Winter, Jeanette 1939-

Personal

Born 1939, in Chicago, IL; married Roger Winter (an artist); children: Jonah, Max. Education: Attended Art Institute of Chicago; University of Iowa, B.F.A.

Addresses

Home—New York, NY.

Career

Author and illustrator.

Awards, Honors

Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, National Council for Social Studies/Children's Book Council (NCSS/CBC), and

Notable Children's Trade Book in Language Arts designation, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), both 1988, both for Follow the Drinking Gourd; New York Times Best Illustrated Book citation, Parent's Choice Award, and Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, NCSS/CBC, all 1991, all for Diego by Jonah Winter; New York Times Notable Book citation, 1991, for Eight Hands Round by Ann Whitford Paul; Teacher's Choice citation, IRA/CBC, and Parent's Choice Award, both 1992, both for Klara's New World; Hungry Mind Review Book of Distinction designation, 1993, for A Fruit and Vegetable Man; Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, NCSS/CBC, 1994, for Shaker Boy; Children's Choice Award, IRA/CBC, 1994, for The Christmas Tree Ship; Parent's Choice Honor citation, 1995, for Cowboy Charlie; Best Book of the Year citation, Publishers Weekly, Notable Children's Book citation, American Library Association (ALA), Editor's Choice, Booklist, Notable Book in Language Arts, NCTE, 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing designation, New York Public Library, and Best Book citation, Bank Street College of Education, all 1998, all for My Name Is Georgia; Notable Book citation, New York Times, and Parent's Choice silver medal, both 2002, both for Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World; Parent's Choice Honor citation, Best Books citation, Bank Street College, and Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, NCSS/CBC, all 2003, all for Niño's Mask; Notable Children's Book selection, ALA, Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for Nonfiction, Bank Street College of Education, Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, NCSS/CBC, and Middle East Outreach Council honorable mention citation, all for The Librarian of Basra; Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor designation, 2006, for Mama.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

(Reteller) Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, The Christmas Visitors, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1968.

(Reteller) The Girl and the Moon Man: A Siberian Tale, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1984.

Come out to Play, Knopf (New York, NY), 1986.

(Reteller) The Magic Ring (based on the story by the Brothers Grimm), Knopf (New York, NY), 1987.

Follow the Drinking Gourd, Knopf (New York, NY), 1988.

Klara's New World, Knopf (New York, NY), 1992.

The Christmas Tree Ship, Philomel Books (New York, NY), 1994.

Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1995.

Josefina, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1996.

My Name Is Georgia, Silver Whistle (San Diego, CA), 1998.

Sebastian: A Book about Bach, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1999.

The House That Jack Built, Dial (New York, NY), 2000.

My Baby, Frances Foster Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World, Frances Foster Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Niño's Mask, Dial (New York, NY), 2003.

Beatrix: Various Episodes from the Life of Beatrix Potter, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2003.

Elsina's Clouds, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2004.

September Roses, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2004.

Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2004.

The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2004.

Mama: A True Story in Which a Baby Hippo Loses His Mama during the Tsunami, but Finds a New Home and a New Mama, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2006.

Angelina's Island, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2007.

The Tale of Pale Male: A True Story, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2007.

ILLUSTRATOR

Ann Cameron, Harry (The Monster), Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1980.

Carol Greene, Hinny Winny Bunco, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1982.

Hush Little Baby, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1984.

Barbara Diamond Goldin, The World's Birthday: A Rosh Hashanah Story, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1990.

Jonah Winter, Diego (bilingual book), Spanish translation by Amy Prince, Knopf (New York, NY), 1991.

Ann Whitford Paul, Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991.

Selma Lagerlöf, The Changeling (originally published as Bortbytingen), translated by Susanna Stevens, Knopf (New York, NY), 1992.

Kathleen Hershey, Cotton Mill Town, Dutton (New York, NY), 1993.

Hanna Bandes, Sleepy River, Philomel (New York, NY), 1993.

