Wayland, April Halprin 1954-

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WAYLAND, April Halprin 1954-

PERSONAL: Born April 20, 1954, in Los Angeles, CA; daughter of Leahn J. (a farmer) and Saralee (a concert pianist; maiden name, Konigsberg) Halprin; married Gary Carlton Wayland (a certified public accountant), October 17, 1981; children: Jeffrey. Education: University of California—Davis, B.S. (cum laude), 1976. Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES: Home—143 South Kenter Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90049. Agent—Curtis Brown, Ltd., 10 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003.

CAREER: Children's book writer and speaker. Worked variously as a farmer, a government housing study worker for the Rand Corporation, a governess for comedian and talk show host Joan Rivers's daughter, and a marketing manager for Pacific Bell. Cofounder, Positive Education Inc. (nonprofit tutorial agency).

MEMBER: Authors Guild, Authors League of America, PEN, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Association of Booksellers for Children, Southern California Children's Booksellers Association, Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People, Santa Monica Traditional Folk Music Club (founder, 1978).

AWARDS, HONORS: To RabbitTown was named a Junior Literary Guild selection, 1989, and was selected as a "Book of the Year" by Mommycare.

WRITINGS:

To RabbitTown, illustrated by Robin Spowart, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1989.

The Night Horse, illustrated by Vera Rosenberry, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1991.

It's Not My Turn to Look for Grandma!, illustrated by George Booth, Knopf (New York, NY), 1995.

Girl Coming in for a Landing: A Novel in Poems, illustrated by Elaine Clayton, Random House (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to anthologies edited by Myra Cohn Livingston, including Poems for Mothers, Margaret McElderry Books (New York, NY), 1990; If the OwlCalls Again, Margaret McElderry Books (New York, NY), 1990; Poems for Brothers, Poems for Sisters, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1991; and Roll Along: Poems on Wheels, Margaret McElderry Books (New York, NY), 1993.

ADAPTATIONS: Wayland's stories for children were adapted for radio broadcast on Halfway down the Stairs, KPFK-FM.

WORK IN PROGRESS: "A billion books."

SIDELIGHTS: April Halprin Wayland is the author of several picture books for young readers, as well as Girl Coming in for a Landing: A Novel in Poems, a book for older readers that a Kirkus reviewer described as "utterly fresh and winning." In the picture books The Night Horse, and It's Not My Turn to Look for Grandma! she explores children's relationships to animals and people using humor and whimsy. "I see my books as mixtures of colors," she once explained to CA. "I want each to be as clear and as strong and as beautiful as it can be. I love the picture book format."

"To rebel in my family, you had to join management in a Fortune 500 company and wear a suit every day," Wayland once quipped. The daughter of a farmer and a concert pianist, Wayland grew up in Santa Monica, California, and spent her holidays and vacations at the family farm in Yuba City, five hundred miles north. While she began writing when she was thirteen years old, music was also an abiding interest; she played violin as a child and founded the Santa Monica Traditional Folk Music Club in her late twenties.

After graduating from college, Wayland held an assortment of jobs. She helped run the family farm after her father's death, worked as a governess, and cofounded a nonprofit tutorial organization called Positive Education, Inc. She finally entered the corporate world by going to work for Pacific Bell, where she became a marketing manager. Despite the job security, she still held dreams of becoming a writer, and after creating a picture book for her nephew, Joshua, she was hooked. "It wasn't brilliant literature, but I illustrated, xeroxed, laminated, and bound it," she recalled. "The night I finished it, I was so jazzed, I couldn't sleep."

Wayland published To RabbitTown, her first book for children, in 1989, and has continued to add to the list in the years since. To RabbitTown follows a young girl who is magically transformed into a rabbit, while The Night Horse is a gentle tale of another young girl who travels through the night sky on a horse who feeds on the stars. Wayland's 1995 picture book It's Not My Turn to Look for Grandma! introduces young listeners to Woolie, whose grandmother can never be found when there is work to be done around the house. While Ma asks Woolie and his siblings to fetch the elderly woman to help with chores throughout the day, each child comes back empty-handed until the evening, when Ma asks fun-loving Grandma to pluck a tune on her banjo—words and music included! Praising the story's "lively mountain twang," School Library Journal reviewer Virginia E. Jeschelnig called It's Not My Turn to Look for Grandma! a "silly good time for all," while a Kirkus Reviews critic dubbed it a story with "so much pep readers will swear it's been handed down for generations."

In 2002 Wayland expanded into the novel format by penning Girl Coming in for a Landing. Written in free verse, the book follows a young teen's high school year.Inwhat Booklist contributor Gillian Engberg called a "warm and authentic" voice, Wayland describes such universal female coming-of-age experiences as a first crush, boredom, sibling rivalry, shyness, starting to shave one's legs, getting one's period, and dreaming about the future—in a text that Engberg noted "get[s] right to the heart of situations and emotions." Praising Wayland for adding a section on reading and writing verse that provides encouragement to teens who would "otherwise find these tasks intimidating," a Publishers Weekly contributor maintained that Girl Coming in for a Landing successfully reflects "the voice of a sensitive girl approaching adolescence."

Wayland once remarked, "I can't say enough about the community of children's book writers in Southern California. Teachers have become mentors and friends—everyone generously shares his/her knowledge. I thrive in groups, and this community (in addition to my husband) has had much to do with the joy I find in my career." She added, "I once decided that I wanted to publish 133 children's books by my ninetieth birthday. Then I re-read Charlotte's Web by E. B. White and I realized that one wonderful book was enough. So my new goal is to write each book as brilliantly as I can."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of Girl Coming in for a Landing, p. 400.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 1995, review of It's Not MyTurn to Look for Grandma!, p. 717; June 15, 2002, review of Girl Coming in for a Landing, p. 889.

Publishers Weekly, January 13, 1989, p. 87; June 26, 1995, review of It's Not My Turn to Look for Grandma!, p. 106; July 8, 2002, review of Girl Coming in for a Landing, p. 50.

School Library Journal, April, 1989, p. 92; April, 1991, p. 104; August, 1995, Virginia E. Jeschelnig, review of It's Not My Turn to Look for Grandma!, p. 131; August, 2002, Lauralyn Persson, review of Girl Coming in for a Landing, p. 220.