Anglund, Joan Walsh 1926-

views updated

Joan Walsh Anglund 1926-

INTRODUCTION
PRINCIPAL WORKS
TITLE COMMENTARY
FURTHER READING

American children's writer and illustrator.

INTRODUCTION

Anglund became popular in the 1960s for her unique style of illustrations featuring round-faced children without mouths or noses. Many readers have equated Anglund's cherubic figures with the virtues of innocence and chastity, with some commenting that Anglund's artwork inspires unexpected feelings of nostalgia and emotionalism. Anglund has written more than ninety children's books—including picture books, children's poetry, lullabies, religious verses and prayers—as well as composing her own adult poetry and providing illustrations for contemporary authors.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Anglund was born on January 3, 1926, in Hinsdale, Illinois, the daughter of Thomas F. Anglund, a commercial artist, and Mildred Pfiefer Walsh, a painter. In 1944 she attended the Chicago Art Institute, later transferring to the American Academy of Art in 1945. While studying in Chicago, she became an apprentice commercial artist under the tutelage of Adele Roth. She met Robert Anglund and the couple was married in 1947. Anglund's literary career began after she was inspired to write by a group of neighborhood children playing near her home. While watching the children, she wrote the text for A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You (1958). Many of her illustrations are based on people and places from her own life—particularly her two children, Joy and Todd. As the popularity of her children's works continued to grow, Anglund's artwork began appearing on a wide range of consumer merchandise, including dolls, plates, greeting cards, notebooks, ceramics, calendars, prints, and Christmas ornaments. Beginning in 1979, Anglund started writing and illustrating a special quarterly segment for Good Housekeeping magazine and her artwork has since been featured in Ladies Home Journal, Woman's Day and Family Circle.

Her books have been translated into several languages, published in over fourteen countries, and have sold more than forty million copies worldwide.

MAJOR WORKS

Anglund's picture books, which typically present tales promoting Christian values or retellings of classic fables, have attracted a large popular audience. A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You and Do You Love Someone? (1971) both focus on convincing children that love, friendship, and loyalty are essential to a young person's happiness. Anglund wrote A Child's Book of Old Nursery Rhymes (1973) for her grandchild, collecting a variety of traditional nursery songs and rhymes and accompanying them with her own distinct illustrations. A similar work, The Joan Walsh Anglund Story Book (1978) presents selections of folktales, poems, and lullabies, targeted towards a preschool audience. A Gift of Love (1980), one of Anglund's best-selling works, is an anthology collection, including reprints of A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You, Love Is a Special Way of Feeling (1960), Christmas Is a Time of Giving (1961), What Color Is Love? (1966) and Do You Love Someone? These five works all examine Anglund's recurring fascination with love, innocence, and the emotional development of children, while presenting some of Anglund's most popular illustrations from her career thus far.

Anglund is also an accomplished children's poet and The Joan Walsh Anglund Book of Poetry (1987) presents thirty-six of the author's original poems. The poems offer lyrical reflections on images and emotions from a child's perspective, discussing animals, special places, and seasons of the year. In 1996 Anglund published an additional collection, Poems of Childhood, which features a twenty-six poem cycle, following a group of children as they play throughout the year. Anglund has also released several popular seasonal children's works, including Christmas Is Love (1988) in which her famously mouthless children are depicted against holiday settings. In A Christmas Sampler: A New Collection of Holiday Treasures (2001) Anglund includes examinations of traditional carols, customs, and historical festivals, a selection of original poems, and a recipe for gingerbread cookies.

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Anglund has developed a devoted following among readers and her books have become a popular choice as a gift for children, particularly during the holidays. Many commentators have lauded Anglund's evocative and engaging illustrative style, noting her skill at inspiring warm emotional responses through her renderings of childhood innocence. In the Publishers Weekly review of The Joan Walsh Anglund Story Book, the critic commented that the collection "boasts the singularly effective paintings, in lovely shades, that make Anglund instantly recognizable and popular." However, most critics and scholars have reacted negatively towards Anglund's writing ability, faulting the author for being overly sentimental, predictable, and condescending. Though such reviewers acknowledge Anglund's commercial appeal, they have argued that her works should not be included in library collections, deeming them more worthy of mass-market bookstores and gift shops.

AWARDS

A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You was selected as one of ten best illustrated books of 1958 by the New York Times.

