Rose, Deborah Lee 1955–

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Rose, Deborah Lee 1955–

Personal

Born October 24, 1955, in Philadelphia, PA; daughter of Bernard and Helen Rose; married; children: one daughter, one son. Education: Cornell University, B.A., 1977.

Addresses

Home—San Francisco Bay area, CA. Agent—c/o Jason Wells, jwellshnabooks.com.

Career

Time-Life Books, Alexandria, VA, editorial researcher, 1977-82; University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, science writer and speech writer, 1984-91; Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, CA, development, marketing, and exhibit writer, 1998—; freelance writer.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Northern California Science-Writers Association.

Awards, Honors

Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, national science writing fellow, 1983-84; Jane Addams Children's Peace Book Award recommended list, 1990, for The People Who Hugged the Trees; First Prize for juvenile trade books, Chicago Women in Publishing, 1991, for Meredith's Mother Takes the Train; Pick of the Lists selection, American Library Association, and 100 Children's Books to Read and Share selection, New York Public Library, both for Into the A, B, Sea: An Ocean Alphabet; Gold Award, National Parenting Publications, for The Twelve Days of Kindergarten; Gold Award, National Parenting Publications, for The Twelve Days of Winter.

Writings

The People Who Hugged the Trees, illustrated by Birgitta Säflund, Roberts Rinehart (Niwot, CO), 1990.

Meredith's Mother Takes the Train, illustrated by Irene Trivas, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1991.

The Rose Horse, illustrated by Greg Shed, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1996.

Into the A, B, Sea: An Ocean Alphabet, illustrated by Steve Jenkins, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

Birthday Zoo, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 2002.

One Nighttime Sea: An Ocean Counting Rhyme, illustrated by Steve Jenkins, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2003.

The Twelve Days of Kindergarten: A Counting Book, illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2003.

Ocean Babies, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata, National Geographic Society (Washington, DC), 2004.

The Twelve Days of Winter: A Counting Book, illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to A Childhood Remembered, Narada, 1991; The ABCs of Writing for Children, by Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff; and Spark Your Child's Success in Math and Science.

Author's work has been translated into German, French, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Hmong.

Adaptations

The People Who Hugged the Trees was adapted for television and radio by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Sidelights

Deborah Lee Rose was an experienced science writer as well as a speech writer before she made the decision to write books for young readers. Inspired by her experiences as a mother, as well as her interests in both science and history, Rose has produced a selection of books that include The People Who Hugged the Trees, Into the A, B, Sea: An Ocean Alphabet, and The Rose Horse. As a child, Rose dreamed of becoming a translator for the United Nations, and creating picture books for children is not so different from that dream, as she once explained to SATA. "Writing for children is a process of translating complex concepts into very accessible language," she explained.

The People Who Hugged the Trees, Rose's first picture book for children, is based on a centuries-old story from Rajasthan, India, that was adapted during the twentieth century to inspire India's Chipko environmental movement. Readers will recognize the story's messages about caring for the environment as both timeless and contemporary, both local and global. "I was particularly struck by this story of a young girl who grows up to lead her entire village in saving a forest," Rose once explained to SATA. "I hope, as my daughter grows up, she will also feel strongly about making the world a better place in some way."

In The People Who Hugged the Trees Amrita Devi grows up knowing that the trees growing near her village are crucial to her family's survival. In addition to shelter from the sun, they protect the village from the violent sandstorms of the surrounding desert. One day the Maharajah decides to build a new fort, and he sends his men to Amrita's village to cut the trees down. Armed with axes, the men approach, only to find each tree embraced by a villager as a form of resistance thought up by the young girl to save her beloved trees. A Horn Book reviewer complimented illustrator Birgitta Säflund's "delicate, detailed" images, and called the book "a successful, timely tale." Growing Point critic Margery Fisher termed The People Who Hugged the Trees "an impressive example of the way story can convey a general idea" to children.

Other picture books by Rose touch on both serious and lighthearted family themes that range from workday separations to birthday celebrations. Meredith's Mother Takes the Train focuses on the concerns of both parents and children regarding work-week day care. Meredith's mom boards the train every morning to commute to work and spends her day thinking about the time she will spend with her daughter once she gets home. Meanwhile, Meredith spends time at day care, busily playing with her friends yet anticipating her mother's welcome arrival to pick her up. Rose's rhyming text captures the feeling of a train along the track—a poetic device that makes the story appealing to very young, even preverbal children. In Booklist, Leone McDermott called the work "subtly reassuring" to young children.

