Hutchins, Pat 1942–

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Hutchins, Pat 1942–

Personal

Born June 18, 1942, in Yorkshire, England; daughter of Edward (a soldier) and Lilian Goundry; married Laurence Hutchins (a film director), August 20, 1966; chil-

dren: Morgan, Sam. Education: Attended Darlington School of Art, 1958-60, and Leeds College of Art, 1960-64. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, reading, music.

Addresses

Home—London, England; Suffolk, England.

Career

J. Walter Thompson (advertising agency), London, England, assistant art director, 1963-65; author and illustrator of children's books, 1966—.

Awards, Honors

Notable Book designation, American Library Association, and illustration honor, Boston Globe/Horn Book, both 1968, both for Rosie's Walk; best illustrated book designation, New York Times, and picture book honor, Spring Book Festival, both 1971, Children's Book Showcase title, 1972, and Brooklyn Art Books for Children award, 1973, all for Changes, Changes; Kate Greenaway Medal, 1974, for The Wind Blew; illustration honor list, International Board on Books for Young People, 1974, for Titch; Kate Greenaway Medal commendation, 1979, for One-Eyed Jake; Best Books designation, School Library Journal, 1980, for The Tale of Thomas Mead; Kurt Maschler Award runner up, 1986, for The Doorbell Rang; Honorary doctorate, Suffolk College, University of East Anglia, 2006.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN; SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Rosie's Walk, Macmillan (London, England), 1968, reprinted, Red Fox (London, England), 2003.

Tom and Sam, Macmillan (London, England), 1968, reprinted, Red Fox (London, England), 1992.

The Surprise Party, Macmillan (London, England), 1969, reprinted, Red Fox (London, England), 1993.

Clocks and More Clocks, Macmillan (London, England), 1970.

Changes, Changes, Macmillan (London, England), 1971.

Titch, Macmillan (London, England), 1971.

Good-night, Owl!, Macmillan (London, England), 1972 reprinted, Red Fox (London, England), 1993.

The Wind Blew, Macmillan (London, England), 1974.

The Silver Christmas Tree, Macmillan (London, England), 1974.

Don't Forget the Bacon!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1976, reprinted, Red Fox (London, England), 2002.

The Best Train Set Ever, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1978.

Happy Birthday, Sam, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1978.

One-Eyed Jake, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1979.

The Tale of Thomas Mead (also see below), Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1980.

One Hunter, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1982.

You'll Soon Grow into Them, Titch, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1983.

King Henry's Palace, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1983.

The Very Worst Monster, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1985.

The Doorbell Rang, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1986.

Where's the Baby?, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1986.

Which Witch Is Which?, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1989.

What Game Shall We Play?, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1990.

Tidy Titch, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1991.

Silly Billy, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1992.

My Best Friend, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1992.

Little Pink Pig, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1993.

Three-Star Billy, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1994.

Titch and Daisy, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1996.

Shrinking Mouse, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1997.

It's My Birthday!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1999.

Ten Red Apples, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2000.

We're Going on a Picnic!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2002.

There's Only One of Me!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2003.

Don't Get Lost!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2004.

I'm King of the Castle!; Sam Smith, Crime Buster; The Tale of Thomas Mead, Oberon (London, England), 2004.

Bumpety Bump!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2006.

The Barn Dance, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2007.

Author's books have been translated into numerous languages.

"TITCH" SELF-ILLUSTRATED BOARD-BOOK SERIES; TELEVISION TIE-INS

It's Bedtime, Titch, Red Fox (London, England), 1998.

It's Christmas, Titch, Red Fox (London, England), 1998.

Titch Dresses Up, Red Fox (London, England), 1998.

Titch's Snowy Day, Red Fox (London, England), 1998.

Titch and the Picnic, Red Fox (London, England), 1999.

Titch and the Baby, Red Fox (London, England), 1999.

Count with Titch, Red Fox (London, England), 1999.

Gardener Titch, Red Fox (London, England), 1999.

Tidy Up, Titch, Red Fox (London, England), 1999.

Where's Tailcat, Titch?, Red Fox (London, England), 1999.

It's Bathtime, Titch, Red Fox (London, England), 2000.

Sticky Titch, Red Fox (London, England), 2000.

Titch out and About, Red Fox (London, England), 2000.

Titch's Windy Day, Red Fox (London, England), 2000.

Based on model-animated television series Titch, airing in England, beginning 1997.