PRINCIPAL WORKS

A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You (picture book) 1958

The Brave Cowboy (picture book) 1959

Look Out the Window (children's book) 1959

Love Is a Special Way of Feeling (picture book) 1960

Christmas Is a Time of Giving (picture book) 1961

Cowboy and His Friend (picture book) 1961

Cowboy's Secret Life (picture book) 1963

Spring Is a New Beginning (children's book) 1963

Childhood Is a Time of Innocence (children's book) 1964

What Color Is Love? (picture book) 1966

A Is for Always (picture book) 1968

Morning Is a Little Child (picture book) 1969

A Slice of Snow (adult poetry) 1970

Do You Love Someone? (picture book) 1971

The Cowboy's Christmas (picture book) 1972

A Child's Book of Old Nursery Rhymes (picture book) 1973

The Joan Walsh Anglund Storybook (picture book) 1978

Almost a Rainbow: A Book of Poems (children's poetry) 1980

^*A Gift of Love (picture book) 1980

Rainbow Love (children's book) 1982

A Christmas Book (children's book) 1983

Christmas Candy Book (children's book) 1983

The Circle of the Spirit (children's book) 1983

The Joan Walsh Anglund Coloring Book (coloring book) 1984

The Joan Walsh Anglund Book of Poetry (children's poetry) 1987

Christmas Is Love (children's poetry) 1988

A Little Book of Poems and Prayers (children's poetry and prayers) 1989

A Child's Year (picture book) 1992

Love Is a Baby (children's poetry) 1992

A Bedtime Book (children's book) 1993

Peace is a Circle of Love (children's poetry) 1993

Joan Walsh Anglund's Mother Goose Pop-Up Book (picture book) 1995

Little Angels' Alphabet of Love (picture book) 1996

Poems of Childhood (picture book) 1996

Sweet Dreams: Three Sleepytime Books of Poems, Prayers, and Lullabies (picture book) 1996

Little Angels' Book of Christmas (picture book) 1997

In All Thy Ways—A Book of Bible Verses (religious verses) 1999

A Christmas Sampler: A New Collection of Holiday Treasures (anthology) 2001

^* Includes A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You, Love Is a Special Way of Feeling, Christmas Is a Time of Giving, What Color Is Love and Do You Love Someone?

TITLE COMMENTARY

THE BRAVE COWBOY (1959)

Publishers Weekly (review date 6 November 2000)

SOURCE: "Children's Notes." Publishers Weekly 247, no. 45 (6 November 2000): 93.

First published in 1959, Joan Walsh Anglund's The Brave Cowboy looks as spiffy as ever. Her pen-and-ink drawings inventively utilize the color red to fill out the boy's imagination. For his "ride across the prairie," the boy—suited up in boots, holster, bandanna and cowboy hat—sits backward on a high stool, while Anglund fills in the outline of a horse in red; a "fair maiden in distress" is the boy's cat, stranded on a tree limb (again red lines overlay the image of a girl in curls and bonnet). (ages 4-8)

Horn Book Guide (review date fall 2001)

SOURCE: Horn Book Guide 12, no. 2 (fall 2001): 246.

A little boy in cowboy gear pretends he is rounding up rustlers and roping steers [The Brave Cowboy ]. The boy and his real world are drawn in detailed black line, while the imaginary bank robbers, horses, and covered wagons are drawn in red. Despite the over-sweetness of Anglund's drawings and the somewhat condescending tone, the book still manages to have child appeal.

WHAT COLOR IS LOVE? (1966)

Kirkus Reviews (review date 15 February 1966)

SOURCE: Kirkus Reviews 34, no. 4 (15 February 1966): 177.

As in the previous Anglund books, A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You, Childhood Is a Time of Innocence, Love Is a Special Way of Feeling, the title [What Color is Love? ] identifies a thoughty thought not to be faulted by any right thinker. The illustrations are of the thoroughly familiar Anglund children, a style that might be called post-Hummel marzipan. Some are drawn in color and some are in black and white and all the children are posed against a text that runs to—"In a garden all the flowers are different colors, but they live happily together … side by side." The skin tones employed are not distinct. There is one child shown who might be Chinese or just suffering a touch of jaundice. Two more are rather dark but considerably lighter than the average Sicilian. The total effect brings to mind the book review attributed to Abraham Lincoln: "People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like." The market is as assured as it is for red velvet valentines bearing the word "Mother" in gold.

