Lund, Deb

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LUND, Deb

Personal

Married Karl Olsen (a vocalist); children: Kaj (son), Sandra, Jean (son). Education: Bachelor degrees in music and elementary education, library endorsement; M.A. (applied liberal studies).

Addresses

Agent— Marcia Wernick, Sheldon Fogelman Agency, Inc., 10 East 40th St., New York, NY 10016. E-mail— [email protected].

Career

Writer. Formerly worked as a music teacher, classroom teacher, librarian, and school director. Speaker at conferences, schools, and libraries.

Writings

Play and Pray: Toddler Prayers, illustrated by Joni Oeltjenbruns, Morehouse Pub. (Harrisburg, PA), 2002.

Dinosailors, illustrated by Howard Fine, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2003.

Me and God: A Book of Partner Prayers, illustrated by Carolyn Digby Conahan, Morehouse Pub. (Harrisburg, PA), 2003.

Tell Me My Story, Mama, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

All Day Long: A Book of Partner Prayers, illustrated by Carolyn Digby Conahan, Morehouse Pub. (Harrisburg, PA), 2004.

All Aboard the Dinotrain, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2005.

Sidelights

A former music and classroom teacher, as well as a librarian and founding director of a home-school support program, Deb Lund is the author of several children's books, among them Dinosailors, and Tell Me My Story, Mama. Described as "a lovely choice for children" according to Booklist critic Gillian Engberg, Tell Me My Story, Mama offers readers a mother's account of pregnancy and her fond memories of the excitement and anticipation leading up to her daughter's birth. Covering everything from the trip to the hospital and the actual birth to the new parents' love at first glimpse of their newborn infant, Lund provides readers with a "warm-hearted and compassionate" tale according to a Kirkus Reviews critic. The reviewer recommended Tell Me My Story, Mama as a book that is "ideal for sharing with expectant siblings, who will appreciate this subtle reminder of their own individuality." "The shelf of new baby books may be crowded, but it's well worth making room for this graceful, gently funny entry" added a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Prehistoric creatures take to the high seas in Lund's Dinosailors, which finds a group of bulky dinosaurs clambering weightily aboard ship, only to encounter a bad storm and realize that perhaps they were meant to be landlubbers after all. Praising Lund's entertaining, rhyming text, a Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that "young salts and dinosaur devotees will likely be happy to sign on for a cruise with this boisterous bunch," while in Booklist Stephanie Zvirin praised Lund's "happy-go-lucky tale" in which "the rhythm and the wordplay are the fun." Teaming up with illustrator Howard Fine again, Lund continues her dino adventures in All Aboard the Dinotrain, which carries readers on a train trip that features a turn toward the unexpected along with the fun.

Lund enjoys working with students, teachers, librarians, and others who care about writing and children's books. She also performs with the "Basics," a family music group that promotes the arts, diversity and imagination, and lives with her family on an island in the Pacific Northwest.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2003, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Dinosailors, p. 129; April 1, 2004, Gillian Engberg, review of Tell Me My Story, Mama, p. 1369.

Childhood Education, mid-summer, 2004, Kristen Snyder, review of Dinosailors, p. 274.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2003, review of Dinosailors, p. 1177; March 1, 2004, review of Tell Me My Story, Mama, p. 226.

Publishers Weekly, September 8, 2003, review of Dinosailors, p. 75; March 1, 2004, review of Tell Me My Story, Mama, p. 67.

School Library Journal, September, 2003, Steven Engelfried, review of Dinosailors, p. 184; February, 2004, Heide Piehler, review of Tell Me My Story, Mama, p. 118.