Hutchins, Hazel J. 1952-

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Hutchins, Hazel J. 1952-

Personal

Born August 9, 1952, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; daughter of Wilmot (a farmer) and Peggy (a farmer) Sadler; married Ted Hutchins (a warehouse supervisor), January 13, 1973; children: Wil, Leanna, Ben. Education: Attended University of Calgary. Hobbies and other interests: Skiing, hiking, biking, reading, canoeing.

Addresses

Home and office—Box 185, 521 4th St., Canmore, Alberta T1W 2G6, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Writer. Lectures and gives readings at schools.

Member

Writers' Union of Canada, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers, Alberta Writers' Guild.

Awards, Honors

Reading Magic Award, Parenting magazine, 1984, for The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid; White Raven Selection, International Youth Library (Munich, Germany), 1987, for Leanna Builds a Genie Trap; R. Ross Annett Award, Writers Guild of Alberta, 1992, for A Cat of Artimus Pride, and 1998, for The Prince of Tarn; Mr. Christie Silver Award, Storyteller's Award, and Governor General's Award shortlist, all 1996, and all for Tess; Mr. Christie Silver Award, 2000, for Two So Small; Shining Willow Award, and Red Cedar Awards Silver Birch Honour, both 2002, both for T.J. and the Cats; Silver Birch Reading List selection, 2003, for T.J. and the Haunted House; Norma Fleck Award fi- nalist, and R. Ross Annett Award shortlist, both 2004, both for A Second Is a Hiccup; Blue Spruce Reading List and Shining Willow Reading List selections, both 2004, both for The Sidewalk Rescue; Shining Willow Award nomination, 2005, for The Sidewalk Rescue.

Writings

The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid, illustrated by John Richmond, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1983, illustrated by Julie Tennent, Viking (New York, NY), 1988.

Anastasia Morningstar and the Crystal Butterfly, illustrated by John Prater, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1984, published as Anastasia Morningstar, illustrated by Julie Tennent, Viking (New York, NY), 1990, revised as Sarah and the Magic Science Project, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Leanna Builds a Genie Trap, illustrated by Catharine O'Neil, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1986, published as Leanna and the Genie Trap, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1987.

Ben's Snow Song, illustrated by Lisa Smith, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1987.

Casey Webber the Great, illustrated by John Richmond, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988.

Norman's Snowball, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1989.

Nicholas at the Library, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1990.

A Cat of Artimus Pride, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1991.

Katie's Babbling Brother, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1991.

And You Can Be the Cat, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992.

The Best of Arlie Zack, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993.

The Catfish Palace, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993.

Within a Painted Past, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994.

Tess, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

Cookies, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1995.

Believing Sophie, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1995.

A Cat Named Cortez, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995.

Yancy and Bear, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

The Prince of Tarn, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1997.

Shoot for the Moon, Robyn, illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 1997.

It's Raining, Yancy and Bear, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Robyn's Want Ad, illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 1998.

One Duck, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

Robyn Looks for Bears, illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2000.

Two So Small, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Buffalo, NY), 2000.

The Wide World of Suzie Mallard, illustrated by Dominick Catalano, Ducks Unlimited (Memphis, TN), 2000.

One Dark Night, illustrated by Susan Hartung, Viking (New York, NY), 2001.

Robyn's Best Idea, illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2001.

T.J. and the Cats, Orca Book Publishers (Custer, WA), 2002.

Robyn's Art Attack, illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2002.

I'd Know You Anywhere, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

T.J. and the Haunted House, Orca Book Publishers (Custer, WA), 2003.

Robyn Makes the News, illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2003.

Beneath the Bridge, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

The Sidewalk Rescue, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

T.J. and the Rockets, Orca Book Publishers (Custer, WA), 2004.

A Second Is a Hiccup: A Child's Book of Time, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton, Northwinds Press (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2004, Arthur A. Levine (New York, NY), 2007.