Patricia H. Allen and E. Louise Davis (review date 15 March 1966)

SOURCE: Allen, Patricia H., and E. Louise Davis. Library Journal 91, no. 6 (15 March 1966): 1687.

PreS-K Pointing out that "an apple is red," "the sun is yellow," etc., Mrs. Anglund goes on to say [in What Color Is Love? ] that "in a garden all the flowers are different colors, but they live happily together side by side." After similar sentiments about the animals and the birds living happily together, she says, "In our world all the people are different colors, and, sometimes, they live happily together side by side" and "Color is something we see with our eyes, but love is something we see with our heart." She ends the book with "And, if I asked you, could you tell me what color is love?" In this little book with illustrations in her usual style, the message is obvious to the adult, but is it really needed for little children, most of whom have not yet learned about prejudice? Purchase where the other Anglund books are popular.

A IS FOR ALWAYS (1968)

Della Thomas (review date 15 March 1968)

SOURCE: Thomas, Della. Library Journal 93, no. 6 (15 March 1968): 1301.

Gr 1-3—Miniature in format (slightly more than 3″ × 4″), enclosed in a slipcase, and decorated with demure, apple-cheeked moppets, this ABC [A Is for Always ] is obviously a gift item rather than a library book. "A-Always; B-Be; C-Courteous," constitute the first three pages, after which the book proceeds through 23 other positive traits from "determined" to "zestful." Each page contains, in addition to the characteristic word, a large, ornamental initial letter, in or on which one or more wide-eyed children—in sailor suits, aprons, mob caps, and other quaint attire—climb, recline, perch, and, generally, entwine themselves. A typical Anglund product, the book will, no doubt, be requested by her considerable following. Libraries may wish to stock it in spite of shelving problems and standards for alphabet books.

Publishers Weekly (review date 1 April 1968)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 193, no. 14 (1 April 1968): 39.

(3-7) Rev up your cash registers! Here's a new Anglund [A Is for Always ] ! There's nothing new to say about an Anglund. And there's no need to say anything to confirmed Anglund-philes; the news there's a new Anglund will bring them running. (A fringe benefit: keep this one within your reach. If your grown-up party starts to go flat, you can revive it by asking what qualities your guests would choose to match the alphabet. Would they go along with Mrs. Anglund's choice of Virtue, portrayed as a bride, for V? Or would they choose Vice? A black-humor Anglund alphabet would be a pretty funny thing to contemplate—and a highly improbable one.)

MORNING IS A LITTLE CHILD (1969)

Kirkus Reviews (review date 1 July 1969)

SOURCE: Kirkus Reviews 37, no. 13 (1 July 1969): 669.

Once more with feeling. The author's [Morning Is a Little Child ] puffed-cheek, pastel pretties in a selection of verses, many concerned with times of the day and year, and just an many with currant buns and ladybugs and best friends.

Publishers Weekly (review date 4 August 1969)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 196, no. 5 (4 August 1969): 49.

(4-up) Good news for Anglund buffs; she has a new book [Morning Is a Little Child ] for them. A book of verses, illustrated with the unique Anglund illustrations of small, clean boys and girls, of small clean pink and blue landscapes.

Sada Fretz (review date 15 September 1969)

SOURCE: Fretz, Sada. Library Journal 94, no. 16 (15 September 1969): 3194.

PreS-Gr 1—Mrs. Anglund's latest product [Morning Is a Little Child ] differs from her previous, similarly entitled works in size (at 7½″ × 9¾″, it is larger than its pocket-sized predecessors) and form (brief, simple rhymes replace brief, simple prose). But the saccharine text and cloying pictures (the same featureless moppets, gnarled trees and quaint details) are all too familiar. The rhymes—about such basic subjects as the seasons, times of day, and tiny animals—attempt to recreate the simple, wondering tones of childhood. Instead, the concepts are trite, the phrasing artificially old-fashioned, and the pat final lines dismally anticlimactic: "I stay within my garden small,/I do not wander past my wall, / but sometimes, when the moon is late, / I wonder what's beyond my gate." Grandmothers and aunties who found the author's previous works just adorable, will lap up this one too; but children should be spared its boredom potential.

A SLICE OF SNOW (1970)

Publishers Weekly (review date 27 July 1970)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 198, no. 4 (27 July 1970): 73.