The love she and her children share for ocean animals prompted Rose to write a picture book about the ocean that weaves together marine science and language arts. Into the A, B, Sea uses what Booklist contributor Gillian Engberg described as "rhymed couplets filled with appealing action words" to introduce young story-time audiences to the diversity of the world's oceans. School Library Journal reviewer Joy Fleishhacker called the book "a tantalizing, visually stunning invitation to explore a new frontier," and noted that the "breathtaking" cut-paper collage illustrations contributed by Steve Jenkins provide "a perfect medley of vibrant color and restless motion."

Rose got the idea for Into the A, B, Sea while writing alphabet letters in the sand with her young son. "It hit me," she once recalled to SATA, "that the ocean and the alphabet are both so vast and full of possibilities." Rose's text mimics the rhythm of the waves against the shore, and Jenkins' illustrations are complemented by factual details for each ocean creature, as well as a useful glossary of terms. Rose and Jenkins have also created a sequel, One Nighttime Sea: An Ocean Counting Rhyme, which sheds light on the little-seen habits of the ocean's nocturnal creatures.

The idea for One Nighttime Sea stemmed from the author's research for Into the A, B, Sea, as Rose told California Readers interviewer Bonnie O'Brian. "While visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium," the author explained, "I discovered that there was an amazing change that came over the ocean after dark, called ‘vertical migration’—where every night, billions of animals rise from the deep ocean up to the surface to feed, then return to the depths at sunrise. This got me wondering about all kinds of nocturnal animals in the ocean." Reviewing One Nighttime Sea, a contributor in Publishers Weekly praised the "lyrical text," and School Library

Journal contributor Julie Roach remarked that the "enchanting counting book lulls its audience into the world beneath the waves."

In Ocean Babies Rose explores the wonders and diversity of marine life. Using rhyming text, Rose describes how ocean animals are born, how they learn to swim, and how they find food, among other things. In Booklist, Carolyn Phelan praised the author's sensitivity to her audience, stating that Rose's narrative "establishes an amiable tone, sometimes addressing children directly and sometimes simply presenting information." Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, writing in School Library Journal, commented that Ocean Babies "beautifully captures the magic of the ocean world," and a contributor in Kirkus Reviews described the work as "a touching look at birth and perfect for reminiscing about the births of loved ones."

Designed for beginning readers making the transition from picture books to novels, The Rose Horse opens a window onto the life of immigrants in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. Inspired by the work of the great carousel carvers of Brooklyn's Coney Island, Rose delves into American history and lore to recreate a time long ago. Lily and her family find themselves on Coney Island following the premature birth of Lily's baby sister, for the only way the infant's "state-of-the-art" medical care can be paid for is with the coins paid by curious onlookers who flock to see the incubator baby "sideshow," where Lily's sister is being kept alive. Staying temporarily with a cousin's family, Lily learns more about her family's Eastern European Jewish traditions and the craft of woodcarving, for her cousin Samuel is a talented artisan at work on the animals for Coney Island's renowned carousels. Priscilla Wallace, writing in Multicultural Review, noted that The Rose Horse offers "a subtle story of strong family relationships" and "supplements the teaching of American history, immigration, folk art, and Hebrew traditions."

An unusual celebration is the subject of Birthday Zoo, a work Rose tells in verse. As a young boy's birthday approaches, the animals in the zoo, including a tamarin, an okapi, a sloth, a stingray, and an emu, prepare to host a party in his honor. The festivities include a lynx pouring drinks, bats wearing silly hats, and bears playing musical chairs. Laura Scott, writing in School Library Journal, predicted that Rose's "strong rhythm and rhymes will charm youngsters in a storytime," and Horn Book contributor Mary M. Burns described Birthday Zoo as an "infectious read-aloud, and great fun for youngsters who will enjoy adding to their vocabulary of unfamiliar beasts."