Roni Schotter, A Fruit and Vegetable Man, Joy Street Books (Boston, MA), 1993.

Mary Lyn Ray, Shaker Boy, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1994.

Steve Sanfield, Snow, Philomel Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Tony Johnston, Day of the Dead, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1997.

Nancy Willard, The Tortilla Cat, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1998.

Hey Diddle Diddle, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1999.

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Rock-a-Bye Baby, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1999.

Jonah Winter, Once upon a Time in Chicago: The Story of Benny Goodman, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2000.

Jane Taylor, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Red Wagon Books (San Diego, CA), 2000.

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2000.

Jonah Winter, The Secret World of Hildegard, Arthur A. Levine Books (New York, NY), 2007.

"WITCH, GOBLIN, AND GHOST" SERIES; ILLUSTRATOR

Sue Alexander, Witch, Goblin, and Sometimes Ghost, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1976.

Sue Alexander, More Witch, Goblin, and Ghost Stories, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1978.

Sue Alexander, Witch, Goblin, and Ghost in the Haunted Woods, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Sue Alexander, Witch, Goblin, and Ghost's Book of Things to Do, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1982.

Sue Alexander, Witch, Goblin, and Ghost Are Back, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1985.

Sidelights

Jeanette Winter is an award-winning author and illustrator of works for young readers whose original self-illustrated stories include Shaker Boy, My Name Is Georgia, The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq, and Angelina's Island. "I always wanted to be an artist," Winter remarked on the Farrar, Straus & Giroux Web site. "I wanted to make pictures that told stories. But it wasn't until college, when I saw a Kate Greenaway book for the first time, that I knew I would make books for children."

Although Winter's self-illustrated titles have been praised for their evocative narratives, according to critics the most notable aspect of her work is her distinctive painting style. Her simple, uncluttered illustrations feature little shading and a minimal use of depth of field, which makes them appear flat rather than realistic. This approach has led many to term Winter's style "folk art," although some critics view it as more complex than that. In a profile of Winter for Riverbank Review, Susan Marie Swanson elaborated upon the illustrator's style, writing that "Winter achieves perspective by over-lapping shapes and by composing her pictures in such a way that the view looks from one layer through to the next—looking through doorways and windows, for example, past desert to mountains, through scaffolding to mural." Winter also frequently makes use of unique, brilliant color schemes that are more vivid than life: rich aqua grass, for example, or skies that range from pink to green.

According to Horn Book reviewer Nancy Vasilakis, the "stylized folk quality" of Winter's art serves as an excellent complement to Mary Lyn Ray's text in Shaker Boy. The book narrates the life of Caleb, a boy who is raised in a Shaker community after his father is killed in the U.S. Civil War and his mother leaves to earn a living in the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. At first, Caleb has trouble adjusting to the community's many rules, but he eventually adapts to this new way of life. As an adult, Caleb becomes the deacon of the apple orchard, where he oversees the work of growing and picking the fruit. The Shakers are famous for their close-knit, collaborative way of life, and as Vasilakis noted, "Winter's full-color paintings reflect that sense of order and community." A Publishers Weekly reviewer also praised Shaker Boy, calling it "a work of craftsmanship on all levels: exceptionally well written, elegantly designed, and lovingly illustrated."

Day of the Dead, written by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Winter, join Winter's own Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book and Niño's Mask in taking various Mexican holidays as its subject. "The visual spontaneity and directness of Mexican crafts have been a big influence on my work," the author/illustrator noted in her Harcourt Books interview. "It is an artist's way of relating to the world, and it resonates with me so strongly." In Day of the Dead, a book about the holiday known as Día de los muertos, a day for honoring dead ancestors, Winter uses her signature bright colors, accenting each illustration with a thick black border. Her pictures for the book are studded with colorful motifs such as the red chili peppers used to make food for the holiday picnic and the yellow-orange marigold petals that are traditionally scattered on the road to help spirits find their way. The book's paintings are "gem-like," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer, and Booklist critic Hazel Rochman maintained that Winter's distinctive style effectively conveys "the magic realism that is part of the ceremony under the stars." Calavera Abecedario, a work based on the Spanish alphabet, follows the members of a Mexican family as they construct the papier-mâché skeletons known as calaveras, a holiday tradition. Once finished, their creations represent different characters, including a bruja (witch) and a vaquero (cowboy). "This is a lovely book that approaches the Day of the Dead from an unusual angle," Cooper Renner wrote in his School Library Journal review.