This is the second book of poems for adults [A Slice of Snow: A Book of Poems ] by the beloved author-illustrator of a host of children's books. The first was A Cup of Snow (1967). Extended comment on this author's fragile charm would be irrelevant. Poems are memorable or they are more or less than poems. An austerely simple statement like Mrs. Anglund's "For every murder I allow, I am the victim," is memorable on the mature level because it is not diminished by a thought too much, nor a syllable. The same is true of "It is when we earn love least that we need it most." Notably the simplicity of the book's design benefits from the restrained use, in perfect miniatures, of the author's decorative line drawings.

DO YOU LOVE SOMEONE? (1971)

Kirkus Reviews (review date 15 August 1971)

SOURCE: Kirkus Reviews 39, no. 16 (15 August 1971): 869.

Elementary psychology for the easily assured [in Do You Love Someone? ], complacently stating that everyone needs to feel special and the best way to be important is to be loved. But the pictures belie any such avowal of individual worth; the children therein are the same faceless, interchangeable gumdrops Mrs. Anglund has catered for years. 3-5

THE COWBOY'S CHRISTMAS (1972)

Kirkus Reviews (review date 1 July 1972)

SOURCE: Kirkus Reviews 40, no. 13 (1 July 1972): 719.

If you've seen the other Cowboy books the title alone [The Cowboy's Christmas ] should tell you all you need to know about this one: how the cowboy is especially good throughout December, how on Christmas eve he goes to bed "to dream a Very Special Dream," and how the next morning he awakens to presents and "a Very Merry Christmas"—accompanied throughout all the coyly capitalized activities by his imaginary friend Bear, drawn in red beside the black reality. Isn't it time we stopped stuffing Mrs. Anglund's stocking? 4-5

Publishers Weekly (review date 10 July 1972)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 202, no. 2 (10 July 1972): 46.

(3-7) In the "brave cowboy's" latest adventures [The Cowboy's Christmas ], he and his pretend friend (the huge bear) are preparing for Christmas. Although they are very busy—making presents and decorations, wrapping things, writing lists, wishing for special gifts—they are never cross or disobedient from the first of December throughout the next 25 days.

Mrs. Anglund has drawn the boy in black-and-white and his make-believe bear in red, as in her previous books in this series. An appropriate gift for the preschooler.

Alice Miller Bregman (review date 15 October 1972)

SOURCE: Bregman, Alice Miller. "Cashing in on Christmas: Christmas Books for 1972." Library Journal 97, no. 18 (15 October 1972): 3467-470.

Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year. The department stores can hardly wait for the day after Thanksgiving to put up their Christmas decorations, and for children's book publishers, Christmas now begins in August. This year's offerings are as torpid and enervating as a long day on a sunny August beach.

One cooling thought is that fewer publishers are cashing in on Christmas this year—there are only 14 titles, but with only a few exceptions they are as mediocre as most of last year's 22. Maybe someone overheard the three-year-old who, while sitting through a boring Christmas sermon, removed the toy watch she'd found in her stocking that morning, threw it three pews in front of her and said in a carrying voice, "Mommy, mommy! Baby Jesus stole my watch!" (For that expression of boredom, read, "Mommy, mommy! Someone's stolen the fun from Christmas!")

Only three titles this year offer any sensitivity to Christmas spirit. The rest are tedious, commercially produced and promoted pieces of merchandise.

The worst example this year is Joan Walsh Anglund's The Christmas Cowboy. Stressing the spirit of hypocrisy—"But not matter how Busy he was, the cowboy was never cross … he was never fretful. Somehow, the cowboy was Especially Polite.… Somehow, the cowboy always seemed to be helpful lately"—Cowboy is busy the whole month of December doing good things so that he'll get lots of presents on the 25th. His imaginary friend, Bear, pictured in red throughout, imitates everything cowboy does. This dainty piece of preciousness leads up to cowboy making sure to send "a Very Merry Christmas" message to all while Bear holds up "Merry Christmas" signs in several languages. In this bit of marshmallow fluff, as usual, none of Anglund's pictured children have complete facial characteristics (no noses or mouths) while all the animals do. Perhaps this means that children should be seen and not heard; at any rate, this Anglund offering should not be seen at all. PreS-Grl.

