Gosline, Andrea Alban

PERSONAL:

Born in San Francisco, CA; married Carl Gosline; children: Jake, Lily.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Creative director and co-owner, Ambledance Pictures and Verse; lecturer on parenting topics; performer with musician Charity Kahn; owned a natural food store; taught healthy cooking to children; wrote lifestyle newspaper columns; produced large-scale events for the National Parks Association, the Salvation Army, and the American Heart Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Bank of America English Achievement Award.

WRITINGS:

(With Lisa Burnett Bossi and Ame Mahler Beanland) Mother's Nature: Timeless Wisdom for the Journey into Motherhood, illustrated by Lisa Burnett Bossi, foreword by Judy Ford, Conari Press (Berkeley, CA), 1999.

Welcoming Ways: Creating Your Baby's Welcome Ceremony with the Wisdom of World Traditions, illustrated by Lisa Burnett Bossi, Cedco Publishing (San Rafael, CA), 2000.

Little Moments of Peace: Daily Reflections for Mothers, illustrated by Lisa Burnett Bossi, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam (New York, NY), 2002.

January's Child: The Birthday Month Book, illustrated by Lisa Burnett Bossi, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2007.

Ten Little Wishes: A Baby Animal Counting Book, illustrated by Lisa Burnett Bossi, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Author, poet, and parenting expert Andrea Alban Gosline's works concentrate on children and how to best cherish them. Her books are designed to teach new parents how to understand and appreciate the new arrival in their family group. Her other works, many created in collaboration with business partner and illustrator Lisa Burnett Bossi, include greeting cards, journals, inspiration boxes, and calendars. Furthermore, Gosline works with musician Charity Kahn to bring creative activity into the lives of school children in the San Francisco Bay area. "She also speaks at parenting events, where she presents her talk, Calm and Confidence for the Parenting Journey, featuring peaceful practices every caregiver will benefit from," reported a contributor on the Web site Katz Connects. "Andrea believes that, young or old, we can each ‘be the peace we hope to know.’"

Mother's Nature: Timeless Wisdom for the Journey into Motherhood is a kind of commonplace book for expectant mothers: an eclectic collection of prose, poetry, songs, and prayers designed not to instruct new parents on the trip they are making, but to inspire and encourage them by sharing the joy of the voyage. In Mother's Nature, declared Julie Thompson on the Child Friendly Web site, Gosline creates a book "dedicated to the heart and soul of the journey" into parenthood. Welcoming Ways: Creating Your Baby's Welcome Ceremony with the Wisdom of World Traditions details ceremonies that help children understand that they are important, valued members of the family group. While some are intended for bringing a baby into the home for the first time, others can serve as birthday reminders of their place in the family. "It is never too late," said Thompson, "to welcome your child into the world, share your love with others, and create meaningful traditions that embrace our past and help define our future."

January's Child: The Birthday Month Book and Ten Little Wishes: A Baby Animal Counting Book are designed more to be shared with children rather than to advise adults. In the former, wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor, "Gosline outlines some of the personality traits associated with children born in that month, and uses similes to help children understand" how those traits affect them and the people they encounter. In Ten Little Wishes, explained Linda Staskus in School Library Journal, "a young girl announces that her family is going to take her infant sister outside to ‘meet baby animal friends / and hear the bright blessings around every bend.’" The work, part counting book and part welcoming ceremony, shows how the family introduces their baby to the animal world. "Every brightly colored double-page spread," Hazel Rochman wrote in Booklist, "depicts a loving welcome to a smiling world."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Ten Little Wishes: A Baby Animal Counting Book, p. 49.

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2006, review of January's Child: The Birthday Month Book, p. 1220.

School Library Journal, March, 2007, Linda Staskus, review of Ten Little Wishes, p. 162.

ONLINE

Child Friendly,http://www.childfriendly.org/ (January 8, 2008), Julie Thompson, reviews of Mother's Nature: Timeless Wisdom for the Journey into Motherhood and Welcoming Ways: Creating Your Baby's Welcome Ceremony with the Wisdom of World Tradition.

Katz Connects,http://www.katzconnects.com/ (January 8, 2008), brief biography of Andrea Alban Gosline.

Lisa Bossi and Andrea Gosline Home Page,http://www.ambledance.com (January 8, 2008).