In Niño's Mask a little boy longs to play a part in his town's celebration of El Tigre. During the traditional celebration, older boys get to wear masks and pretend to be a conejo (rabbit) or ciervo (deer), but Niño's father says that he is not yet old enough to join in. Undiscouraged, Niño decides to carve his own mask. He makes his mask a perro (dog), the character which will catch el tigre and save the day. The story is told entirely through dialogue, and "Winter neatly slots her crisp prose into speech bubbles, lending the outing an inviting look and a rapid pace," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Besides being an engaging story, the book also teaches young readers many Spanish words, the meaning of which can easily be discerned by looking at the illustrations. According to Horn Book's Joanna Rudge Long, Niño's Mask "is an affectionate portrayal of a Mexican tradition."

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In the self-illustrated My Baby, Winter introduces readers to the Malian art form bogolan, in which mud is used to paint designs on fabric. The story follows one bogolan artist, a girl named Nakunte Diarra, as she grows to become the premiere bogolan maker of her village. Eventually Nakunte marries, and as she waits for her first child to be born she sets out to make the best bogolan ever for her baby. As she paints, the woman talks to her unborn child about the things that inspire her designs, such as drums, leopards, crocodiles, and calabash flowers. "The designs … appear in charming frames surrounding each wonder as [Nakunte] details its uniqueness," Rosalyn Pierini explained in School Library Journal. "Older children, who can better appreciate both the techniques and emotions, are probably the book's best audience," commented Booklist critic Ilene Cooper, "but many readers—from little ones to adults—will be enthralled by the illustrations" in My Baby.

In addition to fiction, Winter has written and illustrated child-friendly biographies of artists and authors such as Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, English author/illustrator Beatrix Potter, and Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Focusing on individuals who would perhaps not normally be known to young children, these books are notable, as Horn Book critic Lolly Robinson wrote in a review of Beatrix: Various Episodes from the Life of Beatrix Potter, because "Winter's goal … seems to be to capture the spirit of her subject rather than provide every salient fact for report writing." Winter's biographies are written in short, simple sentences, with a minimal amount of text on each page. In both Beatrix and My Name Is Georgia, the latter a biography of painter Georgia O'Keeffe, the author weaves quotations from her subject's own writings into her first-person narrative. Winter's design for Beatrix echoes the small, square format of Potter's own books for children. The focus of the text is Potter's childhood, when she sketched, talked to animals, and studied art and science to assuage her loneliness, and a Publishers Weekly reviewer predicted that the author's description of Potter's lonely childhood is "likely to be of interest to a young audience."

In My Name Is Georgia Winter introduces the noted painter in "words as clear, spare, and rhythmic as the painter's compositions," according to Booklist contribu-

tor Carolyn Phelan. As with Beatrix, reviewers noted that My Name Is Georgia is "a biography only in the broadest, sparest sense," as Roger Sutton wrote in Horn Book. Although focusing more on O'Keeffe's creative vision than on the details of her life, Winter covers the span of the artist's life, from art lessons during her childhood in Wisconsin through her years studying art in Chicago and New York City, to the decades she spent living in New Mexico in the shadow of Pedernal Mountain, a frequent subject of her paintings. Commenting upon "Winter's poetic text," a Publishers Weekly reviewer declared My Name Is Georgia to be an "outstanding biography" as well as "a superb and inspiring introduction for children to an exceptional American artist."

