Stainton, Sue

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Stainton, Sue

Personal

Born in England; married; children: three sons.

Addresses

Home—Southwest England.

Career

Author. Art director for a British publishing house.

Writings

Santa's Snow Cat, illustrated by Anne Mortimer, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

Snow Cat, Santa's Littlest Cat, illustrated by Anne Mortimer, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

The Lighthouse Cat, illustrated by Anne Mortimer, Katherine Tegen (New York, NY), 2004.

Christmas Magic, illustrated by Eva Melhuish, Katherine Tegen (New York, NY), 2007.

I Love Cats, illustrated by Anne Mortimer, Katherine Tegen (New York, NY), 2007.

The Chocolate Cat, illustrated by Anne Mortimer, Katherine Tegen (New York, NY), 2007.

Santa's Snow Kitten, illustrated by Anne Mortimer, Katherine Tegen (New York, NY), 2008.

Sidelights

As the art director for a British publishing house, Sue Stainton knows her way around picture books. She is the author of seven books, most of them about cats, and all but one of them illustrated by Anne Mortimer. Stainton and Mortimer first teamed up for Santa's Snow Cat, which features a small Christmas cat who has gone on to star in several other books, including Snow Cat, Santa's Little Helper and Santa's Snow Kitten.

I Love Cats features short descriptions of different types of cats, all of which are loved by the story's narrator. "The text is brief: one adjective followed by the word cat," noted Ilene Cooper in her Booklist review. Kara Schaff Dean, appraising I Love Cats for School Library Journal, wrote that the "smooth and easy read-aloud lilt" of Stainton's text makes the book a good selection for storytimes. While noting that some of the rhymes work better than others, a Kirkus Reviews contributor concluded that "readers and listeners will find much to purr-posefully pore over" in the book.

In The Lighthouse Cat the keeper of an island lighthouse is surprised one day when the usual shipment of groceries sent out to him from the mainland is accompanied by a small cat. Because the island keeper discovers the cat among some fish, he decides to name the creature Mackerel. When a storm blows out the lighthouse lights, Mackerel howls to a number of other cats to join him, and their eyes reflect the moon and light a path for passing ships. Noting Stainton's "descriptive language," School Library Journal contributor Sheilah Kosco recommended The Lighthouse Cat as "a great book for children to read for personal enjoyment and for teachers to share as part of a history lesson." Terry Glover, writing in Booklist, called both the art and the text "warm and full of wonderful detail," and a Kirkus Reviews contributor mentioned that Stanton's author's note benefits from "a history of the English lighthouse that stood for 127 years and inspired the story."

Like The Lighthouse Cat, The Chocolate Cat is both a tale of feline heroism and an opportunity to share with readers a story from history. In The Chocolate Cat a chocolate maker and his cat, both grumpy and unloved by fellow villagers, have little to offer. Then one day the chocolate maker creates a chocolate mouse for his pet. Appreciating this kind act, the cat decides that the treat must be shared and begins winning new friends from around the village due to his generosity. However, it is only when the chocolate maker tastes his own creation that he can leave his own grumpiness behind. "Mortimer and Stainton's latest collaboration brings together two storytime staples," wrote a contributor to Kirkus Reviews in praise of the work.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 2004, Terry Glover, review of The Lighthouse Cat, p. 1945; March 15, 2007, Ilene Cooper, review of I Love Cats, p. 55.

Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2004, review of The Lighthouse Cat, p. 637; March 15, 2007, review of I Love Cats; September 15, 2007, review of The Chocolate Cat.

School Library Journal, September, 2004, Sheilah Kosco, review of The Lighthouse Cat, p. 181; March, 2007, Kara Schaff Dean, review of I Love Cats, p. 186.