamm.html 

Jack Hamm biography - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hamm

Jack Hamm profile - Christian Comics International
http://www.christiancomicsinternational.org/pioneers1.html#Anchor-JACK-48213

Dorisnel Hamm Sims - Obituary for Jack's wife of 52 years.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dallasmorningnews/obituary.aspx?n=dorisnel-hamm-sims&pid=138073673

Grave of Jack and Dorisnel Hamm, Gordo, Alabama. "Art and Life Dedicated To God"
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=128120570

Ryan, Terri Jo. "Baylor grad Jack Hamm combined faith with love of illustrating". Waco Tribune
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/waco_history/baylor-grad-jack-hamm-combined-faith-with-love-of-illustrating/article_b738c08a-e131-573c-a208-d714e58ab049.html

"Come Now, And Let Us Reason Together". From the Grace Bible Fellowship Collection.

PUBLISHED BOOKS
Note: Some of the dates listed are of reprints, currently available in libraries worldwide. To find out if your local library has any of these titles please look at my WorldCat listing for Jack Hamm.

Hamm, Jack. 1950. Christian democracy. Waco, Tex: Religious Drawings, Inc.

Hamm, Jack. 1954. Cartoons that live. Wheaton, Ill: Van Kampen Press.

Religious Drawings, Inc. (Waco, Tex.), and Jack Hamm. 1955. Race.

Hamm, Jack. 1958. The living Scriptures; religious drawings. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications.

Hamm, Jack. 1960. Jack Hamm's custom clip art for churches. Antioch, Tenn: Knight Media.

Hamm, Jack. 1961. He will answer; a book of cartoons. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.

Hamm, Jack. 1961. Saints alive; [the best in church humor]. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications.

Hamm, Jack. 1968. Drawing toward God; the art and inspiration of Jack Hamm. Anderson, S.C.: Droke House; distributed by Grosset & Dunlap, New York.

Hamm, Jack. 1974. Jack Hamm's custom clips for churches. Dallas, Tex: Cresendo Book.

Hamm, Jack. 1976. Still-life drawing and painting. New York: Grosset & Dunlap.

Hamm, Jack. 1978. How to draw scenery. Toronto: Coles.

Hamm, Jack. 1978. How to draw and paint still-life. Toronto: Coles.

Hamm, Jack. 1979. How to draw cartoons. Toronto: Coles.

Hamm, Jack. 1980. Drawing scenery: landscapes and seascapes. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap.

Hamm, Jack. 1982. How to draw animals. New York, N.Y.: Perigee Books.

Hamm, Jack. 1982. Cartooning the head & figure. New York: Perigee Books.

Hamm, Jack. 1982. Drawing the head and figure. New York: Perigee Books.

Hamm, Jack. 1982. Drawing scenery: landscapes and seascapes. New York, N.Y.: Perigee Books.

Hamm, Jack. 1985. Jack Hamm's custom clip art for churches, vol. 2. Antioch, Tenn: Knight Media.

Hamm, Jack. 1985. Jack Hamm's Handy clip art for church bulletin covers: 96 pieces of quality art work for 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" worship bulletins and newsletters on 27 different subjects. Antioch, TN (60 Benzing Road, Antioch 37013): Knight Media.

Hamm, Jack. 1985. Jack Hamm's illustrated clip art Bible verses. Antioch, Tenn: Knight Media.

Hamm, Jack. 1987. How to draw the figure. Toronto: Royce.

Hamm, Jack. 1988. First lessons in drawing and painting. New York, NY: Perigee Books.

Hamm, Jack. 1988. Jack Hamm's quality clip art for churches. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman Supplies.

Hamm, Jack. 1989. Jack Hamm's quality clip art for churches #2. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman Supplies.

Hamm, Jack. 1990. Drawing & cartooning for laughs. New York, NY: Perigee Books.

Hamm, Jack. 1991. Drawing and cartooning 1,001 faces, places, and things. New York, NY: Perigee Books.

Hamm, Jack. 1996. The stories and art of Jack B. Hamm. S.l: s.n.

MORE TO COME

I will post more about Hamm in the future and I especially hope to uncover more about his television program the "Jack Hamm Show" which he reportedly traveled over 100 miles weekly to shoot from KBTV and KRTC-TV out of Dallas, Texas.