Giblin, James Cross 1933-

PERSONAL:

Surname is pronounced with a hard "g"; born July 8, 1933, in Cleveland, OH; son of Edward Kelley (a lawyer) and Anna (a teacher) Giblin. Education: Attended Northwestern University, 1951; Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University), B.A., 1954; Columbia University, M.F.A., 1955.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. Office—Clarion Books, 215 Park Ave. S., New York, NY 10003.

CAREER:

Freelance writer, 1955—. Worked as a temporary typist and at the British Book Centre, 1955-59; Criterion Books, Inc., New York, NY, assistant editor, 1959-62; Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., New York, associate editor, 1962-65, editor, 1965-67; Seabury Press, Inc., New York, editor-in-chief of Clarion Books (for children), 1967-79, vice president, 1975-79; Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, editor and publisher of Clarion Books, 1979-89, contributing editor, 1989—. Adjunct professor at Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 1979-83.

MEMBER:

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (member of board of directors), Authors Guild, Children's Book Council (president, 1976).

AWARDS, HONORS:

American Library Association notable children's book citations, 1980, for The Scarecrow Book, 1981, for The Skyscraper Book, 1982, for Chimney Sweeps: Yesterday and Today, 1985, for The Truth about Santa Claus, 1986, for Milk: The Fight for Purity, 1987, for From Hand to Mouth, 1988, for Let There Be Light: A Book about Windows, 1990, for The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt, 1991, for The Truth about Unicorns, 1993, for Be Seated: A Book about Chairs, 1995, for When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, and AIDS, 1997, for Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero, and 2000, for The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin; Golden Kite Award for nonfiction, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), 1982, and National Book Award for children's nonfiction, 1983, both for Chimney Sweeps: Yesterday and Today; Golden Kite Award for nonfiction, SCBWI, 1984, for Walls: Defenses throughout History, and 1989, for Let There Be Light: A Book about Windows; Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book, 1986, for The Truth about Santa Claus; Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Award for Nonfiction, 1996, for body of work; Honor Book, Orbis Pictus Award for nonfiction, National Council of Teachers of English, 1998, for Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero, and 2001, for The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin; Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, American Library Association, for The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler, 2003.

WRITINGS:

My Bus Is Always Late (one-act play; produced in Cleveland, OH, at Western Reserve University, 1953), Dramatic Publishing, 1954.

(With Dale Ferguson) The Scarecrow Book, Crown (New York, NY), 1980.

The Skyscraper Book, illustrated by Anthony Kramer, photographs by David Anderson, Crowell (New York, NY), 1981.

Chimney Sweeps: Yesterday and Today, illustrated by Margot Tomes, Crowell (New York, NY), 1981.

Fireworks, Picnics, and Flags: The Story of the Fourth of July Symbols, illustrated by Ursula Arndt, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Walls: Defenses throughout History, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1984.

The Truth about Santa Claus, Crowell (New York, NY), 1985.

Milk: The Fight for Purity, Crowell (New York, NY), 1986.

From Hand to Mouth; or, How We Invented Knives, Forks, Spoons, and Chopsticks & the Table Manners to Go with Them, Crowell (New York, NY), 1987.

Let There Be Light: A Book about Windows, Crowell (New York, NY), 1988.

The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt, Crowell (New York, NY), 1990.

Writing Books for Young People (adult nonfiction), The Writer, Inc. (Boston, MA), 1990.

The Truth about Unicorns, illustrated by Michael McDermott, Harper (New York, NY), 1991.

Edith Wilson: The Woman Who Ran the United States, illustrated by Michele Laporte, Viking (New York, NY), 1992.

George Washington: A Picture Book Biography, illustrated by Michael Dooling, Scholastic Press (New York, NY), 1992.

Be Seated: A Book about Chairs, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1993.

Thomas Jefferson: A Picture Book Biography, illustrated by Michael Dooling, Scholastic Press (New York, NY), 1994.

When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, and AIDS, illustrated by David Frampton, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

(Reteller) The Dwarf, the Giant, and the Unicorn: A Tale of King Arthur (children's fiction), illustrated by Claire Ewart, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1997.

The Mystery of the Mammoth Bones: And How It Was Solved, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin, illustrated by Michael Dooling, Scholastic Press (New York, NY), 2000.

(Editor and author of introduction) The Century That Was: Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2000.

The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Secrets of the Sphinx, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, Scholastic Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2005.

The Boy Who Saved Cleveland: Based on A True Story (children's fiction), Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2006.

The Many Rides of Paul Revere, Scholastic Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Also author of a play based on William Styron's novel Lie Down in Darkness. Contributor of original short stories to anthologies, including Am I Blue? Coming out of the Silence, edited by Marion Dane Bauer, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994, and Tomorrowland: Stories about the Future, edited by Michael Cart, Scholastic Press (New York, NY), 1999. Contributor of articles and stories for children to Cobblestone, Cricket, and Highlights for Children, and of articles for adults to Children's Literature in Education, Horn Book, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Washington Post, Writer, and Writer's Digest.