In the picture-book biography Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell "Winter invitingly describes Russell's journey … in a concise text," as Ellen Mandel noted in her Booklist review. The book describes how, as a boy in St. Louis, Russell dreamed about the American West. His parents finally allowed him to spend a month working in Montana when he was fifteen, and he never looked back. For decades, Russell worked on the open range, until crowding on the frontier and the introduction of the barbed-wire fence put an end to the cowboy way of life. At that point, he dedicated himself to documenting the disappearing old West in paintings and sculpture. Winter's paintings for Cowboy Charlie are "reminiscent of folk art, though far more sophisticated in picture design," according to Horn Book contributor Margaret A. Bush. The author/illustrator updates her folk-art designs with rich, unusual colors, using shades of mauve, purple, blue, and green not typically associated with prairie art. The effects of this combination are "both timeless and cutting edge," in the view of a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Winter's picture book titled The Librarian of Basra was inspired by an article published in the New York Times. The work concerns Alia Muhammad Baker, a daring woman who saved some 30,000 books from destruction in war-torn Iraq after her library was converted into a military outpost and ultimately destroyed in a fire. "Alia's story gave me a much-needed sense of optimism during this dark period of war," Winter told an interviewer on the Harcourt Books Web site. "With so much destruction all around her, and no help from either side in this war, Alia had the will to defy her surroundings and act with remarkable courage," she added. "The optimism of the human spirit, even in inhuman conditions, is a wonderful inspiration." The Librarian of Basra earned strong reviews for its discriminating approach to a sensitive subject. "Winter represents the terrors of war realistically but not graphically," observed Horn Book contributor Susan Dove Lempke, and in School Library Journal Marianne Saccardi similarly noted that the author "artfully achieves a fine balance between honestly describing the casualties of war and not making the story too frightening for young children."

In Mama: A True Story in Which a Baby Hippo Loses His Mama during the Tsunami, but Finds a New Home and a New Mama Winter uses her signature acrylic paintings and a simple two-word narrative to recount the tale of unlikely animal companions. After a young hippo is separated from its mother during a tsunami, it washes ashore, winds up in an animal sanctuary, and adopts a 130-year-old tortoise as its surrogate parent. Although some critics noted that the young protagonist's brush with tragedy might prove troubling to younger readers, Horn Book reviewer Margaret A. Bush maintained that Winter's book "pleases the eye and touches the heart." In Publishers Weekly a critic stated that Mama "reassuringly portrays how friendship can ease a devastating loss." Winter chronicles another reallife animal adventure in The Tale of Pale Male: A True Story, about a red-tailed hawk and his mate that take up residence atop an apartment building in downtown Manhattan. "Winter's luminous, hieratic style, with its velvety rich color and carefully shaped geometry, is eminently suited" for the story, remarked a Kirkus Reviews critic.

A young Jamaican immigrant now living in New York City longs to return to her homeland in Angelina's Island. When Angelina's mother learns that a carnival celebration will be held in Brooklyn, she helps her daughter design a sparkling costume and learn to perform a traditional dance. Rochman praised Winter's "simple, poetic text and small, framed, brilliantly colored

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pictures," and a Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote of Angelina's Island that Winter's young readers "will easily sense—and share—the girl's gradually lightening spirits and final exuberance."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

American Visions, December, 1991, Walter Dean Myers, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, pp. 31-32.

