Hutchins, Pat 1942-

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HUTCHINS, Pat 1942-

PERSONAL: Born June 18, 1942, in Yorkshire, England; daughter of Edward (a soldier) and Lilian (Crawford) Goundry; married Laurence Hutchins (a film director), July 21, 1965; children: Morgan, Sam. Education: Attended Darlington School of Art, 1958-60, and Leeds College of Art, 1960-62.

ADDRESSES: Home—75 Flask Walk, London NW3 1ET, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: J. Walter Thompson (advertising agency), London, England, assistant art director, 1963-65; freelance writer and illustrator, 1965—.

AWARDS, HONORS: Kate Greenaway Award, Library Association (England), 1974, for The Wind Blew.

WRITINGS:

SELF-ILLUSTRATED; FOR CHILDREN

Rosie's Walk, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1968.

Tom and Sam, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1968.

The Surprise Party, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1969.

Clocks and More Clocks, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1970.

Changes, Changes, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1971.

Titch, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1971.

Goodnight, Owl, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1972.

The Wind Blew, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1974.

The Silver Christmas Tree, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1974.

Don't Forget the Bacon, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1976.

The Best Train Set Ever, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1978.

Happy Birthday, Sam, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1978.

One-Eyed Jake, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1979.

The Tale of Thomas Mead, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1980.

One Hunter, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1982.

You'll Soon Grow into Them, Titch, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1983.

King Henry's Palace, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1983.

The Very Worst Monster, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1985.

The Doorbell Rang, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1986.

Where's the Baby?, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1988.

Which Witch Is Which?, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1989.

What Game Shall We Play?, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1990.

Tidy Titch, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1991.

Silly Billy, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1992.

My Best Friend, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1992.

Little Pink Pig, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1993.

Three Star Billy, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1994.

Titch and Daisy, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1996.

Shrinking Mouse, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1997.

It's My Birthday!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1999.

Ten Red Apples, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2000.

We're Going on a Picnic!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2001.

FOR CHILDREN; ILLUSTRATED BY HUSBAND, LAURENCE HUTCHINS

The House That Sailed Away, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1975.

Follow That Bus, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1977.

The Mona Lisa Mystery, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1981.

The Curse of the Egyptian Mummy, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1983.

Rats, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1989.

Also creator of a 26-part stop-action puppet television series based on her Titch characters, released in England in 1997.

ADAPTATIONS: Clocks and More Clocks, Rosie's Walk, The Surprise Party, and Changes, Changes have all been made into filmstrips by Weston Woods.

SIDELIGHTS: Pat Hutchins is the author of many self-illustrated children's books. Her best-known character is Titch, a little boy, his best friend Daisy, and his cat, Tailcat. The Titch characters have appeared in a series of picture books for young readers and have also been adapted for television, with scripts written by Hutchins and directed by her husband, Laurence. According to the essayist for the St. James Guide to Children's Writers, Hutchins is "an excellent storyteller" whose "every picture book is a magnet for young listeners and readers."

Hutchins is especially noted for children's books that use humor in presenting sometimes complex situations. The essayist for the St. James Guide to Children's Writers noted that Hutchins's first picture book, Rosie's Walk, was particularly outstanding: "Rosie's Walk has a text of a mere thirty-six words. It is a picture book, of course, and its art work (which shows Rosie the hen going for a walk 'across the yard, around the pond . . . past the mill . . . under the beehives' and getting home in time for dinner) is strong and attractive. But it is neither the thirty-six words on their own nor the art work on its own that would entitle Hutchins to her entry: it is the brilliant interplay of the two, the assured use of dramatic irony. For young children listening to the story of Rosie, walking, will never hear a mention of the fox who, they can see from the pictures, is one step behind her, always tripped up (whether accidentally or intentionally is Hutchins's secret) by the strutting hen."

The Mona Lisa Mystery, also, is "superior children's fare . . . with enough humorous episodes to make readers of all ages laugh," Laurel Graeber stated in the Christian Science Monitor. While the critic believed that the mystery may present some vocabulary problems for younger readers, she nevertheless encouraged the reading of the book: "It's just too good to miss." Called "a major British illustrator/author" by Chicago Tribune Book World contributor Zena Sutherland, Hutchins presents a "convincing" blend of "fanciful and realistic elements" in The Very Worst Monster, a story of monster sibling rivalry. Calling the book "witty and whimsical," Toronto Globe and Mail writer Sandra Martin praised the author for "us[ing] the monster theme exquisitely and to gruesome advantage in dealing with the ultimate wicked sibling fantasy. [Hutchins] has a keen respect for children and an understanding for how they respond to situations." As Nancy Schmidtmann concluded in School Library Journal, "Hutchins is completely original in her treatment. . . . [The Very Worst Monster is] a monstrously wonderful addition to any picture book collection."

In the stories featuring the little boy Titch, Hutchins writes for a very young audience. In Titch and Daisy, for example, Titch goes to a birthday party only because he has been told that his friend Daisy will be there. When he arrives and cannot find her, Titch hides behind a sofa and in a cupboard, too shy to participate with the other children. But when he hides under the table, he finds that Daisy is also hiding there, just as scared of meeting strangers as he is. Hanna B. Zeiger of Horn Book Magazine found Titch and Daisy to be "a pleasant portrayal of young children's dilemma when facing a new situation."