FOR CHILDREN

The House That Sailed Away, illustrated by husband, Laurence Hutchins, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1975.

Follow That Bus!, illustrated by Laurence Hutchins, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1977, reprinted, Red Fox (London, England), 1992.

The Mona Lisa Mystery, illustrated by Laurence Hutchins, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1981.

The Curse of the Egyptian Mummy, illustrated by Laurence Hutchins, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1983.

Rats!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1989.

Adaptations

Rosie's Walk, The Surprise Party, Clocks and More Clocks, and Changes, Changes, were adapted as filmstrips by Weston Woods; The Tale of Thomas Mead was adapted as a filmstrip produced by Westport Communications; The House That Sailed Away was adapted for television in England; The Curse of the Egyptian Mummy was adapted as a stage production, 1991; There's Only One of Me!, The Doorbell Rang, and other books by Hutchins have been adapted as audiobooks. The Titch television series has been produced in a French-language version.

Sidelights

Pat Hutchins is a gifted British author and illustrator of picture books for preschoolers and children in the elementary grades. Known especially for her lean texts and vivid artwork, Hutchins creates books full of optimism, humor, and simplicity; telling tales of animals as well as monster children, inventive children, lazy children, and shy children. Often taking inspiration from her siblings, as well as from her own two sons, Hutchins

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has penned dozens of picture-book texts as well as chapter books for beginning readers. In her picture books, such as the award-winning Rosie's Walk, Changes, Changes, The Doorbell Rang, One-Eyed Jake, Titch, and The Wind Blew, she marries her sparse language with original evocative illustrations which are often filled with messages not conveyed in the text. Hutchins is particularly fond of two motifs—a lively family of monsters and a shy boy named Titch—and has patterned several books after each. She is also fond of country settings, no doubt inspired by her own childhood in rural northern England.

Born in 1942 in Yorkshire, Hutchins grew up far removed from the "Big Smoke," as the locals called the city of London. One of seven children, she and her siblings spent their free days roaming the countryside. Despite financial hardships, Christmas was always a festive occasion for the family because Hutchins' mother managed to put away money all year long to buy the children gifts. Potato picking in bleak November helped family finances prior to the holiday season, with the entire family pitching in. A local couple was something of a bright spot while growing up; they took young Hutchins under their wing, making their cottage something of an open house to her. She repaid their kindness years later by using their cottage as the backdrop for illustrations in The Wind Blew.

As Hutchins once explained: "As I loved drawing, I would wander round the countryside with my drawing book under my arm and my pet crow on my shoulder (he was too lazy to fly), and while he searched for grubs, I sketched. Books were my other love, so it was inevitable that I would go to art school and study illustration." At age sixteen, she won a scholarship to Darlington School of Art, where she felt completely in her element. Here she found other young men and women who, as she recalled in an essay for Something about the Author Autobiography Series (SAAS), "got just as excited as I did about the patterns clouds made, the different colours in the sky, and even the way light changed the tones of grey on the giant structures at the local steelworks." After two years at Darlington, Hutchins enrolled in a program at Leeds College of Art, where she majored in illustration in anticipation of working in children's books. Upon graduation she and a friend headed south to London, much to the horror of her village neighbors. In London's competitive environment, Hutchins discovered that her portfolio still needed work to attract editors, so she took a job as an illustrator in an advertising firm. There she met Laurence Hutchins, the man who would become her husband, who was then working as an art director. The two fell in love, married, and as a result of her husband's job transfer to New York City, set up house in a small apartment in Greenwich Village.

"I think our stay in New York was one of the happiest and most creative periods in my life," Hutchins recalled in SAAS. In Manhattan she shopped an improved portfolio to U.S. publishers and, happily, made the acquaintance of Susan Hirschman, then head of the children's book department at Macmillan. After Hirschman convinced Hutchins to write an original story, Hutchins turned to what she knew best: life in the countryside. Her resulting story about a hen called Rosie and a silent fox that follows Rosie around the farmyard began as a complicated text, but she ultimately pared it down to a scant thirty-two words. "As the fox was silent," Hutchins noted in SAAS, "I decided not to mention him in the story at all. That way the reader is one jump ahead of the heroine, Rosie. They know she is being followed. She doesn't." This device, typical in adult novels, proved to be a winner with young audiences as well; Rosie's Walk won Hutchins a wide readership as well as an American Library Association Notable Book citation.