SIDELIGHTS:

James Cross Giblin has been a major figure in the field of children's book publishing since the 1970s. Not only has he edited the work of many important authors during his years at Clarion Books, but Giblin himself has written many books for young readers. He has won awards and critical acclaim for his children's books, including Chimney Sweeps: Yesterday and Today, The Truth about Santa Claus, Let There Be Light: A Book about Windows, and Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero. Chimney Sweeps won the National Book Award for children's nonfiction in 1983.

As Giblin once explained: "Nonfiction books for children aged eight to twelve [give] me the opportunity to pursue my research interests, meet interesting and stimulating experts in various fields, and share my enthusiasms with a young audience. I try to write books that I would have enjoyed reading when I was the age of my readers." Giblin was born July 8, 1933, in Cleveland, Ohio. A shy, bookish child, he grew up in nearby Painesville. As a boy, he enjoyed the comic strip "Blondie," and, with his mother's help, he began drawing his own strips. Giblin once recalled: "I filled sketchbook after sketchbook with action-filled pictures drawn in boxes like those of the comics. Mother helped me to print the words I wanted to put in the balloons, and later I learned how to print them myself." Giblin also enjoyed going to the movies as a youngster, and he once noted: "My favorites weren't films made for children but spy movies set in Germany and Nazi-occupied areas such as Casablanca. I also liked melodramas starring emotional actresses like Bette Davis and Greer Garson, especially if they took place in exotic settings … or had to do with World War II."

In junior high, Giblin worked on the school paper, which helped him overcome some of his shyness. He reminisced in his autobiographical essay in Sixth Book of Junior Authors: "Robert K. Payne, my ninth-grade English teacher, did more than anyone to draw me out of my isolation. Mr. Payne encouraged his classes to try new things, including a mimeographed class newspaper. And he was determined that I should not only contribute pieces to the paper but also edit it." Giblin continued: "I backed away from the responsibility at first, as I backed away from so many things then. But Mr. Payne was persistent, and at last I allowed myself to become involved. Once I did, I discovered that I loved working with my classmates on the paper and thinking up ideas for each new issue."

Giblin discovered a new interest when he got to high school. He answered a notice in the local paper about auditions for a community theater production of the play Outward Bound, and, as he once recalled: "My parents drove me to the barn theatre on the outskirts of town, and I nervously entered the rustic auditorium. When I arrived home three hours later—one of the actors had given me a ride—I couldn't restrain my excitement. ‘I got a part! I got a part!’ I shouted as I raced through the darkened house to the back porch, where my parents were sitting. The director had cast me as the idealistic young Reverend Duke in the play, which tells the story of a group of English people traveling on an ocean liner who gradually realize that they have died and are on their way to Heaven … or to Hell." Giblin added: "As a shy youth of sixteen I might be reluctant to reveal my feelings, but I found I had no trouble expressing them through the character of the Reverend Duke. When the play was over and I walked to the center of the stage to take my bow, the applause seemed like an endorsement not just of my acting but of me personally. I felt a surge of confidence that I had never known before…. After Outward Bound I was hooked on the theatre. I tried out for and got parts in all of the Le Masque Club productions … at Harvey High School, and the following summer I was cast in the small but funny role of the Lost Private in a professional production of the comedy At War with the Army at Rabbit Run Theatre in nearby North Madison."

After graduating from high school, Giblin studied drama at Northwestern University. However, he was unhappy there, and after one semester he transferred to Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) near his parents's home. He did well; in addition to starring in many stage productions at Western Reserve, he won a contest to costar in a radio drama in New York City with actress Nina Foch. As Giblin gained experience on the stage, his ambitions changed. He once noted: "The actor has very little control over his situation, and I now knew that I wanted control. So I turned my attention to directing and playwriting." An experience with an old woman on a bus inspired him to write his first play, My Bus Is Always Late, which was produced locally and published by the Dramatic Publishing Company in 1954.

Soon after, Giblin began studying for a Master of Fine Arts degree in playwriting at Columbia University in New York. Upon earning it, he remained in New York City to write, supporting himself by working as a temporary office worker. He became involved in efforts to adapt William Styron's novel Lie Down in Darkness for the stage, but the project fell through for various reasons. This failure deeply affected Giblin. He once explained: "I'd put almost a year of hard work and anticipation into Lie Down in Darkness. I'd drawn on my deepest feelings in order to write it, and in the process it had become my personal statement as much as Styron's. I tried to start a new play in that late spring of 1957, but I discovered, painfully, that I'd already expressed most of what I had to say in Lie Down in Darkness."