The Twelve Days of Kindergarten: A Counting Book, Rose's take on the popular holiday song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," centers on a small girl's adjustment to her harried new teacher and her uproarious classmates. As the busy first dozen days of school pass, the youngster enjoys a host of learning activities such as chanting the alphabet, planting seeds, drawing pictures, stringing beads, and feeding fish. According to a reviewer in Publishers Weekly, "classroom leaders with a sense of humor will enjoy sharing this book at circle time," and Hazel Rochman noted in Booklist that young readers "will find a story about learning, messing up a lot, and sometimes changing." The rambunctious kindergarteners and their frazzled teacher return in a companion volume, The Twelve Days of Winter: A Counting Book. The students again savor a variety of adventures, including a zoo trip involving an escaped penguin. In School Library Journal, Grace Oliff called the work "a surefire choice to spice up the dreariest winter day."

"Since I began writing children's books," Rose once told SATA, "I have learned to listen more closely to both the insightful and silly things my children and their friends say. I've had to look at things through their eyes, and as a result I've rediscovered things I missed, or forgot, in my own childhood." The character Rose admires most in children's books is Charlotte, the spider in E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. "Charlotte is a writer like I am," Rose observed. "She thinks a long time before she starts to write, she researches and checks her spelling with a little help from her friends, she likes to work when it's quiet, and she shows off her work in the best light possible. She loves words and understands they are powerful—they can teach, surprise, entertain, convince, and even save a life."

Rose, who creates exhibits and writes articles for the Lawrence Hall of Science, believes that children's literature has broadened her horizons. "Writing children's books has helped me discover so many new things, like ocean life, and rediscover old things, like my boundless love of reading," she told Patricia M. Newman in California Kids. "Through reading children's books I've had the joy of close times with my own children, and through writing children's books, I've shared a part of myself with children around the globe."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

California Kids, March, 2001, Patricia M. Newman, "Who Wrote That? Featuring Deborah Lee Rose."

Booklist, February 15, 1991, Leone McDermott, review of Meredith's Mother Takes the Train, p. 1202; March 1, 1991, Kathleen T. Horning, review of The People Who Hugged the Trees, p. 1403; September 1, 1995, Hazel Rochman, review of The Rose Horse, p. 58; September 15, 2000, Gillian Engberg, review of Into the A, B, Sea: An Ocean Alphabet, p. 246; September 15, 2002, Cynthia Turnquest, review of Birthday Zoo, p. 242; August, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of The Twelve Days of Kindergarten: A Counting Book, p. 1994; April 1, 2005, Carolyn Phelan, review of Ocean Babies, p. 1362.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November, 1995, Susan Dove Lempke, review of The Rose Horse, p. 104.

Childhood Education, winter, 2003, review of One Nighttime Sea: An Ocean Counting Rhyme, p. 90.

Growing Point, March, 1991, Margery Fisher, review of The People Who Hugged the Trees, p. 5495.

Horn Book, July-December, 1990, review of The People Who Hugged the Trees, p. 102; November-December, 2002, Mary M. Burns, review of Birthday Zoo, p. 738.

Junior Bookshelf, February, 1991, review of The People Who Hugged the Trees, p. 16.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2002, review of Birthday Zoo, p. 1042; July 1, 2003, reviews of One Nighttime Sea, p. 913, and The Twelve Days of Kindergarten, p. 914; May 15, 2005, review of Ocean Babies, p. 595; September 15, 2006, review of The Twelve Days of Winter: A Counting Book, p. 965.

Multicultural Review, March, 1996, Priscilla Wallace, review of The Rose Horse.

Publishers Weekly, September 18, 2000, "From A to Z," p. 113; September 2, 2002, review of Birthday Zoo, p. 78; June 9, 2003, review of The Twelve Days of Kindergarten, p. 50; August 25, 2003, review of One Nighttime Sea, p. 66.

School Library Journal, March, 1991, Patricia Pearl, review of Meredith's Mother Takes the Train, p. 179; January, 1996, Marcia W. Posner, review of The Rose Horse, p. 94; October, 2000, Joy Fleishhacker, review of Into the A, B, Sea, p. 134; October, 2002, Laura Scott, review of Birthday Zoo, p. 126; August, 2003, Linda M. Kenton, review of The Twelve Days of Kindergarten, p. 151; September, 2003, Julie Roach, review of One Nighttime Sea, p. 206; June, 2005, Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, review of Ocean Babies, p. 144; October, 2006, Grace Oliff, review of The Twelve Days of Winter, p. 125.