Skate, Robyn, Skate!, illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2004.

Robyn's Party-in-the-Park, illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart, Formac Publishing (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), 2005.

T.J. and the Sports Fanatic, Orca Book Publishers (Custer, WA), 2006.

The List, illustrated by Maria van Lieshout, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

Contributor to books, including Mini-Book Fun Pack, Annick Press, 2002.

Author's works have been translated into French and Mandarin Chinese.

Adaptations

The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid was adapted for audio cassette.

Sidelights

Canadian author Hazel J. Hutchins has written many books for children and young adults. Her works are known both for their humorous take on the world and their inclusion of magical elements. "Ok—I admit it," Hutchins noted in a biographical essay for St. James Guide to Children's Literature. "I love to write. I have to write. I'm addicted to the strange habit of putting words, ideas, people, places and happenings onto that blank, white landscape known as paper." This passion for writing can be seen in Hutchins' best known titles, such as The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid, Anastasia Morningstar and the Crystal Butterfly, Casey Webber, Leanna Builds a Genie Trap, Within a Painted Past, the "Yancy and Bear" books, The Prince of Tarn, A Second Is a Hiccup: A Child's Book of Time, and One Dark Night. Whether a rhyming picture book or a novel designed to appeal to budding bookworms, Hutchins' works draw readers in with their "elemental power and high drama," as a Horn Book reviewer noted in a review of One Dark Night.

Born in 1952 in Calgary, Alberta, Hutchins is the daughter of farmers. As she once told SATA: "My home was a farm in southern Alberta and I loved living there. I can remember walking out across the fields singing at the top of my lungs just to hear my voice alive on the prairie air. Living on a farm was fun, but I must have been lonely sometimes, for as a young child I invented several imaginary friends to entertain me while my older sisters and brother were at school. I named my imaginary friends Valerie, Barette, and Witch Hazel. And I used to daydream. When I became old enough to go to school I left my imaginary friends at home but I took the day-dreaming with me. I remember sitting at my desk in the classroom and staring out the window— lost in another world entirely. My first book grew out of some of those day-dreams, recalled many years later."

After attending college at the University of Alberta, Hutchins married, had a family, and worked at various jobs, including being a store and office clerk and a waitress, before turning to writing in 1983. Her first work, The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid, is a modern reworking of the story of the genie who emerges from a magic lantern and grants three wishes to the first person he sees. In Hutchins' rendition, eleven-year-old Jason decides to wish for more wishes in order to give himself the time to think of something important enough to warrant the intervention of a genie. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books reviewer Betsy Hearne described the result of Jason's wishes as "ecological, suspenseful, and convincing." Critics praised The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid for its fresh rendering of an old tale; as Julia Marriage observed in School Librarian, while Hutchins' "story-line may not be original, … it is accessible, well presented and boldly written." Other critics emphasized the well-developed relationships between Jason and the genie and between Jason and his friend Penny, who helps the boy decide what he should wish for. As a Kirkus Reviews critic remarked, "Hutchins has devised believable characters and a moral problem that has its analogue in the larger world, with plenty of funny dialogue and comic situations."

Several of Hutchins' novels for middle-grade readers also feature characters with magical powers in realistic settings. In Anastasia Morningstar and the Crystal Butterfly— which has more recently been revised and retitled Sarah and the Magic Science Project—Sarah and Ben discover that a clerk at the corner store can perform magic when they see the woman turn a boy named Derek into a frog as punishment for his shoplifting. When they decide to feature the clerk, Anastasia, in their science project the classmates encounter resistance from a skeptical science teacher. Many reviewers found Hutchins' characters charming, although Junior Bookshelf contributor Marcus Crouch maintained that they have little room to develop in such a short novel: "We … lament that the author's fine and delicate writing, her abundant fun, and her shrewd view have to operate within such a restricting framework." On the other hand, as Pamela K. Bomboy remarked in School Library Journal, Anastasia Morningstar and the Crystal Butterfly "successfully combines realism with fantasy to produce a celebration of the wonders of the natural world."