After a recuperative visit home to Painesville, Giblin returned to New York in hopes of finding a more dependable career. He started out as a special order clerk at the British Book Centre, then joined the staff of Criterion Books in 1959, first as a publicity director, and later as an editor. He enjoyed the work, especially when given the opportunity to edit books for young readers. Deciding to concentrate solely on works for children, he moved on to Lothrop, Lee and Shepard in 1962.

While working at Lothrop, Giblin started to think about writing his own books. He once recalled: "In 1964, after editing J.J. McCoy's career book, The World of the Veterinarian, I decided to try writing a similar book about publishing, and drafted an outline for it and several sample chapters." Though a publisher expressed initial interest in the book, in the end, it was rejected since the potential market was felt to be too small. Giblin had ambivalent feelings, as he noted in his autobiographical essay in Sixth Book of Junior Authors: "I really wasn't sorry. While part of me wanted to resume my writing career, another part—remembering the Lie Down in Darkness experience—hung back from making the necessary commitment to it."

In the late 1960s, Giblin went to work for Seabury Press, where he was instrumental in developing the company's children's division, Clarion Books. In the 1970s, a trip to China inspired him to try another book project of his own—"an anthology of Chinese writings about the doings of Chinese young people in the years since the Communist Revolution of 1949," as he once described it. But this time the project did not go through because it was considered "too political." However, by this time Giblin was writing again, contributing articles about children's books to periodicals and lecturing at conferences of children's book writers and librarians.

In 1980, Giblin collaborated with Dale Ferguson on his first children's title, The Scarecrow Book. Since then, he has written many more children's nonfiction titles on a wide range of subjects, among them The Skyscraper Book, Walls: Defenses throughout History, and Let There Be Light, In 1989, Giblin decided he was tired of juggling his role as editor-in-chief of Clarion Books with his expanding career as a writer, so he retired to contributing editor status.

The author's children's books have continued to range far afield. Giblin has explored such topics as milk pasteurization, Fourth of July celebrations, eating utensils, chairs, plagues, and mammoth bones, among many others. Many reviewers have praised Giblin's ability to tell complex stories in a way that is simple, understandable, and entertaining. Elizabeth S. Watson, writing in a Horn Book review of The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt, stated that "the author has done a masterful job of distilling information, citing the highlights, and fitting it all together." New York Times Book Review contributor Philip M. Isaacson lauded Giblin's writing skills in Let There Be Light, noting that the author "has condensed a daunting body of material to provide young readers with a great deal of information about the evolution and technology of windows."

Some critics have also pointed out that Giblin's accounts, while easy to understand, are loaded with valuable detail. Giblin's "relaxed, affable manner belies the amount of information he offers," wrote Amy L. Cohn in a School Library Journal review of Chimney Sweeps. Other critics have observed that this wealth of information is derived from the author's painstaking research. "Giblin has such a flair for historic detail and research that he translates hordes of tales into a singular creation of Santa Claus," proclaimed a School Library Journal reviewer about The Truth about Santa Claus. An evaluation of the same book by a writer for the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books lauded Giblin's command of his subject, stating that the author had done "his usual good job of research and well-organized presentation." Reviewing Giblin's The Mystery of the Mammoth Bones: And How It Was Solved, a Publishers Weekly critic praised the author for having "the pacing of an ace detective [as he] unveils the painstaking steps in artist and naturalist Charles Willson Peale's 1801 discovery of mammoth bones."

In addition to his books about interesting subjects and events, Giblin has written biographies of such historical figures as founding fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, and aviator Charles Lindbergh. Like his earlier works, Giblin's nonfiction books continue to find favor with reviewers and young readers alike. For example, assessing Giblin's The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin, Ilene Cooper wrote in Booklist: "[His] writing is lively, and he wisely uses the story of Franklin's estrangement from his only living son, a Royalist, to heighten dramatic tension." Horn Book reviewer Mary M. Burns wrote of the same biography: "Giblin demonstrates his mastery of the historical-biographical genre—he knows how to define a theme, develop a narrative, and maintain his focus to the last sentence." Giblin's initial foray into fiction, The Dwarf, the Giant, and the Unicorn: A Tale of King Arthur, met with mixed reviews. Carolyn Phelan, writing for Booklist, praised it as a "good read-aloud," while a Publishers Weekly reviewer stated that Giblin's efforts were "without memorable results."

Giblin's The Century That Was: Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years is something of a departure for him, although it is a natural extension of his former work as an editor. He compiled and edited a collection of thematic essays by eleven noted children's writers, each one looking at a different aspect of life in America in the twentieth century. Hazel Rochman, writing in Booklist, pointed out that while editor Giblin made no effort to produce a "comprehensive" history, "the individual approaches, both personal and historical, will stimulate young people to look back and also forward to where we're going next." A Horn Book reviewer voiced a similar opinion, stating: "One of the older formulas of outstanding nonfiction … is the essay. It's back, and in fine fettle for a new generation of readers."

