TOBIAS, Tobi 1938-

PERSONAL: Born September 12, 1938, in New York, NY; daughter of William S. (a doctor) and Esther (Meshel) Bernstein; married Irwin Tobias (a college professor), September 4, 1960; children: Anne, John. Education: Barnard College, B.A., 1959; New York University, M.A., 1962.

ADDRESSES: Home—38 West 96th St., New York, NY 10025.

CAREER: Hudson Review, New York, NY, managing editor, 1959-60; Dance Magazine, New York, NY, contributing editor, 1971-76, associate editor, 1976-83, senior editor, 1983—. Instructor of seminars in dance style and criticism; adjunct associate professor of dance criticism, Barnard College, 1977—.

AWARDS, HONORS: Named Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog for her writing on the Danish ballet.

WRITINGS:

JUVENILES

Maria Tallchief, Crowell (New York, NY), 1970.

Marian Anderson, Crowell (New York, NY), 1972.

A Day Off, Putnam (New York, NY), 1973.

Isamu Noguchi: The Life of a Sculptor, Crowell (New York, NY), 1974.

The Quitting Deal, Viking (New York, NY), 1975.

Arthur Mitchell, Crowell (New York, NY), 1975.

Moving Day, Knopf (New York, NY), 1976.

An Umbrella Named Umbrella, Knopf (New York, NY), 1976.

Petey, Putnam (New York, NY), 1977.

That's a Good Question, four volumes, Children's Press (New York, NY), 1977.

Chasing the Goblins Away, Warne (New York, NY), 1977.

Jane, Wishing, Viking (New York, NY), 1977.

At the Beach, McKay (New York, NY), 1978.

How Your Mother and Father Met and What Happened After, McGraw (New York, NY), 1978.

The Man Who Played Accordian Music, Knopf (New York, NY), 1979.

How We Got Our First Cat, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1980.

The Dawdlewalk, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 1983.

Pot Luck, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 1985.

A World of Words: An ABC of Quotations, illustrated by Peter Malone, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard (New York, NY), 1997.

Crazy Aunt Anne from New York, illustrated by Christian Drury, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1998.

Serendipity, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2000.

The Ballerina Cat, illustrated by Dominic Catalano, Browndeer Press (San Diego, CA), 2000.

Wishes For You, illustrated by Henri Sorenson, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

TRANSLATIONS

(From the Danish) Ole Hertz, Tobias Catches Trout, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 1984.

(From the Danish) Hertz, Tobias Goes Ice Fishing, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 1984.

(From the Danish) Hertz, Tobias Goes Seal Hunting, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 1984.

(From the Danish) Hertz, Tobias Has a Birthday, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 1984.

(From the French) Poupa Montaufier, One Summer at Grandmother's House, Carolrhoda (Minneapolis, MN), 1985.

OTHER

(Compiler) Obsessed by Dress, illustrated by Chesley McLaren, Beacon Press (Boston, MA), 2000.

Contributor to oral history program of the Dance Collection, Lincoln Center Library of the Performing Arts, and to "An Oral History of the Royal Danish Ballet and Its Bournonville Tradition." Also contributor to Dance in America television series and to other television programs about dance. Contributor of articles to periodicals, including the New York Times. Member of editorial staff, The Compleat Parent, 1967-68; member of editorial board, Barnard Alumnae Magazine, 1973-76; advisory editor, Dance Scope, 1973-78; contributing editor, New York Dance, 1975-77; dance critic, SoHo News, 1979-81, and New York Magazine, 1980—.

ADAPTATIONS: Jane, Wishing was filmed for television by CBS-TV, 1982.

SIDELIGHTS: A distinguished dance critic, Tobi Tobias has also written a number of books for children. Among her children's titles are A World of Words: An ABC of Quotations and Serendipity. Tobias has also published Obsessed by Dress, a collection of quotations concerning fashion.

In A World of Words Tobias presents an A to Z listing of "one or two words, from Animal to Zoo, which thematically connect one, two or three quotations," as a critic for Publishers Weekly explained it. These quotations, many taken from well-known poems, are accompanied by a full-page illustrations. Hazel Rochman in Booklist thought the book would be "great for reading aloud and sharing." The critic for Publishers Weekly concluded that it would be "savored by anyone who takes pleasure in the sound of words and the images they inspire."

In a series of brief examples accompanied by illustrations, Tobias explains the word serendipity in the book of the same title. Some examples include: "Serendipity is when you find out you actually look better in glasses." and "Serendipity is meeting a squirrel—and having a peanut in your pocket." the critic for Publishers Weekly believed that "most of [Tobias's] examples include a nice twist." A reviewer for Family Life called Serendipity a "happy ode to life's unexpected blessings."

Obsessed by Dress is a collection of quotations chosen by Tobias to provide witticisms and wisdom about fashion from such commentators as RuPaul, Franz Kafka, Samuel Butler, and Goethe. A critic for Publishers Weekly believed that "clothes horses of all stripes" will welcome Tobias's book. According to Matthew Link in the Advocate, Obsessed by Dress is "a mandatory tome."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Advocate, November 21, 2000, Matthew Link, review of Obsessed by Dress, p. 66.

Back Stage, August 23, 2002, Leonard Jacobs, "Firing Flares Dance World," p. 1.

Booklist, April 1, 1993, Ilene Cooper, review of Pot Luck, p. 1442; October 1, 1998, Hazel Rochman, review of A World of Words, p. 333; May 15, 2003, Ellen Mandel, review of Wishes For You, p. 1673. Dance Magazine, October, 2000, review of Obsessed by Dress, p. 97.

Family Life, December 1, 2000, review of Serendipity, p. 127.

Publishers Weekly, June 10, 1983, review of The Dawdlewalk, p. 65; July 19, 1985, review of One Summer at Grandmother's House, p. 53; July 6, 1998, review of A World of Words, p. 58; August 28, 2000, review of Serendipity, p. 82; September 25, 2000, review of Obsessed by Dress, p. 107.

School Library Journal, February, 1980, Marilyn Singer, review of The Man Who Played Accordian Music, p. 50; November, 1985, Lorraine Douglas, review of One Summer at Grandmother's House, p. 88; May, 1993, Cyrisse Jaffee, review of Pot Luck, p. 92; September, 1998, Ronald Jobe, review of A World of Words, p.227; November, 2000, Sue Sherif, review of Serendipity, p. 135.*