Booklist, January 1, 1992, Hazel Rochman, review of The Changeling, p. 826; July, 1992, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Klara's New World, p. 1940; February 1, 1993, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Cotton Mill Town, p. 989; September 1, 1993, Hazel Rochman, review of A Fruit and Vegetable Man, p. 71; October 15, 1993, Janice Del Negro, review of Sleepy River, pp. 448-449; August, 1994, Stephanie Zvirin, review of The Christmas Tree Ship, p. 2053; November 15, 1994, Carolyn Phelan, review of Shaker Boy, p. 613; November 1, 1995, Ellen Mandel, review of Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell, p. 475; October 15, 1996, Annie Ayres, review of Josefina, p. 423; September 15, 1997, Hazel Rochman, review of Day of the Dead, p. 242; March 1, 1998, Hazel Rochman, review of The Tortilla Cat, p. 1136; October 15, 1998, Carolyn Phelan, review of My Name Is Georgia, p. 418; April 1, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of Sebastian: A Book about Bach, p. 1409; February 15, 2001, Ilene Cooper, review of My Baby, p. 1158; March 1, 2001, Stephanie Zvirin, review of My Name Is Georgia, p. 1280; March 1, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World, p. 1148; February 1, 2003, Julie Cummins, review of Niño's Mask, p. 1002; March 1, 2003, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Beatrix: Various Episodes from the Life of Beatrix Potter, p. 1208; March 1, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Elsina's Clouds, p. 1199; November 1, 2004, Julie Cummins, review of Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book, p. 487; December 1, 2004, Jennifer Mattson, review of Mama: A True Story in Which a Baby Hippo Loses His Mama during a Tsunami, but Finds a New Home and a New Mama, p. 649; April 1, 2006, Jennifer Mattson, review of The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq, p. 649; February 1, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Angelina's Island, p. 61; February 15, 2007, Abby Nolan, review of The Tale of Pale Male: A True Story, p. 86; October 1, 2007, Ilene Cooper, The Secret World of Hildegard, p. 72.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May, 2006, Deborah Stevenson, review of Mama, p. 402; March, 2007, Deborah Stevenson, review of The Tale of Pale Male, p. 313.

Horn Book, June, 1981, Virginia Haviland, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost in the Haunted Woods, p. 295; March-April, 1988, Elizabeth S. Watson, review of The Magic Ring, p. 220; May-June, 1992, Carolyn K. Jenks, review of The Changeling, pp. 337-338; January-February, 1994, Hanna B. Zeiger, review of A Fruit and Vegetable Man, p. 66; January-February, 1995, Nancy Vasilakis, review of Shaker Boy, pp. 52-53; January-February, 1996, Margaret A. Bush, review of Cowboy Charlie, pp. 95-96; September-October, 1998, Roger Sutton, review of My Name Is Georgia, p. 627; July, 1999, review of Sebastian, p. 487; March-April, 2003, Joanna Rudge Long, review of Niño's Mask, p. 208; May-June, 2003, Lolly Robinson, review of Beatrix, pp. 371-372; March-April, 2004, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Elsina's Clouds, p. 177; January-February, 2005, Susan Dove Lempke, review of The Librarian of Basra, p. 119; May-June, 2006, Kitty Flynn, review of Mama, p. 351; March-April, 2007, Joanna Rudge Long, review of The Tale of Pale Male, p. 216; May-June, 2007, review of Angelina's Island, p. 275; September-October, 2007, Lauren Adams, review of The Secret World of Hildegard, p. 600.

Instructor, May, 1989, Lynn Minderman, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, p. 49.

Instructor and Teacher, May, 1981, Allan Yeager, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost in the Haunted Woods, p. 59; October, 1982, Allan Yeager, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost's Book of Things to Do, p. 24.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2002, reviews of Niño's Mask and Beatrix, pp. 1859-1860; March 15, 2006, review of Mama, p. 303; January 15, 2007, review of The Tale of Pale Male, p. 82; April 1, 2007, review of Angelina's Island.

New York Times, July 13, 2003, DeRaismes Combes, review of Beatrix, p. 20.

New York Times Book Review, August 26, 1984, review of Hush Little Baby, p. 23; May 19, 1991, Patricia T. O'Conner, review of Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet, p. 29; January 12, 1992, Grace Glueck, review of Diego, p. 20; November 8, 1992, Ruth J. Abram, review of Klara's New World, p. 58; December 4, 1992, review of The Christmas Tree Ship, p. 76; May 19, 2002, Martha Davis Beck, "They're Somebody! Who Are You?: Jeanette Winter Acquaints Young Readers with Emily Dickinson," p. 33; December 8, 2002, p. 74.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 3, 2006, Bob Hoover, interview with Winter.

