Jay, Alison

Personal

Born in Hertfordshire, England. Education: London College of Printing, degree (illustration).

Addresses

Home—London, England.

Career

Children's picture book author and illustrator. Commercial illustrator; clients include Crabtree & Evelyn, Marks & Spencer, and Kellogg's. Previously worked as an animator.

Awards, Honors

Children's Illustration Prize, United Kingdom Association of Illustrators.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Picture This: A Child's First Picture Book, Templar (Dorking, England), 1999, Dutton (New York, NY), 2000.

ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book, Dutton (New York, NY), 2003, published as Alphabet: A Child's First ABC, Templar (Dorking, England), 2003.

1, 2, 3: A Child's First Counting Book, Dutton (New York, NY), 2007.

Welcome to the Zoo!, Dial (New York, NY), 2008.

ILLUSTRATOR

Susan Cuthbert, compiler, The Classic Treasury of Children's Prayers, Augsburg Fortress (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Mary Joslin, The Shore Beyond, Good Books (Intercourse, PA), 2000.

Mij Kelly, William and the Night Train, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 2001.

Simon Puttock, A Ladder to the Stars, Holt (New York, NY), 2001.

Caroline Repchuk, The Race, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2002.

J. Patrick Lewis, A World of Wonders: Geographic Travels in Verse and Rhyme, Dial (New York, NY), 2002.

Lois Rock, compiler, A Child's First Book of Prayers, Augsburg Fortress (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

Lois Rock, compiler, A Calendar of Prayers for the Seasons of the Year, Good Books (Intercourse, PA), 2003.

Janet Lawler, If Kisses Were Colors, Dial (New York, NY), 2003, published as If Kisses Were Colours, Templar (Dorking, England), 2003.

Carolyn Curtis, I Took the Moon for a Walk, Barefoot Books (Cambridge, MA), 2004.

Marcus Sedgwick, reteller, The Emperor's New Clothes, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2004.

Malachy Doyle, Una and the Sea-Cloak, Frances Lincoln (London, England), 2004.

Joseph Slate, What Star Is This?, Putnam (New York, NY), 2005.

Lois Rock, compiler, A Child's Book of Graces, Lion (Oxford, England), 2005, Good Books (Intercourse, PA), 2006.

Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Dial (New York, NY), 2006.

Phillis Gershator, Listen, Listen, Barefoot Books (Cambridge, MA), 2008.

Sidelights

Beginning her career as an animator, English-born artist Alison Jay turned her talents to children's books, publishing the self-illustrated Picture This: A Child's First Picture Book in 1999. Using just one word per page, Jay walks readers through the seasons of the year, subtly featuring many characters from traditional nursery rhymes such as "Jack and Jill," "Hickory Dickory Dock," and "Tortoise and the Hare." Illustrations flow from page to page, all set against the background of a quaint town by the sea. Many reviewers found the artwork in Picture This impressive, with Booklist critic Connie Fletcher predicting that youngsters will "spend

hours poring over the whimsical, primitive-style paintings in this wordbook." Similarly, School Library Journal contributor Doris Gebel deemed Picture This "clever enough to engage older children, yet simple enough" for the newest reader.

For the storyhour set, Jay has created ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book and 1, 2, 3: A Child's First Counting Book. In each title, she puts to use her characteristic crackle-glazed paintings, illustrating a range of objects from horses, koalas, and pandas in ABC to cupcakes, gingerbread men, and frog princes in 1, 2, 3. School Library Journal contributor Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan called the first title "a sure bet for youngsters who like to participate actively while learning their letters," while Carolyn Phelan wrote in Booklist of the latter that "this beautifully designed book will work for individual viewing as well as classroom sharing and discussion."

The zoological park featured in Jay's self-illustrated Welcome to the Zoo! takes an unusual twist as families and animals intermingle in a resort-like setting. Uncaged, anthropomorphic animals wander amid the humans, with each group examining the other. "Polished yet playful, this nearly wordless picture book is an engaging choice," remarked Phelan. The variety of animals hidden in the pictures will keep readers entertained, observed Carrie Rogers-Whitehead in SchoolLibrary Journal, the critic adding that "youngsters will have a grand time tracing the movements of everything from parakeets to pandas" across the pages.

In addition to her original picture books, Jay has also provided artwork for a variety of other children's authors, including Mij Kelly's William and the Night Train, Simon Puttock's A Ladder to the Stars, and Phillis Gershator's Listen, Listen. Appearing in 2001, William and the Night Train combines words and pictures to describe how waking hours transition into sleeping ones. A young boy who insists he is not tired transverses the length of a locomotive, past sleeping circus animals, jugglers, and pillow-fighting youngsters. In the process, he slowly becomes lulled to sleep by the rhythmic hum of the train. "Book a ticket for this fanciful ride to dreamland," concluded a Publishers Weekly critic of William and the Night Train, while Connie Fletcher made special mention of Jay's "dream-like" illustrations in Booklist, describing them as "exceptionally attractive, guiding children through the story and delighting with whimsical details."

