ZooZical

About Judy Sierra

Poetry and folklore have enchanted me since childhood. My parents began reading poems to me when I was two years old, and they encouraged me to learn my favorite verses by heart. By the time I was in second grade, I was writing my school reports in rhyme. I also loved putting on plays with my friends. I wrote scripts and sewed costumes. Robin Hood and the Greek myths were my favorite dramatic inspirations.

After college, I wrote plays and adapted stories for children’s theater. With my husband, Bob Kaminski, I performed as a puppeteer and storyteller at schools, libraries and theaters. We were best known for our shadow puppet performances, and our shadow production of the Chinese story of Monkey King was featured at the Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theater.

In 1986, I heard a speech by children’s author and illustrator Uri Shulevitz. He remarked that a picture book is a small theater piece that an adult to presents to a child. I thought to myself, “I know a lot about small theaters and entertaining children. I should write a picture book.” Two years later, The Elephant’s Wrestling Match was accepted for publication. Like many of my subsequent children’s books, it was my retelling of a folktale.

I had long been fascinated by folktales. Why, I wondered, was the same story told in far distant regions, with so many variations? Why were folktales so much fun to dramatize and improvise upon? Why do children love them so much? In my search for answers to these questions, I enrolled in the Folklore and Mythology Program at UCLA, and received a Ph.D. in 1993. Today, I draw upon my academic studies to make my folklore books as authentic as possible. When I retell a folktale, I study the entire storytelling tradition of the culture as thoroughly as I can, and whenever possible I contact people from that culture to help me understand the meaning and importance of a tale. I attempt to translate not only the words of the story, but also to recreate the storytelling experience. In most cultures, storytelling is a participatory event, and so I endeavor to create texts that invite audience participation.

In my newest book, Schoolyard Rhymes, I celebrate another folk tradition, children’s rhymes. These poems, which have been enjoyed by generations of children, are laugh-out-loud funny. I hope the book will inspire parents, teachers, and grandparents to recall and share even more favorite schoolyard rhymes from their own childhoods. Meanwhile, I’m busy teaching handclapping rhymes to my 5-year-old granddaughter, Maxine, and helping her 6-month-old Alden learn Pat-a-Cake.

About Marc Brown

“The most interesting—and the funniest—things happen in real life.”—Marc Brown



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marc Brown is best known as the author and illustrator who created the beloved aardvark Arthur. This popular character was born one night over twenty years ago, when Brown was telling his oldest son, Tolon, a bedtime story. Most of the stories he told were about animals, and that night the story just happened to be about an aardvark. Brown has written and illustrated more than thirty Arthur and D.W. (Arthur’s little sister) books since then. He has also illustrated twelve other books with his wife—author, illustrator, and psychologist Laurie Krasny Brown.

As a child, Marc Brown’s passion for drawing was encouraged by his grandmother Thora, who saved his artwork in the bottom drawer of her bureau. “I knew it must be special,” recalls Brown, “because she didn’t save many things.” His grandmother later provided an education fund that helped Brown pay for art school. He attended the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1964 to 1969.

Grandma Thora is just one person in Marc Brown’s life who has afforded the inspiration for one of his characters. Many other characters are based on children he knew while he was growing up and going to school in Mill Creek, Pennsylvania. His sisters—Bonnie, Colleen, and Kimberly—have all served as models for his characters D.W. and Francine. Brown patterned Buster after Terry Johnson, his best friend in elementary school, while Mr. Ratburn is based on “the meanest algebra teacher ever.”

Brown was born in 1946 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Before he created the Arthur series, he worked at a variety of jobs, including stints as a truck driver, short-order cook, college professor, soda jerk, actor, chicken farmer, and television art director. Now, in addition to developing the Arthur television series on PBS, Brown continues to create new books both for Random House Children’s Books and Little, Brown & Company Children’s Books. The Arthur publishing program at Random House includes the Great Big Flap Books, Arthur’s Neighborhood and Arthur Goes to School, as well as the Step into Reading Sticker Books, Arthur’s Reading Race and Glasses for D.W. In addition, Brown has also created Arthur Mini-Play Books for younger readers, including Kiss Hello, Kiss Good-bye and Say the Magic Word. Arthur and D.W. outdo themselves in Arthur’s Really Helpful Word Book.

Marc Brown lives with his wife Laurie and their young daughter, Eliza. He also has two grown sons, Tolon and Tucker. Brown looks to his three children for inspiration and story ideas. He also gets many suggestions from children he meets in schools, libraries, and bookstores around the country.


PRAISE

ARTHUR’S FIRST KISS

—A New York Times Bestseller

Praise

Starred Review, PublishersWeekly, June 6, 2011:
"Teens have Glee, tweens have High School Musical, and with this snappy follow-up to Wild About Books younger siblings can delight in the joy of putting on a show...With humor and gusto, Brown's richly textured folk art–inspired pictures convey the characters' dramatic shift in moods and imbue them with abundant personality. Meanwhile, Sierra's riffs on familiar tunes guarantee that readings will be very musical affairs, with children enthusiastic participants."

Awards

WINNER 2011 National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) Honors Award

Teacher's Guide

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