Publishers Weekly, March 21, 1980, review of Harry (The Monster), p. 69; August 20, 1982, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost's Book of Things to Do, p. 72; March 30, 1984, review of Hush Little Baby, pp. 56-57; September 7, 1984, review of The Girl and the Moon Man: A Siberian Tale, p. 79; June 27, 1986, review of Come out to Play, p. 84; October 14, 1988, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, p. 73; August 31, 1990, review of The World's Birthday: A Rosh Hashanah Story, pp. 64-65; August 9, 1991, review of Diego, pp. 57-58; December 6, 1991, review of The Changeling, p. 73; August 10, 1992, review of Klara's New World, pp. 70-71; January 18, 1993, review of Cotton Mill Town, p. 468; September 6, 1993, review of Sleepy River, pp. 96-97; September 20, 1993, review of A Fruit and Vegetable Man, p. 71; September 19, 1994, review of The Christmas Tree Ship, p. 30; October 17, 1994, review of Shaker Boy, p. 80; August 14, 1995, review of Cowboy Charlie, p. 84; October 28, 1996, review of Josefina, p. 81; September 1, 1997, review of Day of the Dead, p. 103; March 2, 1998, review of The Tortilla Cat, pp. 68-69; September 14, 1998, review of My Name Is Georgia, p. 69; October 19, 1998, "In the Studio with Jeanette Winter"; April 5, 1999, review of Sebastian, p. 241; May 22, 2000, review of The House That Jack Built, p. 91; September 11, 2000, review of Day of the Dead, p. 93; January 1, 2001, review of My Baby, p. 91; January 7, 2002, review of Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World, p. 65; January 20, 2003, reviews of Niño's Mask and Beatrix, p. 81; April 19, 2004, review of Elsina's Clouds, p. 60; December 20, 2004, review of The Librarian of Basra, p. 57; February 13, 2006, review of Mama, p. 87; January 29, 2007, review of The Tale of Pale Male, p. 70; April 2, 2007, review of Angelina's Island, p. 56; August 27, 2007, review of The Secret World of Hildegard, p. 94.

Reading Teacher, March, 1998, review of Josefina, pp. 504-512.

Riverbank Review, winter, 2002-2003, Susan Marie Swanson, "Jeanette Winter," pp. 11-14.

San Francisco Chronicle, October 26, 1997, Susan Faust, review of Day of the Dead, p. 10.