Taking an unusual approach to a sensitive topic, A Ladder to the Stars gently explores the subject of death through a young girl's desire to dance with a twinkling star. Other celestial beings ponder the request, with the sun, moon, star, and clouds joining forces to figure out how to grant the girl's wish. After one hundred years, the dream comes to fruition and the now old woman as-

cends to the heavens by climbing a special tree, fully grown to reach the highest skies. Once again, Jay's illustrations earned special notice from critics. "Her unique mix of abstract figures and realistic settings provide just the right backdrop for this spiritual theme," proposed a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. School Library Journal contributor Gay Lynn Van Vleck found the efforts of Puttock and Jay "well matched for understated elegance in word and illustration."

The four seasons are the focus of Listen, Listen, a picture book showing the gradual changes in the world during one calendar year. Gershator's text and Jay's artwork blend to encourage readers to observe and appreciate the natural beauty of the outdoors, from flowers emerging in the spring to crops ripening in the fall. "The sights and sounds of a picturesque country village are artfully evoked," thought School Library Journal reviewer Linda Ludke. A Publishers Weekly contributor found Jay's artwork a particularly attractive aspect of Listen, Listen, writing that the artist's "magical and occasionally eerie crackle-glaze oil paintings furnish a visual feast."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2000, Connie Fletcher, review of Picture This: A Child's First Picture Book, p. 1742; February 15, 2001, Connie Fletcher, review of William and the Night Train, p. 1135; December 1, 2002, Shelly Townsend-Hudson, review of The Shore Beyond, p. 721; March 1, 2003, Julie Cummins, review of If Kisses Were Colors, p. 1202; October 15, 2003, Kathleen Odean, review of ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book, p. 409; April 1, 2004, Carolyn Phelan, review of I Took the Moon for a Walk, p. 1368; October 1, 2004, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Emperor's New Clothes, p. 338; July 1, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of A Child's Book of Graces, p. 63; November 1, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, p. 51; September 15, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, review of 1, 2, 3: A Child's First Counting Book, p. 62; November 15, 2007, Jesse Karp, review of Listen, Listen, p. 46; November 1, 2008, Carolyn Phelan, review of Welcome to the Zoo!, p. 50.

Horn Book, March-April, 2002, Mary M. Burns, review of A World of Wonders: Geographic Travels in Verse and Rhyme, p. 224.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2002, review of A World of Wonders, p. 48; March 15, 2002, review of The Race, p. 424; December 15, 2002, review of If Kisses Were Colors, p. 1852; August 15, 2003, review of ABC, p. 1074; February 15, 2004, review of I Took the Moon for a Walk; September 1, 2004, review of The Emperor's New Clothes, p. 874; August 15, 2005, review of 1, 2, 3; November 1, 2005, review of What Star Is This?, p. 1196; September 1, 2008, review of Welcome to the Zoo!

Publishers Weekly, May 29, 2000, review of Picture This, p. 81; December 18, 2000, review of William and the Night Train, p. 77; October 8, 2001, review of A Ladder to the Stars, p. 64; February 11, 2002, review of The Race, p. 184; December 9, 2002, review of If Kisses Were Colors, p. 81; August 11, 2003, review of ABC, p. 277; March 1, 2004, review of I Took the Moon for a Walk, p. 68; September 6, 2004, review of The Emperor's New Clothes, p. 61; September 26, 2005, review of What Star Is This?, p. 89; September 3, 2007, review of 1, 2, 3, p. 57; September 24, 2007, review of Listen, Listen, p. 71; September 1, 2008, review of Welcome to the Zoo!, p. 53.

School Library Journal, June, 2000, Doris Gebel, review of Picture This, p. 115; February, 2001, Karen Land, review of The Shore Beyond, p. 102; March, 2001, Rosalyn Pierini, review of William and the Night Train, p. 213, and Patricia Pearl Dole, review of The Classic Treasury of Children's Prayers, p. 233; January, 2002, Gay Lynn Van Vleck, review of A Ladder to the Stars, p. 108; April, 2002, Margaret Bush, review of A World of Wonders, p. 175; July, 2002, Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, review of The Race, p. 111; March, 2003, Lisa Dennis, review of If Kisses Were Colors, p. 198; September, 2003, Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, review of ABC, p. 181; January, 2004, Joy Fleischhacker, review of Picture This, p. 78; June, 2004, Lee Bock, review of I Took the Moon for a Walk, p. 106; October, 2004, Maria B. Salvadore, review of The Emperor's New Clothes, p. 129; September, 2007, Donna Cardon, review of 1, 2, 3, p. 184; November, 2007, Linda Ludke, review of Listen, Listen, p. 92; November, 2008, Carrie Rogers-Whitehead, review of Welcome to the Zoo!, p. 90.