In The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler, Giblin questions what sort of man could design and carry out the horrific plans of the leader of "the thousand year Reich," how he was able to gain support for his crimes and genocide, and why he was not stopped. Giblin studies Hitler's middle-class childhood, his relationships, vegetarianism, rise to power and fall, as well as commenting on contemporary neo-Nazis, including members of the Aryan Nations organization, white power groups, and skinheads. A Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote that the volume "is so readable that it should hold younger readers and educate older ones who may need their brains refilled with the facts of history." School Library Journal reviewer Andrew Medlar described this volume as "a biography in the truest sense, this is a terrifying must for all libraries."

Giblin studies two famous brothers in Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John WilkesBooth. Both brothers were actors, and Edwin was considered the most accomplished of his time, but although he is considered the "good" brother, he also suffered from severe alcoholism. John Wilkes, the "bad" brother, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, but before that had been known as the happier and smarter of the brothers. Giblin follows the lives of the brothers through playbills, diaries, and photographs, as well as the writings of John Wilkes, penned before his capture. He notes the events that led to the assassination and John Wilkes's plans for aiding the Southern cause, an issue that divided the family. In reviewing Good Brother, Bad Brother for the School Library Journal, Jennifer Ralston wrote: "The writing is engaging and eminently readable, and presents history in a manner that is, in essence, consummate storytelling."

The Boy Who Saved Cleveland: Based on A True Story is a work of historical fiction that recounts how, in 1798, ten-year-old Seth Doan saved the tiny town of Cleveland, Ohio, consisting of just three log cabins, corn fields, and forest. The Doans had lost their other three sons, and they and their daughter, along with the other two families, were stricken with a form of malaria. By necessity, Seth handled all the chores without benefit of horse or mule and walked two miles each way to the mill, where he ground corn to keep his feverish family alive. He also did the same for the other families, in spite of the fact that he was also ill. Booklist reviewer Kay Weisman wrote that "this story feels like a natural extension of [Giblin's] highly respected nonfiction work."

Giblin has commented on the enjoyment that he derives from investigating the factual details of his subjects and how important this task is to his work. "I love research," the author told Publishers Weekly interviewer Wendy Smith. "I love going down to Washington on a vacation week and using the Library of Congress. I enjoy making things clear for readers—maybe ‘clear’ is a unifying word in my work as an author and editor."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Children's Literature Review, Volume 29, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1993.

Sixth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators, H.W. Wilson (Bronx, NY), 1989.

Something about the Author Autobiography Series, Volume 12, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1991.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Dwarf, The Giant, and the Unicorn: A Tale of King Arthur, pp. 666-667; February 15, 2000, Ilene Cooper, review of The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin, p. 1105; March 1, 2000, Hazel Rochman, review of The Century That Was: Reflections on the Last One Hundred Years, p. 1235; April 1, 2002, Todd Morning, review of The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler, p. 1336; May 1, 2005, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth, p. 1586; April 15, 2006, Kay Weisman, review of The Boy Who Saved Cleveland: Based on a True Story, p. 58.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September, 1985, review of The Truth about Santa Claus.

Horn Book, November-December, 1990, Elizabeth S. Watson, review of The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to Ancient Egypt, p. 758; March, 2000, review of The Century That Was, p. 211, May-June, 2000, Mary M. Burns, review of The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin, p. 333; May-June, 2002, Peter D. Sieruta, review of The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler, p. 346; May-June, 2005, Betty Carter, review of Good Brother, Bad Brother, p. 349.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2002, review of The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler, p. 411; May 1, 2005, review of Good Brother, Bad Brother, p. 539; March 1, 2006, review of The Boy Who Saved Cleveland, p. 229.

New York Times Book Review, March 12, 1989, Philip M. Isaacson, review of Let There Be Light: A Book about Windows; January 16, 1994, p. 20.

Publishers Weekly, July 26, 1985, Wendy Smith, "PW Interviews James Giblin," p. 169; November 11, 1996, review of The Dwarf, the Giant, and the Unicorn, p. 75; January 25, 1999, review of The Mystery of the Mammoth Bones; And How It Was Solved, p. 97; April 17, 2006, review of The Boy Who Saved Cleveland, p. 187.

School Library Journal, January, 1983, Amy L. Cohn, review of Chimney Sweeps: Yesterday and Today, p. 75; October, 1985, review of The Truth about Santa Claus, p. 192; May, 2002, Andrew Medlar, review of The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler, p. 170; April, 2005, review of Secrets of the Sphinx, p. 42; May, 2005, Jennifer Ralston, review of Good Brother, Bad Brother, p. 150; May, 2006, Pat Peach, review of The Boy Who Saved Cleveland, p. 88.

Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 2000, Leah J. Sparks, review of The Century That Was, p. 285.