School Library Journal, May, 1980, Joan McGrath, review of Harry (The Monster), pp. 51-52; March, 1985, Carol Kolb Phillips, review of The Girl and the Moon Man, p. 160; December, 1985, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost Are Back, p. 108; September, 1986, Mary Lou Budd, review of Come out to Play, p. 118; September, 1987, Mary B. Nickerson, review of Hush Little Baby, p. 104; March, 1988, Helen Gregory, review of The Magic Ring, p. 186; May, 1989, Kathleen T. Horning, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, p. 95; February, 1991, Micki S. Nevett, review of The World's Birthday, p. 69, and Elise Wendel, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, pp. 53-54; July, 1991, Kathy Piehl, review of Eight Hands Round, p. 70; January, 1992, Ruth Semrau, review of Diego, p. 107; April, 1992, Susan Scheps, review of The Changeling, p. 118; September, 1992, Denise Anton Wright, review of Klara's New World, p. 214; November, 1992, Kevin Wayne Booe, review of Diego, p. 51; March, 1993, Ellen Fader, review of Cotton Mill Town, p. 129; May, 1993, Fritz Mitnick, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, p. 62; October, 1993, Cynthia K. Richey, review of A Fruit and Vegetable Man, p. 112; November, 1993, Marianne Saccardi, review of Snow, p. 81; October, 1994, Jane Marino, review of The Christmas Tree Ship, p. 45; November, 1994, Marie Clancy, review of Shaker Boy, pp. 89-90; December, 1995, Claudia Cooper, review of Cowboy Charlie, p. 101; October, 1996, Pam Gosner, review of Josefina, p. 109; September, 1997, Ann Welton, review of Day of the Dead, p. 184; March, 1998, Ann Welton, review of The Tortilla Cat, p. 190; April, 1999, Jane Marino, review of Sebastian, p. 128; May, 2000, Christine Lindsey, review of The House That Jack Built, p. 158; April, 2001, Rosalyn Pierini, review of My Baby, p. 126; March, 2002, Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, review of Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World, p. 224; March, 2003, Kathy Piehl, review of Beatrix, p. 225; December, 2003, Daryl Grabarek, review of Niño's Mask, p. 131; April, 2004, Mary N. Oluonye, review of Elsina's Clouds, p. 127; January, 2005, Marianne Saccardi, review of The Librarian of Basra, p. 118; May, 2005, Coop Renner, review of Calavera Abecedario, p. 116; March, 2006, John Peters, reviews of September Roses and The Librarian of Basra, p. 88; May, 2006, Wendy Lukehart, review of Mama, p. 106; March, 2007, Kathy Piehl, review of The Tale of Pale Male, p. 202; June, 2007, Julie R. Ranelli, review of Angelina's Island, p. 127.

ONLINE

BookPage,http://www.bookpage.com/ (October 31, 2007), Heidi Henneman, "The Heroic Story of an Iraqi Librarian."

Farrar, Straus & Giroux Web site,http://www.fsgkidsbooks.com/ (October 31, 2007), "Jeanette Winter."

Harcourt Web site,http://www.harcourtbooks.com/ (October 31, 2007), interview with Winter.

WINTER, Jeanette 1939-

Personal

Born 1939, in Chicago, IL; married Roger Winter (an artist); children: Jonah, Max. Education: Attended the Art Institute of Chicago; University of Iowa, B.F.A.

Addresses

Home— 35 West 92nd St., New York, NY 10025-7639.

Career

Author and illustrator.

Awards, Honors

Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, National Council for Social Studies/Children's Book Council (NCSS/CBC), Notable Children's Trade Book in Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and Reading Rainbow feature books selection, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), all 1988, all for Follow the Drinking Gourd; New York Times best illustrated book citation, Reading Rainbow selection, PBS, Parent's Choice Award, and Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, NCSS/CBC, all 1991, all for Diego by Jonah Winter; New York Times notable book citation, 1991, for Eight Hands Round by Ann Whitford Paul; Teacher's Choice citation, IRA/CBC, Parent's Choice Award, and Junior Library Guild selection, all 1992, all for Klara's New World; Hungry Mind Review book of distinction, 1993, for A Fruit and Vegetable Man; Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, NCSS/CBC, 1994, for Shaker Boy; Children's Choice Award, IRA/CBC, 1994, for The Christmas Tree Ship; Parent's Choice honor citation, 1995, for Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell; Best Book of the Year citation, Publishers Weekly, Notable Children's Book citation, American Library Association (ALA), Editor's Choice, Booklist, Notable Book in Language Arts, NCTE, 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing designation, New York Public Library, and best book citation, Bank Street College, all 1998, all for My Name is Georgia; notable book citation, New York Times, Parent's Choice silver medal, both 2002, both for Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World; Parent's Choice honor citation, best books citation, Bank Street College, and Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, NCSS/CBC, all 2003, all for Niño's Mask.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

(Reteller) Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, The Christmas Visitors, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1968.

(Reteller) The Girl and the Moon Man: A Siberian Tale, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1984.

Come Out to Play, Knopf (New York, NY), 1986.

(Reteller) The Magic Ring (based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm), Knopf (New York, NY), 1987.