Other early award-winning titles include Changes, Changes and The Wind Blew, the latter of which captured the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal in 1974. Hutchins has also created learning books, such as Clocks and More Clocks, The Doorbell Rang, and Ten Red Apples, which explore counting and math. She relates a cautionary tale about the values of sharing in One-Eyed Jake, while the dangers of illiteracy are outlined in Tale of Thomas Mead.

As her own children progressed past the picture-book stage, Hutchins also tried her hand at chapter books full of action, silliness, and turn-the-page breathlessness. Follow That Bus!, The Mona Lisa Mystery, and The Curse of the Egyptian Mummy are mysteries built around camping or school field trips that prove to be

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both humorous and dangerous, while Rats! details the humorous consequences of allowing a young boy to keep a rodent as a pet. More popular in England than in America, The House That Sailed Away was adapted for British television. As her children got older, Hutchins felt she was no longer in touch with the dialogue and language appropriate to the older elementary age group, so she returned to her low-text picture book format.

With the 1971 picture book Titch, Hutchins began a series of popular books that would culminate in a television series employing model-animated characters. A character based partly on Hutchins' first son, Morgan, and partly on the author/illustrator's younger brother, Titch is the youngest of three children and always comes in a poor third to the older brother and sister. The boy's moment of triumph finally comes when he turns a tiny seed into a mighty plant in the family garden. Mary M. Burns, writing in Horn Book, called Titch a "childlike picture-story which blends economy of text with bright, uncomplicated illustrations," and concluded that Hutchins provides "imaginative realism for pre-schoolers which is reassuring, but never condescending." Margaret Meek, reviewing the picture book in School Librarian, observed that the "text and drawings match with artistic deliberation," declaring: this "is what learning to read should be about."

Titch returns in You'll Soon Grow into Them, Titch, Tidy Titch, and Titch and Daisy. In the second book of the series, Titch is tired of hand-me-downs—clothes that are always too big when he first gets them but into which he soon will grow. Finally Titch's day comes, however: he and his dad go out shopping, and Titch returns with a brand-new sweater, trousers, and socks. When his Mother comes home with a new baby boy, Titch now has someone to whom he can hand over his old clothes. B. Clark, reviewing You'll Soon Grow into Them, Titch for Junior Bookshelf, wrote that although the tale is "slight," it is "brought to life as always by Pat Hutchins's illustrations."

Tidy Titch finds the likeable young lad helping his older brother and sister clean their bedrooms, only to discover that his own room has grown messier through his rapid accumulation of all their unwanted toys. In Titch and Daisy young Titch is shy about attending a party with children he does not know, but assurances that his friend Daisy will be attending convince him to go. When he does not see her at the party, he takes refuge behind a sofa, then in a cupboard, and finally under a table, where he discovers Daisy, who has been one step ahead of him all along. Banding together, the children gain the confidence to participate in the party festivities. In Booklist Carolyn Phelan commented that Hitchins' "double-page illustrations feature clean, spare ink lines filled with bright, clear colors," while Carolyn Noah observed in School Library Journal that this "winsome case of mistaken location focuses on the importance of friendship" and "will be welcomed by youngsters who follow Titch's growth and development." Hanna B. Zeiger, reviewing Titch and Daisy in Horn Book, noted that the "gouache illustrations, effectively set against white space, are vintage Pat Hutchins," and that perceptive readers will spot Daisy hiding in different locations in each double-page spread. Again, Hutchins employs her classic "less is more" technique, the critic added: readers see what the text does not provide and what the main character is unaware of. Zeiger concluded that Titch and Daisy is a "pleasant portrayal of young children's dilemma when facing a new situation."

Another series of picture books by Hutchins focuses on the antics of a family of monsters. These books, drolly humorous and ultimately uplifting, include The Very Worst Monster, Where's the Baby?, Silly Billy, Three-Star Billy, and It's My Birthday! Writing in SAAS of her inspiration for The Very Worst Monster, Hutchins recalled: "I wanted to do a humorous book about a baby brother or sister being given away. But jealousy is a very strong emotion, and a real child giving its sibling away isn't funny. I wanted the book to be a reassuring book, not something that might make children feel guilty about their feelings of jealousy. If I made the family a family of monsters I could distance the reader from reality, so they could laugh at the situation. Monsters are supposed to do terrible things—but monsters aren't real. I chose to do the illustrations in soft watercolors, so although they are obviously monsters, they're quite harmless ones."