Casey Webber the Great also relies on magic to propel its plot. In this story for middle graders, Jason and his sister Morgan discover a magic coat that makes them invisible. This "simple, humorous fantasy" was certain to be popular among reluctant readers, Roger Sutton predicted in his review for the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Similarly, in The Best of Arlie Zack, a novel for preteens, the new boy in school is tempted to compromise his values in order to fit in after a family move to a new town. Only after he receives three special objects from the mysterious Mrs. Sphinx—objects that may or may not be magic—is he reminded of his inner strength. A Books in Canada critic recommended the book, noting that Hutchins' "pros…. mirrors the preferred rhythms of 12-year-olds, temporally bound to their inexorable, hormonal press toward adolescence."

More magic is served up in Within a Painted Past, as a picture becomes a time-travel vehicle for twelve-yearold Allison while on a visit with her aunt in western Canada. A chalk drawing draws young Morgan into a fantasy world after her little sister steps inside it to pick some chalk flowers in Sidewalk Rescue. The Prince of Tarn draws readers into another fanciful story, as eleven-year-old Fred awakens in his apartment to the clamor of the Prince of Tarn calling out for the Captain of the Guard. Fred realizes that he has somehow slipped into a fantasy story his mother had written, but never published, shortly before her death. Fred helps the prince to return to his kingdom by reversing an enchantment and, in doing so, is able to lay to deal with some of his own pain at his mother's death. "Hutchins creates some memorable scenes," noted Carolyn Phelan in a Booklist review, while Janet McNaughton, writing in Books in Canada, found much larger implications in the novel. "Hutchins takes on big questions about art and life" in The Prince of Tarn, McNaughton added, noting that "in doing so, she touches the hearts of her characters in ways that change them forever. This book will touch the hearts and funny bones of many readers as well." John Wilson, reviewing The Prince of Tarn for Quill & Quire, deemed Hutchins' coming-of-age tale "overall a wonderful story: fast-paced, thoughtful, and imaginative. It will engross readers even younger than its target market and gain new fans for Hutchins."

Several of Hutchins' picture books feature a different kind of magic: that of the imagination. After a little girl decides that all the things she has lost have actually been taken by a genie hiding in her house, she devises several traps to capture the spirit before discovering the real culprit in Leanna Builds a Genie Trap. Although Carol McMichael in School Library Journal found the story's vocabulary and illustrations somewhat "confusing" for its intended audience, Quill & Quire reviewer Bernie Goedhart concluded that Hutchins "has created another imaginative, funny, and well-constructed tale in this book for younger children." Nicholas at the Library tells of a reluctant reader who finds a monkey in the stacks and is lured into making his way through many books as he and a librarian try to find the story in which the monkey belongs. Reviewing Nicholas at the Library for Junior Bookshelf, Crouch stated that "the idea is excellent," while Jennifer Taylor remarked in School Librarian that the concept of books as magical "comes over well in this nicely humorous and satisfying text."

Real-world situations common to most children form the basis of other books by Hutchins. The Catfish Palace focuses on the efforts of a little girl to learn about the mistreatment of animals and what she can do to help stop it. Another youngster is annoyed by her younger sibling's nonsensical chatter in Katie's Babbling Brother, and in sharing her feelings with her mother she finds a surprising solution. Predicting that the book will produce a "responsive chord" in its readers, Quill & Quire contributor Chris Mousseau concluded that Katie's Babbling Brother "is one of those books that begs to be shared with all members of the family."