Times Literary Supplement (review date 28 September 1973)

SOURCE: Times Literary Supplement no. 3734 (28 September 1973): 1126.

Joan Walsh Anglund is a liberal and enthusiastic purveyor of Simple Sentiment, and her cute drawings of kids with no mouths or noses may not be every parent's (or child's) cup of tea, but this story [The Cowboy's Christmas ] about a small cowboy's preparations for Christmas is given interest and novelty by the activities of his imaginary helpers, a large amiable bear and a band of mice, drawn in red to distinguish them from the black-and-white lines of the real world.

A CHILD'S BOOK OF OLD NURSERY RHYMES (1973)

Publishers Weekly (review date 30 July 1973)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 204, no. 5 (30 July 1973): 68.

(2-up) The child who inspired A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You and set in motion the phenomenal career of her mother is now a mother herself, and grandmother Ms. Anglund has created this tiny book [A Child's Book of Old Nursery Rhymes ] for her tiny grandchild. As in all the artist's other books, the representations of children, animals, flowers, trees and other features are uniquely Joan Walsh Anglund—enough said. Few books are as popular as hers and her new one is bound to be a best seller.

Kirkus Reviews (review date 15 August 1973)

SOURCE: Kirkus Reviews 41, no. 16 (15 August 1973): 879.

Miss Muffett, Jack Horner, Boy Blue and twenty-three others [in A Child's Book of Old Nursery Rhymes ], made uniformly vacant and featureless in the familiar Anglund manner. 2-3

Margaret Maxwell (review date 15 November 1973)

SOURCE: Maxwell, Margaret. Library Journal 98, no. 20 (15 November 1973): 3437.

PreS-Gr 1—Twenty-six nursery rhymes [A Child's Book of Old Nursery Rhymes ] are illustrated in the all-too-quaint, all-too-gentle, all-too-familiar Anglund style. Alert children will wonder how mouthless Miss Muffet can ingest the curds and whey she purports to be eating. Alert librarians will pass this characterless miniature book up in favor of any one of the multitude of attractive editions of Mother Goose available

THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE BOOK (1977)

Publishers Weekly (review date 7 August 1981)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 220, no. 6 (7 August 1981): 78.

Determined Productions is offering the second edition of The Christmas Cookie Book, a miniature volume by Joan Walsh Anglund. Like A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You and all of Anglund's books, this book has been a longtime bestseller and is sure to appeal to customers looking for Christmas stocking stuffers. Its toothsome recipes are accompanied by quaint paintings, in color, of typical Anglund tots. for all ages.

THE JOAN WALSH ANGLUND STORY BOOK (1978)

Publishers Weekly (review date 13 November 1978)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 214, no. 20 (13 November 1978): 63.

A baker's dozen of simple tales, poems and a lullabye make up the latest offering by Anglund [The Joan Walsh Anglund Story Book ], whose books have been international best sellers since 1958. The first story tells of "A True Teddy-Bear," so dear to his little boy owner that it is worn out by hugs and kisses. The boy's mother keeps mending the toy until it becomes a droll figure of spare parts. In "The Big Brown Bag," Emily covers her head with the bag on a day when everything goes wrong and she throws tantrums. She stays hidden behind her mean mask until a dear friend soothes her hurt feelings. Each of the pieces in the book boasts the singularly effective paintings, in lovely shades, that make Anglund instantly recognizable and popular. That small price tag is an added attraction. (2-6)

A GIFT OF LOVE (1980)

Publishers Weekly (review date 10 October 1980)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 218, no. 15 (10 October 1980): 74.

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich is issuing a boxed set entitled A Gift of Love, five little books written and illustrated by Joan Walsh Anglund. These are reprints of her first and succeeding works that have been selling phenomenally for over 20 years, favorites of children and college students especially, and the package should attract shoppers during the coming holidays. Included are A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You, Do You Love Someone? What Color Is Love? Love Is a Special Way of Feeling and Christmas Is a Time of Giving ; (all ages).

THE JOAN WALSH ANGLUND BOOK OF POETRY (1987)

Kathleen Whalin (review date May 1988)

SOURCE: Whalin, Kathleen. School Library Journal 34, no. 9 (May 1988): 90-1.

