Jane Dyer
I was just about to send off a pile of books for one of my favorite children's book illustrators to autograph & decided I'd talk about some of her work this time.
Jane Dyer lives in a restored home in Northampton, MA where I visited her & her adorable puppy (even though I'm not a dog person, this is an adorable pupply)almost 2 years ago. She took us to her country home about an hour away which is a very rustic ancient home on a vast amount of land that you can see in her book LITTLE BROWN BEAR WON'T TAKE A NAP (a book about hibernation but works for children & naps too). It's a 2 page spread just before the story starts & you see her little yellow VW bug parked in front of the house. The part that juts out the back of the main (yellow) house is her studio. Up the hill from the yellow house that is Little Brown Bear's house is really a play house for Jane's grandchildren. There you have THE most magnificant view of the countryside & millions of trees & is so green it hurts your eyes. So she has lots of inspiration right in front of her.
Little Brown bear is a character in a 3 book series. He is going through the normal growing pains of young children & is surrounded by a loving family. I use LITTLE BROWN BEAR WON'T GO TO SCHOOL at the beginning of the school year to let younger students know that a bit of anxiety about going to school is perfectly normal. The importance of school & learning subtly comes through.
Then there's LITTLE BROWN BEAR AND THE BUNDLE OF JOY about, you guessed it, a new baby in the family. The very real situation is dealt with in human terms & with humor--a good read for those families about to experience this event.
Some of Jane Dyer's other recent work includes illustrating MOVE OVER, ROVER! written by Karen Beaumont. The book received the 2007 T. Seuss Geisel Award for beginning readers. It's the classic story of THE MITTEN--too many animals crowded into the doghouse during a rain storm. Jane's yellow country house appears on page one in this book as well & I'm thinking Rover is that adorable puppy of hers. Illustrators often say they use animal characters because they are easier to draw than humans & this delightful story in rhyme is "chuck full" of forest animals.
An older favorite book Jane illustrated that I love is OH MY BABY, LITTLE ONE, written by Kathi Appelt. A very tender story of Mother leaving her child for the day. Mother's love is repeated in rhyme throughout her little one's activities till they meet again at the end of the day. A very sweet story and the illustrations are Jane's beautiful animals.
Along that same vein is WHEN MAMA COMES HOME TONIGHT by Eileen Spinelli but with human characters illustrated by Jane Dyer. Again written in rhyme, I get an old fashioned feel from the soft pastel colors but purple pops out too. It's no wonder Jane is in such high demand to illustrate, every book is beautiful.
And lastly ANIMAL CRACKERS is one of my favorite baby gifts: a delectable collection of pictures, poems and lullabies for the very young. If this is the only book a child had been exposed to before going to school, they would be ready to learn. Nursery rhymes, ABC's, colors, shapes, and animals--it's all here. Jane has illustrated many many more books & a Christmas book coming out soon.
I often find some very useful books at Bookmans at 19th Ave & Northern & at very good prices--NW corner, behind Walgreens. Also at the Half Price Book Store next to Target west of PV mall. Good children's sections.
Have fun reading to your someone special.
Cathy