Hutchins first based the character of Titch on her sons Morgan and Sam, who are now in their thirties. Taking the popular character from print to television was a challenge. In an article posted on the Titch Web site, Hutchins explained: "When I was writing the Titch books, the only other person involved was my editor. Suddenly I was co-operating with crowds—directors, animators, puppet makers, model makers, actors and commissioning editors." Puppets are made of each character and they are then filmed a frame at a time in different poses to make them seem to be moving. Hutchins explained in her article: "The puppets have to be sculpted in clay before the heads are cast in resin. The skeletons, or armatures, are made of special metals to high precision standards to withstand the variations in temperature that the puppets are subjected to, every day for nine months. Three puppets of each character are needed as the animators can be working on three different stages at any one time. The puppet maker worked from my original Titch drawings and it was wonderful witnessing Titch becoming three-dimensional."

Hutchins once told CA: "To me, the most important thing about a children's picture book is that it should be logical, not only the story, but the layout, too. To a very small child, an opened book is one page, not two—he doesn't see the gutter as a dividing line.

"I like to build my stories up, so the reader can understand what is happening and, in some cases, anticipate what is likely to happen on the next page. I think one can get quite complicated ideas across to small children as long as they are presented in a simple, satisfying way."

Hutchins added: "I was brought up in a small village in Yorkshire, the second youngest of seven children. As I loved drawing, I would wander round the countryside with my drawing book under my arm and my pet crow on my shoulder (he was too lazy to fly) and, while he searched for grubs, I sketched. Books were my other love, so it was inevitable that I would go to art school and study illustration.

"I am often asked if the experience of having children makes it easier to produce books for young children. As Happy Birthday, Sam was written specifically for my son Sam, and Titch for my son Morgan, I have to reply 'Yes.' But it is a tentative 'yes.'

"I still believe that the best experience of childhood is having been a child yourself and recognizing the emotional upheaval of 'growing up.' As I had five older brothers and sisters, I can remember how Titch, being the youngest, felt. Remembering the birth of my baby brother, my sympathies switch to Hazel, the little girl monster in The Very Worst Monster, who gives her baby brother away in a last, desperate effort to divert some attention from the baby to herself. Growing up can be painful, with all the real and imagined injustices it involves, and I try to write stories that are reassuring to the very young reader.

"I am also asked if I tested my stories on my children. I did once, and it didn't work. Morgan, who was 'into' space travel, said he liked the story, but why didn't I have a spaceship in it? Sam, who loved animals, said he liked it, too, but why didn't I have an elephant in it? As I didn't feel capable of writing a story about an elephant in a spaceship, my market research was short-lived.

"I feel that ultimately you write to satisfy yourself and hope that your readers will be satisfied with your offering, too."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Bader, Barbara, A History of American Picture Books: From Noah's Ark to the Beast Within, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1976.

St. James Guide to Children's Writers, 5th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of Titch and Daisy, p. 1445; February 15, 1997, Ilene Cooper, review of Shrinking Mouse, p. 1026; June 1, 1999, Susan Dove Lempke, review of It's My Birthday!, p. 1842; May 1, 2000, John Peters, review of Ten Red Apples, p. 1678; March 1, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of We're Going on a Picnic!, p. 1142.

Chicago Tribune Book World, June 9, 1985, Zena Sutherland, review of The Very Worst Monster.

Children's Literature Newsletter, July, 1996, Carol Hurst, "Pat Hutchins."

Christian Science Monitor, October 14, 1981, Laurel Graeber, review of The Mona Lisa Mystery.

Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 30, 1985, Sandra Martin, review of The Very Worst Monster.

Horn Book Magazine, May-June, 1996, Hanna B. Zeiger, review of Titch and Daisy, p. 325; May-June, 1997, Marilyn Bousquin, review of Shrinking Mouse, p. 308.

New York Times Book Review, April 17, 1977; April 25, 1982.

Publishers Weekly, August 24, 1992, review of Silly Billy!, p. 79; April 5, 1993, review of My Best Friend, p. 76; October 3, 1994, review of Three-Star Billy, p. 68; February 24, 1997, review of Shrinking Mouse, p. 91; September 6, 1999, review of Where's the Baby?, p. 106; May 22, 2000, review of Ten Red Apples, p. 92; January 21, 2002, review of We're Going on a Picnic!, p. 89.

School Library Journal, May, 1985, Nancy Schmidtmann, review of The Very Worst Monster; April, 1996, Carolyn Noah, review of Titch and Daisy, p. 110; April, 1997, Marianne Saccardi, review of Shrinking Mouse, p. 106; March, 1999, Gay Lynn Van Vleck, review of It's My Birthday!, p. 176; May, 2000, Beth Tegart, review of Ten Red Apples, p. 144; October, 2001, Teresa Bateman, review of audiocassette version of The Doorbell Rang, p. 88; March, 2002, Rosalyn Pierini, review of We're Going on a Picnic!, p. 190.

Teacher Librarian, June, 2000, Shirley Lewis, review of Ten Red Apples, p. 50.

Times Literary Supplement, March 27, 1981; May 24, 1985.