The picture book And You Can Be the Cat tells of a young child who uses his imagination to create a more satisfying role for himself than the one usually given him by his older playmates, while a moral dilemma is at the center of Believing Sophie, in which young Sophie must prove that she did not steal from the local store. Booklist writer Julie Corsaro called Believing Sophie a "buoyantly illustrated picture book." A trip down a fast-moving stream is the focus of Beneath the Bridge, in which a boy imagines his paper boat sailing through many adventures. Praising the "captivating illustrations" by Ruth Ohi, Resource Links contributor Kathryn McNaughton praised Beneath the Bridge as containing a "rhyming text [that] is charming, and perfect to read aloud." Another collaboration with Ohi, I'd Know You Anywhere introduces a young monster fan whose efforts to hide among his many stuffed monster toys results in the reassurance that, no matter what, his father will recognize him. Also praising Ohi's watercolor art, School Library Journal writer Maryann H. Owen called I'd Know You Anywhere a "story of enduring love starring a playful boy and his affectionate father," and in Resource Links Eva Wilson predicted that Hutchins' "reassuring, sensitive story [is] sure to become a classic."

In the award-winning Tess, Hutchins packs a lot of story into thirty-two pages. The young protagonist loves her new prairie home, but when she and her brother are sent to gather cow dung to supplant their dwindling fuel supply, she is embarrassed and ultimately scorned by one neighbor. Later, when Tess saves the same neighbor's dog, the man helps to supply Tess's family with fuel. Quill & Quire contributor Janet McNaughton felt that both Hutchins and illustrator Ruth Ohi "combine their talents skillfully in this book" and dubbed Tess a "fine tale." Booklist contributor Kay Weisman similarly felt that Hutchins's "sparsely told story, set in the 1930s, vividly portrays both the desolation and the allure of frontier life."

Other picture books from Hutchins include Two So Small and One Dark Night. In the former title, Hutchins presents a story with the feeling of a folktale. A boy and his goat are off to visit Grandmother, but they do not follow the directions that they have been given. Nothing looks familiar, and soon it seems they are in the land of the giants. Meeting a sad baby giant, the boy decides that there must be a mother giant close by, and that perhaps the mother giant can direct him toward his Grandmother's house. Ultimately this is the case in this "clever story [that] is satisfying and tests listeners' memory in a fun way," according to Jean Gaffney in School Library Journal.

In One Dark Night Jonathan is happy to be inside at his grandparent's house during a summer storm. However, cries from a cat family seeking shelter from the storm bring the boy back out to help. "Simple, lyrical prose conveys the intensity and sometimes the spookiness of thunderstorms," wrote Booklist critic Shelle Rosenfeld, and in School Library Journal Shara Alpern noted that children "will share Jonathan's concern for the cats and will take comfort in the story's resolution." A contributor for Kirkus Reviews predicted that the combination of "suspense, compassion, kittens, and safety" in Hutchins' tale is sure to be popular with children, as are the illustrations by Susan Kathleen Hartung.

In her "Yancy and Bear" titles, Hutchins "puts a different twist on the favourite toy coming to life," according to Gwyneth Evans in a Quill & Quire review of Yancy and Bear. Toddler Yancy and his toy teddy, Bear, actually change places by dressing in each other's clothes. Subsequently Bear is the one carrying the little inanimate Yancy around, and the child can communicate with Bear only by sending special thought waves. "This is the sort of fantasy that a young child may enter with glee," Evans further observed. Silvana DeFonzo Bartlett called the same title a "pleasant handling of a familiar theme." With It's Raining, Yancy and Bear, the bear and boy once again trade places and this time Grandfather takes the pair to the museum on a rainy day. Hutchins' "text and illustrations blend well, making this a friendly read-aloud," remarked Pam Hopper Webb in School Library Journal, while in Canadian Review of Materials Alison Mews praised the book as a "perfect story to share on rainy days" due to Hutchins' portrayal of the "loving relationship between Yancy and his caregiver Grandfather."