PreS-Gr 1—These 36 original poems [in The Joan Walsh Anglund Book of Poetry ] are sweet and bland and are accompanied by Anglund's trademarked sweet watercolors of children in old-fashioned clothes. Subjects in the volume such as "bears," "a little place that I know," and "spring" have been written about with more originality by many other authors. Anglund's verses offer didactic homilies but not insight ("The birds, / they do not sing to me, / They sing to life! / But I may listen! " or "Gentle Sister, Little Brother, / do not quarrel / … for time is brief"). A poem is something clear and unique—skip this book.

CHRISTMAS IS LOVE (1988)

Susan Hepler (essay date October 1988)

SOURCE: Hepler, Susan. "December Holiday Book Roundup." School Library Journal 35, no. 2 (October 1988): 32.

Gr 1 Up—Anglund's sweet little mouthless children clothed in old-fashioned garb dance and pose in various spotlessly perfect holiday settings [In Christmas Is Love ]. Six rhymed couplets tell what "Christmas is": snow so white, candles bright, sugar plums tart, joy in every heart, etc. Leave this one to the purveyors of gift books.

A LITTLE BOOK OF POEMS AND PRAYERS (1989)

Horn Book Guide (review date spring 1990)

SOURCE: Horn Book Guide 1, no. 1 (spring 1990): 128.

K-3 Prayers and verses [A Little Book of Poems and Prayers ] selected from a wide range of sources and cultures, most of which are more nostalgic than childlike. It is unfortunate that Anglund's "angelic" children reflect only one culture, particularly noticeable when reading the native American prayers.

A CHILD'S YEAR (1992)

Publishers Weekly (review date 15 June 1992)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 239, no. 27 (15 June 1992): 101.

The publication of … Little Golden Books [A Child's Year ], released to commemorate the imprint's 50th anniversary, is indeed cause for celebration. The work of this impressive roundup of gifted authors and illustrators appears in the line's familiar format, featuring sturdy covers, a patterned foil spine and a low cover price. Each title's writing and illustrations are representative of its well-known creator's style … these worthy additions [are] bound to become staples of Little Golden Books's backlist. Ages 2-5.

LOVE IS A BABY (1992)

Suzanne Sigman (review date spring 1993)

SOURCE: Sigman, Suzanne. Horn Book Guide 4, no. 1 (spring 1993): 132.

K-3 A short inspirational book [Love Is a Baby ] of adult interest about how precious babies are. The watercolors are sickeningly cute and depict babies without mouths.

A BEDTIME BOOK (1993)

Publishers Weekly (review date 26 July 1993)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 240, no. 30 (26 July 1993): 70.

Though this collection of nine brief story-poems [A Bedtime Book ] may find an appreciative audience among Anglund's fans, most of the entries are curiously aimless. The sole exception—and the only tale told in rhyming verse—is "My Dragon," the sprightly account of a boy's friendship with a flying dragon. The bulk of the remaining pieces, all featuring Anglund's familiar, round-and empty-faced children, are facile and flat. It's difficult to imagine, for example, that any child will find comfort at bedtime from "A Rainbow Story," which tells of a rainbow that no one noticed: "So, after a little while, the little rainbow got discouraged, and sadly folded away all its bright colors, and faded back up into the sky where no one could ever find it. Poor little rainbow. Poor silly people!" Ages 3-6.

Elizabeth Hanson (review date September 1993)

SOURCE: Hanson, Elizabeth. School Library Journal 39, no. 9 (September 1993): 204.

PreS-Gr 2—A collection of poetry and stories [A Bedtime Book ] done in Anglund's typical, overly precious style. The title is misleading; the contents do not relate to bedtime per se. Instead, they include poems about a dragon and an apple, and selections on friendship that teeter between poetry and prose.

The illustrations depict mouthless, white children rendered in pastel watercolors. The illustrator's characteristic sweetness comes out again in this book that is best suited for supermarkets and greeting-card stores.

Horn Book Guide (review date spring 1994)

SOURCE: Horn Book Guide 5, no. 1 (spring 1994): 63.

A small collection of brief, comforting stories and poems [A Bedtime Book ] focuses on such child-centered themes as little sisters, princesses, dragons, animals, and nature. Uninspired, but with appeal at bedtime or any quiet moment. Illustrations in pen-and-ink and soft watercolors match the tranquil mood.

PEACE IS A CIRCLE OF LOVE (1993)

Horn Book Guide (review date spring 1994)

SOURCE: Horn Book Guide 5, no. 1 (spring 1994): 152.

