Huntington, Amy

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Huntington, Amy

Personal

Married; children: two. Education: Attended Swain School of Design and University of Florida; University of Vermont, B.A.

Addresses

Home and office—Williston, VT. Agent—Portfolio Solutions, 136 Jameson Hill Rd., Clinton Corners, NY 12514.

Career

Author and illustrator.

Writings

(Self-illustrated) One Monday, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 2001.

ILLUSTRATOR

Katie Clark, Grandma Drove the Garbage Truck, Down East Books (Camden, ME), 2006.

Katie Clark, Seagull Sam, Down East Books (Camden, ME), 2007.

Martin Brennan, Three Lessons for Astair the Bear, Mitten Press (Ann Arbor, MI), 2007.

Jacqueline Jules, No English, Mitten Press (Ann Arbor, MI), 2007.

Sidelights

A love for drawing and words was instilled in Amy Huntington at a very early age. As the author and illustrator recalled on her home page: "My favorite memories as a child are of painting on bumpy paper with watercolors…. I would color my way into a world of my own." Huntington's interest in children's books was heightened when she became the mother of two young children, and her career as an illustrator began in 1996 when Ladybug magazine published her first illustrated story. Primarily a children's book illustrator, Huntington expanded into writing with One Monday. Her work as an artist has been paired with texts by other writers, such as Katie Clark's engaging multigenerational picture book Grandma Drove the Garbage Truck and Seagull Sam, as well as Jacqueline Jules' No English.

In One Monday Huntington follows a young farm girl named Annabelle as she is awakened on a Monday morning by a noisy, gusty wind storm. The storm sends all of the animals into a "barnyard hoopla" as described by School Library Journal reviewer Kathy Piehl. Written in verse and illustrated with warm-toned watercolor, Huntington's self-illustrated title humorously caricatures how the wind storm affects the farm animals during each day of the week. On Tuesday the wind blows the hens' feathers inside out and by Friday there are frogs riding the wind-blown waves of the troughs. In her text, the author uses "metaphors [that] are as charm-

ing as the pictures," according to a Kirkus Reviews critic. A Publishers Weekly reviewer also cited the "light, elegant touch and dry wit" apparent in Huntington's text. Though many books share similar themes with One Monday, "Huntington's originality is never in doubt," the critic added.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2002, Kathy Broderick, review of One Monday, p. 946.

Five Owls (annual), 2002, review of One Monday, p. 76.

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2001, review of One Monday, p. 1425; March 15, 2006, review of Grandma Drove the Garbage Truck, p. 287.

Publishers Weekly, October 22, 2001, review of One Monday, p. 74.

School Library Journal, December, 2001, Kathy Piehl, review of One Monday, p. 104; November, 2006, Alexa Sandmann, review of Grandma Drove the Garbage Truck, p. 87.