Fearrington, Ann (Peyton) 1945-

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FEARRINGTON, Ann (Peyton) 1945-

PERSONAL:

Born August 25, 1945, in Winston-Salem, NC; daughter of James Cornelius Pass (a physician) and Florence (a homemaker; maiden name: McCanless) Fearrington; married Hege Hill Russ, September 7, 1967 (deceased); married Vance Edwin Cox, Jr. (in sales), June 17, 1985; children: Charles Jonathan Cox, James Pass Fearrington Russ, Joseph Peyton Fearrington Russ. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Attended Randolph-Macon Woman's College; University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, B.A. (English and secondary education); North Carolina State University, M.A. (botany and horticulture). Religion: Methodist. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, painting, watching TV (especially football, baseball, and basketball), Web surfing, movies, button collecting, lap swimming.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—820 Lake Boone Trail, Raleigh, NC 27607. Agent—George Nicholson, Sterling Lord Literistic, 65 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, artist, and educator. Writer-in-residence, Raleigh-Wake County Schools, North Carolina, 1997-2000. Has worked as a middle school teacher of language arts, drama, and Latin; a designer of gardens; and a school library volunteer. Exhibitions: North Carolina Museum of Art, one-artist show of paintings from Christmas Lights, 1996.

MEMBER:

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, International Reading Association, Beatrix Potter Society, Wake County Reading Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Winner, national Clairol essay contest, 1991; Pick of the Lists selection, American Booksellers Association, for Christmas Lights; Newspaper Association of America Literacy Award, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Literacy Award, and James B. Hunt Literacy Award, North Carolina Reading Association, all for The Little Green Book: Eighteen Keys to Your Child's Reading Success.

WRITINGS:

(And illustrator) Christmas Lights, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1996.

The Little Green Book: Eighteen Keys to Your Child's Reading Success, Raleigh News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), 1998.

Teacher and Librarian Guide for The Little Green Book: Eighteen Keys to Your Child's Reading Success, Raleigh News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), 1999.

Who Sees the Lighthouse?, illustrated by Giles Laroche, Putnam (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor of poems to literary magazines. The Little Green Book has been published in Spanish as Pequeño Libro Verde, Raleigh News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), 2000.

SIDELIGHTS:

Ann Fearrington found the inspiration for her children's holiday book, Christmas Lights, in a family tradition she thought was restricted to her geographic area in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, but which was actually a nationwide ritual. While growing up, Fearrington and "her family would jump in the car and cruise the displays of Christmas lights neighbors had fashioned," wrote Megan Garvey in News & Observer (Raleigh, NC). "She thought it was a Winston-Salem thing. When she moved to Raleigh and the folks did the same, she thought it was a North Carolina thing. In Louisiana, a decade ago, she changed her mind." Fearrington realized that the fascination with Christmas lights, and the sense of holiday and celebration surrounding them, was something found in communities around the country.

Her insight sparked the idea for Christmas Lights, written and illustrated by Fearrington. In the book, a mother, father, and their pajama-wearing children climb into their station wagon one Christmas Eve to take a trip through the neighborhood, admiring the lights and holiday displays. On this dark, cold night, the family sees lights adorning factories, office buildings, balconies, trees, spires, and houses. Alliterative prose and descriptive language combine with Fearrington's pastel drawings as the family realizes that the lights they like best of all are the ones on their own Christmas tree in their own home. Kathy Broderick, writing in Booklist, remarked that the artwork is "well composed" and "capture[s] the thrill" of the holiday lights. A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that Fearrington's account "is bound to inspire many a Christmas Eve drive."

Fearrington worked on the text of Christmas Lights for a year and on the nine illustrations for another year, Garvey wrote. Without high expectations, she submitted the package to one of her favorite children's book publishers, fully expecting rejection. "But the rejection never came," Garvey wrote. Four days after submitting it, "I got a call from Houghton Mifflin," accepting the book, Garvey quoted Fearrington as saying. "I just about fainted."

A former middle school teacher with a B.A. in English and secondary education and an M.A. in botany and horticulture, Fearrington is a strong advocate of literacy and is also the author of The Little Green Book: Eighteen Keys to Your Child's Reading Success. In addition, she wrote and illustrated the Teacher and Librarian Guide for The Little Green Book: Eighteen Keys to Your Child's Reading Success, a guidebook for educators. She is also the creator of StudioAnn.com, an online resource for children, parents, librarians, and teachers.

The author's 2002 work, Who Sees the Lighthouse?, follows a counting book format as a variety of friendly people and animals are illuminated by a lighthouse's beacon, beginning with one sailor, then two pilots, three seagulls, and more. Even pirates and aliens are able to see the lighthouse in Fearrington's book. She also includes a collection of facts on lighthouses, their history, and their locations throughout the United States. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the book "A handsome salute to a seafaring institution—and proof that even grownups take comfort in nightlights."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1996, Kathy Broderick, review of Christmas Lights, p. 136; November 15, 2002, Ilene Cooper, review of Who Sees the Lighthouse?, p. 609.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 1996, review of Christmas Lights, p. 1531; June 15, 2002, review of Who Sees the Lighthouse?, p. 879.

News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), December 5, 1996, Megan Garvey, "Point of Light: Ann Fearrington's bright idea turned a childhood tradition into a Christmas story for children."

Publishers Weekly, September 30, 1996, review of Christmas Lights, p. 89; June 17, 2002, review of Who Sees the Lighthouse?, p. 63.

School Library Journal, October, 1996, Jane Marino, review of Christmas Lights, p. 35; October, 2002, Laurie von Mehren, review of Who Sees the Lighthouse?, p. 105.

Summit Echoes, fall, 1996, "Childhood Memories Illuminate Christmas Lights."