K-3. Peace [in Peace Is a Circle of Love ] is described as "a bird that sings in the heart," a flower with love as its seed, and "a rainbow that encircles the world." These and other definitions are illustrated with children who trust, love, and forgive one another and work together to plan a better world. Anglund's precious style makes this a book about children, rather than for them. Differences in clothing indicate people from various parts of the world.

POEMS OF CHILDHOOD (1996)

Kirkus Reviews (review date 15 September 1996)

SOURCE: Kirkus Reviews 64, no. 18 (15 September 1996): 1396.

Greeting card verses and plenty of pastels make this volume [Poems of Childhood ] by Anglund not much different from her previous books. Simple rhymes sentimentalize seasonal activities: playing in the leaves and sledding. Others describe childhood events: the wind stealing a kite, a child's anger over a broken toy, and a birthday party. In several places the clichés wear thin. One verse about friends in "far-off places" portrays a line of children in costumes more typical of 1950s notions of a global village than the current trend toward authenticity. Another poem, about going to bed in summertime, does not improve on Robert Lewis Stevenson. The illustrations, too, show little change (other than the addition of an occasional brown face amid the rosy cheeks), with few realistic portrayals of children. The book is strictly for collectors: Most readers need something more than two dots for eyes, for true human expression includes smiles and frowns—or at least noses and mouths. (3-7)

Horn Book Guide (review date spring 1997)

SOURCE: Horn Book Guide 8, no. 1 (spring 1997): 151.

K-3 These twenty-six vapid poems [Poems of Childhood ] with predictable rhythms and rhymes present an overly sweet view of children playing throughout the year and offer no new or fresh insights into childhood. Anglund's illustrations show her signature featureless children.

LITTLE ANGELS' ALPHABET OF LOVE (1996)

Publishers Weekly (review date 30 December 1996)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly 243, no. 52 (30 December 1996): 68.

Joan Walsh Anglund's Little Angels' Alphabet of Love recites the ABCs from "Always" to "Zest," and comes with a small pink envelope for mailing. The illustrations feature Anglund's trademark children, with wide-set dot eyes and no mouths, wearing no more than a pair of wings and an occasional discreet swath of ribbon. (all ages)

IN ALL THY WAYS: A BOOK OF BIBLE VERSES (1999)

Publishers Weekly (review date 27 September 1999)

SOURCE: "Children's Religion Notes." Publishers Weekly 246, no. 39 (27 September 1999): 98.

Also in a small format, Joan Walsh Anglund's In All Thy Ways: A Book of Bible Verses will satisfy the artist's legions of admirers. Her button-eyed children show up in quaint attire (sailor suits for boys, dresses with petticoats, pantaloons and pinafores for girls); they pose in embraces and other quiet moments. A line or so of verse from the King James Bible faces each vignette. (ages 3-8)

A CHRISTMAS SAMPLER: A NEW COLLECTION OF HOLIDAY TREASURES (2001)

Diane Roback, Jennifer M. Brown, and Jason Britton (review date 24 September 2001)

SOURCE: Roback, Diane, Jennifer M. Brown, and Jason Britton. Publishers Weekly 248, no. 39 (24 September 2001): 49.

Anglund's (Christmas Is Love ) trademark chubby-cheeked children dot the pages of this small-format holiday anthology [A Christmas Sampler: A New Collection of Holiday Treasures ]. Gathering traditional carols and customs from around the world, along with original poems (plus a recipe for gingerbread cookies), she creates idealized scenes of innocent, old-fashioned festivity, brightly bordered in red and green. Anglund's many fans will be pleased. All ages.

Virginia Walter (review date October 2001)

SOURCE: Walter, Virginia. School Library Journal 47, no. 10 (October 2001): 62.

PreS-Gr 2—There may be grandmothers and aunts, remembering these round-faced children with no mouths from the heyday of Anglund's popularity in the 1960s, who will welcome this collection [A Christmas Sampler: A New Collection of Holiday Treasures ] of miscellaneous Christmas lore and customs, some poetry by the author, a recipe for gingerbread, and the lyrics to "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" and "Jingle Bells." With its small trim size, its place on the first page for the name of the person to whom it is given, and its sentimental illustrations, this looks more like a gift book than a likely addition to library collections. Bookstores will probably carry this title; libraries needn't bother.