In The Very Worst Monster, the girl monster, Hazel, is applauded for her efforts in giving her baby brother away, for this makes her the worst monster of all—quite a compliment in monster society. Baby Billy is returned, however, after the family who has received him find him impossible to handle. Reviewing this title for the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Zena Sutherland noted that, "given Hutchins's light touch and humor, the appeal of the subject, and the combining of two sure-fire ideas (sibling dethronement and the worst-is-the-best) this could hardly fail to be amusing and popular." Nancy Schmidtmann declared in a School Library Journal review that The Very Worst Monster serves as a "monstrously wonderful addition to any picture book collection."

In Where's the Baby? Hutchins incorporates a long-held story idea about an overactive baby who gets itself lost. Considered too edgy as a realistic tale, such a story fits perfectly into the antics of her family of green monsters, and in Where's the Baby? young Billy "is blithely traipsing through the house wreaking havoc as he goes," according to Leda Schubert in School Library Journal. In a text composed of rhyming couplets, each of Billy's disasters is met by words of praise from his Grandma. In Silly Billy Billy continually interrupts sister Hazel and the rest of his family as the monsters play a board game. Billy wants to copy everything Hazel does, and she ultimately tricks him into sleeping while she finishes her game of Monsternopoly. "The child-appeal quotient here is very high," Janice Del Negro noted in Booklist, because "children with a baby brother or sister will recognize themselves in the charming, simple story." Shirley Dacey noted in Magpies that Silly Billy is of "the same high quality in both text and illustration as [Hutchins's] previous works."

Billy makes further appearances in Three-Star Billy and It's My Birthday! In the former title, "reverse psychology tames a young monster's temper," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor. Pea-green Billy, with his fang-like teeth, does not care much for nursery school, and he throws both fits and paint to show his dislike. His teacher, instead of getting mad at him, awards the young monster a star for each such outburst, finally winning Billy over. Booklist critic Hazel Rochman concluded that "joy is in the slapstick and the mischief and the power of the small raging monster who is loved without question." It's My Birthday! finds Billy ready for birthday surprises, but any suggestion of sharing his new presents with his party guests is quickly denied. However, when one gift cannot be enjoyed by just one player, Billy finds himself in need of the cooperation and sharing he has not extended to his guests. Gay Lynn Van Vleck, reviewing It's My Birthday! for School Library Journal, noted especially Hutchins' full-color art, concluding that, with "its arresting colors and gentle lesson, this tale will be a super storytime selection."

In addition to her "Titch" stories and monstrous tales, Hutchins continues to produce a wide variety of picture books. In My Best Friend she "captures the simple elements of a child's life in a heartwarming story, steeped in truth," according to Booklist reviewer Deborah Abbott. An overnight visit reveals the deep friendship between two little girls in a book that Abbott dubbed a "must" for story hours. A critic for Kirkus Reviews called My Best Friend a "deceptively simple story with real insight, refreshing as a bright spring day." There's Only One of Me! a little girl ponders on the many different roles she plays within her loving family, while a boy and his grandfather work in the family garden in Bumpety Bump! The Doorbell Rang is a cumulative tale containing a math problem as an ethnically diverse group of children hope to share a plate of newly baked cookies. A Kirkus Reviews writer concluded of There's Only One of Me! that young readers will "delight in [Hutchins'] … exploration of the various familial roles and may want to work out their own," and Rochman deemed it "a bright, exuberant picture book celebrates diversity and connection." Bumpety Bump! provides youngsters with "a sweet, comical look at crops and caregivers," according to School Library Journal contributor Andrea Tarr, while in Booklist Gillian Engberg noted that Hutchins' ability to capture the "warm camaraderie between grandparent and child makes the story a good choice for sharing."

Moving from human to animal characters, Hutchins celebrates farm and countryside in Little Pink Pig, Shrinking Mouse, Don't Get Lost!, We're Going on a Picnic!, and Ten Red Apples. In Little Pink Pig a busy little piglet gets separated from its mother and has adventures and misadventures in the farmyard until it is found, while Don't Get Lost! finds another pig straying too far from home during playtime with his friends Little Lamb, Little Calf, and Little Foal. Shrinking Mouse provides a lesson in perspective as a departing mouse gets smaller and smaller until its friends are frightened that the creature will disappear altogether, while Ten Red Apples incorporates simple addition into a rhyming story augmented by animal noises. In Booklist Ilene Cooper concluded that the text of Shrinking Mouse "is perfectly illustrated by Hutchins's crisp artwork featuring elemental shapings just right for young eyes." In addition to praising her "bright and clear" illustrations for Ten Red Apples, Beth Tegart wrote in her School Library Journal review that the author/illustrator's text is "easy and smooth, with a catchy refrain" that will captivate young listeners.