Hutchins has also written a series of books featuring a young girl named Robyn. These longer "first novels" novels for young readers, featuring illustrations by Yvonne Cathcart, include Robyn's Want Ad, Shoot for the Moon, Robyn, Robyn's Best Idea, Robyn Looks for Bears, and Skate, Robyn, Skate! A novel perfect for "children who dream of becoming the world's best at something," in the opinion of Canadian Review of Materials contributor Janice Foster, Shoot for the Moon, Robyn finds the spunky young Robyn volunteering to sing for her music class …, until she realizes that the only songs she knows are Christmas carols. In Robyn's Best Idea the title character finds a stray kitten but knows she cannot keep it, as their apartment has a nopets rule. Instead, she tries to find a good home for the cat. Mavis Holder, reviewing the title for Resource Links, commented that the students in Robyn's class "find ways of including and accepting all the children." Recommending Robyn Looks for Bears, Gillian Richardson added in Canadian Review of Materials that readers "will identify with Robyn's goal and empathize with her frustrations and eventually her honesty" as she attempts to make good on her promise to track down a real live bear during a summer visit to her uncle's woodland cabin.

Another popular chapter-book series by Hutchins includes the books T.J. and the Sports Fanatic, T.J. and the Cats, and T.J. and the Haunted House. T.J. Barnes is up front about his feelings in T.J. and the Cats: He hates cats, but a promise to care for his grandmother's four frisky felines prompts him to be more open minded. The boy is as unenthusiastic about ghosts as he is about cats, and in T.J. and the Haunted House he and friend Seymour study up on the spectral world in order to be sure that his own home is not haunted. Signed up for a football team by Seymour the sports nut, T.J. takes a crash course in the sport in T.J. and the Sports Fanatic, sharing with readers the interesting information he learns about the physics and strategy of the popular game. Praising T.J. and the Cats in School Library Journal, Alison Grant noted that Hutchins' "realistic story has moments of humor, likable characters, mischievous pets, and large type," while Zoe Johnstone Guha wrote in Resource Links that the author's "wonderful lilting

style is … refreshing and enjoyable." Calling another book in the series, T.J. and the Rockets, a "great little read" featuring "humorous, believable characters and circumstances," Resource Links contributor Adriane Petit cited the book for inspiring its elementary-grade readers with an interest in science.

"People often ask me where I get my ideas," Hutchins once told SATA. "Sometimes they grow out of feelings I myself remember having as a child: the importance of friendship, a love of magic, and a fascination for the game of baseball even though I was a terrible player and was always picked last for any team. Other times ideas jump alive and clear out of my own family—a special winter ski outing, the time my youngest son threw up his arms while playing with the older children and announced he was sick and tired of having to be the cat, the joy of rolling snowballs bigger, and Bigger and BIGGER! I like words—how they sound and feel. I love the way ideas in fiction open so many doors in the mind. The most rewarding part is making the words say exactly what I want. When that happens, it's wonderful!"

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Children's Writers, 5th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 1990, p. 2090; September 1, 1995, Julie Corsaro, review of Believing Sophie, p. 87; December 15, 1995, Kay Weisman, review of Tess, pp. 704-705; February 15, 1998, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Prince of Tarn, p. 1011; November 15, 2000, Catherine Andronik, review of Two So Small, p. 648; May 15, 2001, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of One Dark Night, p. 1758; December 15, 2002, Lauren Peterson, review of T.J. and the Cats, p. 759, and Connie Fletcher, review of I'd Know You Anywhere, p. 768.

Books in Canada, December, 1983, p. 16; July, 1991, p. 58; September, 1993, review of The Best of Arlie Zack, p. 58; October, 1996, Silvana DeFonzo Bartlett, review of Yancy and Bear, p. 32; October, 1997, Janet McNaughton, review of The Prince of Tarn, p. 34.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June, 1988, Betsy Hearne, review of The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid, p. 208; January, 1989, Roger Sutton, review of Casey Webber the Great, p. 124; July, 2001, review of One Dark Night, p. 410; September, 2004, Deborah Stevenson, review of The Sidewalk Rescue, p. 21.

