BRUMBEAU, Jeff 1955-

Personal

Born June 1, 1955, in New York, NY; son of John (a carpenter) and Dorothy Marie (an administrator; maiden name Doud) Brumbeau; married Marcia Koplon (in advertising), May 4, 1994. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Attended City College of New York. Politics: "Independent."

Addresses

Home— Chicago, IL. Agent— Author Mail, Scholastic Educational Publishing, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. E-mail— [email protected].

Career

Writer.

Awards, Honors

Children's Book of the Year, Book Sense, 2000, for The Quiltmaker's Gift; Logos Book Award; Publishers Weekly Cuffy Award; Parent's Choice Silver Honor designation.

Writings

The Man-in-the-Moon in Love, illustrated by Greg Couch, Stewart, Tabori & Chang (New York, NY), 1992.

The Quiltmaker's Gift, illustrated by Gail de Marcken, Pfeifer-Hamilton (Duluth, MN), 2000.

Miss Hunnicutt's Hat, illustrated by Gail de Marcken, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 2003.

The Quiltmaker's Journey, illustrated by Gail de Marcken, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Adaptations

Brumbeau's The Quiltmaker's Gift inspired several quilt pattern books by Joanne Larsen Line and Nancy Loving Tubesing: Quilts from The Quiltmaker's Gift: Twenty Traditional Patterns for a New Generation of Generous Quiltmakers, Pfeifer-Hamilton, 2000, and More Quilts from The Quiltmaker's Gift: Nineteen Traditional Patterns for a Generation of Generous Quiltmakers, Orchard Books, 2003.

Sidelights

Jeff Brumbeau is the author of several children's books, among them Miss Hunnicutt's Hat, The Quiltmaker's Gift, and The Man-in-the-Moon in Love. Joining illustrator Greg Couch for his picture-book debut, Brumbeau spins what a Publishers Weekly reviewer praised as a "straightforward" tale with "storybook charm" in relating the reason for the Man-in-the-Moon's on-again, off-again appearances in the night sky. Also told in folklore fashion, Brumbeau's The Quiltmaker's Gift finds an unhappy king learning that true happiness cannot be purchased with money, as with each possession he willingly gives away a talented seamstress adds another patch to a beautiful and intricately patterned quilt. In her review of The Quiltmaker's Gift, Booklist contributor Shelley Townsend-Hudson praised the book as "a delightful moral tale," noting that the "lush, colorful" artwork by illustrator Gail de Marcken includes a quilting puzzle as well as illustrations about many traditional quilting patterns.

Also enhanced with watercolor illustrations by de Marcken, Miss Hunnicutt's Hat presents readers with a silly tale featuring the townspeople of Littleton, who go crazy one day when they receive news that their queen may be stopping by for a visit. Shortly after preparations begin to make the town fit for a queen, an uproar is created over Miss Hunnicutt's new hat, which prominently features a live chicken. Littleton townspeople, who want everything to be perfect as well as perfectly normal, try to convince the wayward citizen that she simply cannot wear the hat and disgrace them all. However, by obsessing on the hat, they neglect to take care of other, more pressing, matters and before they know it the whole town has fallen into disrepair. "Endpapers filled with outlandish hats and many visual jokes will keep youngsters amused for some time," wrote Marianne Saccardi in School Library Journal in praise of the book's illustrations, while a Publishers Weekly reviewer dubbed the humorous story "over the top."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2000, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of The Quiltmaker's Gift, p. 935; January 1, 2003, Kay Weisman, review of Miss Hunnicutt's Hat, p. 904.

Childhood Education, spring, 2003, review of The Quiltmaker's Gift, p. 150.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2003, review of Miss Hunnicutt's Hat, p. 301.

People, August 10, 1992, Susan Toepfer, review of The Man-in-the-Moon in Love, p. 33.

Publishers Weekly, March 23, 1992, review of The Man-in-the-Moon in Love, p. 71; October 11, 1999, review of The Quiltmaker's Gift, p. 75; January 6, 2003, review of Miss Hunnicutt's Hat, p. 58.

School Library Journal, March, 2003, Marianne Saccardi, review of Miss Hunnicutt's Hat, p. 178.*