Hutchins' ability to capture the "just right" elements of her story and blend her simple texts with engaging illustrations continue to win her a large following among succeeding generations of children. In an essay in the St. James Guide to Children's Writers, Elaine Moss called the author/artist "a magnet for young listeners and readers." As Hutchins once explained, "I like to build my stories up, so the reader can understand what is happening and, in some cases, anticipate what is likely to happen on the next page. I think one can get quite complicated ideas across to small children as long as they are presented in a simple, satisfying way."

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

Children's Books and Their Creators, edited by Anita Silvey, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1995, p. 336.

Children's Literature Review, Volume 20, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1990, pp. 138-154.

St. James Guide to Children's Writers, edited by Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999, pp. 543-544.

Something about the Author Autobiography Series, Volume 16, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1993, pp. 229-242.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 1993, Janice Del Negro, review of Silly Billy, pp. 808-809; March 15, 1993, Deborah Abbott, review of My Best Friend, pp. 1359-1360; April 1, 1994, p. 1460; October 1, 1994, Hazel Rochman, review of Three-Star Billy, p. 333; April 15, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of Titch and Daisy, p. 1445; February 15, 1997, Ilene Cooper, review of Shrinking Mouse, p. 1026; May 1, 2000, John Peters, review of Ten Red Apples, p. 1678; March 1, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of We're Going on a Picnic!, p. 1142; April 15, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of There's Only One of Me, p. 1478; August, 2004, John Sigwald, review of Don't Get Lost!, p. 88; February 1, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of Bumpety Bump!, p. 1942.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 1985, Zena Sutherland, review of The Very Worst Monster, p. 149.

Horn Book, March-April, 1972, Mary M. Burns, review of Titch, p. 135; September-October, 1989, p. 621; May-June, 1996, Hanna B. Zeiger, review of Titch and Daisy, p. 325; May-June, 1997, Marilyn Bousquin, review of Shrinking Mouse, pp. 308-309.

Junior Bookshelf, August, 1983, B. Clark, review of You'll Soon Grow into Them, Titch, p. 154; December, 1992, pp. 234-235.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 1993, review of My Best Friend, p. 531; March, 1999, Gay Lynn Van Vleck, review of It's My Birthday!, p. 243; May, 2000, Beth Tegart, review of Ten Red Apples, p. 144; January 1, 2002, review of We're Going on a Picnic, p. 47; February 15, 2003, review of There's Only One of Me!, p. 308; July 1, 2004, review of Don't Get Lost!, p. 631; January 1, 2006, review of Bumpety Bump!, p. 42.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, September 13, 1998, p. 8.

Magpies, May, 1993, Shirley Dacey, review of Silly Billy, p. 27; March, 1997, review of Titch and Daisy, p. 26; November, 1998, review of Shrinking Mouse, p. 26; March, 2000, review of It's My Birthday!, p. 26; March, 2001, review of Ten Red Apples, p. 26.

Publishers Weekly, October 3, 1994, review of Three-Star Billy, p. 68; April 5, 1999, review of It's My Birthday, p. 243; May 22, 2000, review of Ten Red Apples, p. 1678; January 21, 2002, review of We're Going on a Picnic, p. 89.

School Librarian, June, 1972, Margaret Meek, review of Titch, p. 190; August, 1989, p. 123; September, 1990, p. 205; November, 1993, p. 149; August, 1994, p. 132; November, 1994, p. 148; April, 1997, p. 106.

School Library Journal, May, 1985, Nancy Schmidtmann, review of The Very Worst Monster, p. 76; March, 1988, Leda Schubert, review of Where's the Baby, p. 167; April, 1996, Carolyn Noah, review of Titch and Daisy, p. 110; March, 1999, Gay Lynn Van Vleck, review of It's My Birthday!, p. 176; March, 2002, Rosalyn Pierini, review of We're Going on a Picnic!, p. 190; May, 2003, Jody McCoy, review of There's Only One of Me!, p. 120; August, 2004, John Sigwald, review of Don't Get Lost!, p. 1942; April, 2006, Andrea Tarr, review of Bumpety Bump!, p. 108.