Canadian Children's Literature, summer, 1996, Joann Wallace, review of Within a Painted Past, p. 89; spring, 1999, Lissa Paul, review of Yancy and Bear, p. 66; summer, 2000, Deborah L. Begoray, review of Shoot for the Moon, Robyn, p. 103.

Canadian Review of Materials, October 31, 1997, Janice Foster, review of Shoot for the Moon, Robyn; February 26, 1999, Alison Mews, review of It's Raining, Yancy and Bear; April 28, 2000, Helen Arkos, review of One Duck; January 5, 2001, Gillian Richardson, review of Robyn Looks for Bears; September 21, 2001, Lorraine Douglas, review of Robyn's Best Idea; April 25, 2003, review of T.J. and the Haunted House; June 6, 2003, review of I'd Know You Anywhere.

Christian Science Monitor, May 6, 1988, p. B2.

Horn Book, July, 2001, Martha V. Parravano, review of One Dark Night, p. 440.

Junior Bookshelf, August, 1986, p. 147; February, 1988, Marcus Crouch, review of Anastasia Morningstar, p. 29; June, 1991, Marcus Crouch, review of Nicholas at the Library, p. 94.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 1988, review of The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid, p. 279; September 1, 1999, review of One Duck, p. 1424; April 15, 2001, review of One Dark Night, p. 586.

Quill & Quire, February, 1984, p. 39; April, 1986, Bernie Goedhart, review of Leanna Builds a Genie Trap, p. 26; November, 1990, p. 12; April, 1991, Chris Mousseau, review of Katie's Babbling Brother, p. 18; December, 1991, p. 24; March, 1992, p. 66; July, 1993, p. 56; August, 1995, Janet McNaughton, review of Tess, p. 34; October, 1996, Gwyneth Evans, review of Yancy and Bear, p. 62; June, 1997, John Wilson, review of The Prince of Tarn, p. 64.

Resource Links, October, 2001, Mavis Holder, review of Robyn's Best Idea, p. 12; June, 2002, Zoe Johnstone Guha, review of T.J. and the Cats, p. 12; October, 2002, Eva Wilson, review of I'd Know You Anywhere, p. 4; December 15, 2002, Connie Fletcher, review of I'd Know You Anywhere, p. 768; June, 2003, Heather Empey, review of T.J. and the Haunted House, p. 13; June, 2004, Carroll Chapman, review of Sidewalk Rescue, p. 3; October, 2004, Adriane Pettit, review of T.J. and the Rockets, p. 13; December, 2004, Kathryn Mc- Naughton, review of Beneath the Bridge, p. 237; February, 2005, Brenda Power, review of A Second Is a Hiccup: A Child's Book of Time, p. 5l February, 2006, Antonia Gisler, Sarah and the Magic Science Project, p. 23; October, 2006, Evette Berry, review of T.J. and the Sports Fanatic, p. 10.

School Librarian, June, 1986, Julia Marriage, review of The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid, p. 150; August, 1991, Jennifer Taylor, review of Nicholas at the Library, p. 101.

School Library Journal, January, 1987, Carol McMichael, review of Leanna Builds a Genie Trap, p. 65; May, 1988, p. 97; August, 1990, Pamela K. Bomboy, review of Anastasia Morningstar, p. 148; March, 1995, Lucinda Lockwood, review of Within a Painted Past, pp. 204-205; January, 1996, Carol Schene, review of Believing Sophie, p. 85; February, 1998, Robin L. Gibson, review of The Prince of Tarn, p. 109; January, 1999, Pam Hopper Webb, review of It's Raining, Yancy and Bear, p. 95; October, 1999, Arwen Marshall, review of One Duck, p. 116; October, 2000, Jean Gaffney, review of Two So Small, p. 127; June, 2001, Shara Alpern, review of One Dark Night, p. 118; January, 2003, Elaine E. Knight, review of Robyn's Art Attack, p. 97; February, 2003, Alison Grant, review of T.J. and the Cats, p. 114; April, 2003, Maryann H. Owen, review of I'd Know You Anywhere, p. 768.