Follow the Drinking Gourd, Knopf (New York, NY), 1988.

Klara's New World, Knopf (New York, NY), 1992.

The Christmas Tree Ship, Philomel Books (New York, NY), 1994.

Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1995.

Josefina, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1996.

My Name Is Georgia, Silver Whistle (San Diego, CA), 1998.

Sebastian: A Book about Bach, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1999.

The House that Jack Built, Dial (New York, NY), 2000.

My Baby, Frances Foster Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World, Frances Foster Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Niño's Mask, Dial (New York, NY), 2003.

Beatrix: Various Episodes from the Life of Beatrix Potter, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux (New York, NY), 2003.

Elsina's Clouds, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux (New York, NY), 2004.

September Roses, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux (New York, NY), 2004.

Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2004.

The Librarian of Basra, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2004.

ILLUSTRATOR

Ann Cameron, Harry (The Monster), Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1980.

Carol Greene, Hinny Winny Bunco, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1982.

Hush Little Baby, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1984.

Barbara Diamond Goldin, The World's Birthday: A Rosh Hashanah Story, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1990.

Jonah Winter, Diego (bilingual book), Spanish translation by Amy Prince, Knopf (New York, NY), 1991.

Ann Whitford Paul, Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991.

Selma Lagerlöf, The Changeling (originally published in Swedish as Bortbytingen ), translated by Susanna Stevens, Knopf (New York, NY), 1992.

Kathleen Hershey, Cotton Mill Town, Dutton (New York, NY), 1993.

Hanna Bandes, Sleepy River, Philomel (New York, NY), 1993.

Roni Schotter, A Fruit and Vegetable Man, Joy Street Books (Boston, MA), 1993.

Mary Lyn Ray, Shaker Boy, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1994.

Steve Sanfield, Snow, Philomel Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Tony Johnston, Day of the Dead, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1997.

Nancy Willard, The Tortilla Cat, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1998.

Hey Diddle Diddle, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1999.

Rock-a-Bye Baby, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1999.

Jonah Winter, Once Upon a Time in Chicago: The Story of Benny Goodman, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2000.

Jane Taylor, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Red Wagon Books (San Diego, CA), 2000.

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2000.

"WITCH, GOBLIN, AND GHOST" SERIES; SHORT STORIES; ILLUSTRATOR; WRITTEN BY SUE ALEXANDER

Witch, Goblin, and Sometimes Ghost, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1976.

More Witch, Goblin, and Ghost Stories, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1978.

Witch, Goblin, and Ghost in the Haunted Woods, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Witch, Goblin, and Ghost's Book of Things to Do, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1982.

Witch, Goblin, and Ghost Are Back, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1985.

Sidelights

Author and illustrator Jeanette Winter has written many self-illustrated titles that have been praised for their text, but the most notable aspect of her work, many critics say, is her distinctive painting style. She generally paints simple, uncluttered pictures that have little shading or depth of field, which makes them appear flat rather than realistic. This approach has led many to term her style "folk art," but it is more complex than that, claim some reviewers. In a profile of Winter for Riverbank Review, Susan Marie Swanson elaborated upon Winter's style: "Winter achieves perspective by overlapping shapes and by composing her pictures in such a way that the view looks from one layer through to the next—looking through doorways and windows, for example, past desert to mountains, through scaffolding to mural." Winter also tends to makes use of unique, brilliant color schemes that are more vivid than life—rich aqua grass or skies that range from pink to green.

Horn Book reviewer Nancy Vasilakis thought this "stylized folk quality" was an excellent complement to Mary Lyn Ray's text in Shaker Boy. The book narrates the life of Caleb, a boy who is raised in a Shaker community after his father is killed in the Civil War and his mother must earn a living in the mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. At first, Caleb has trouble adjusting to the many rules, but he eventually adapts to this new way of life. As an adult, Caleb becomes the deacon of the apple orchard, where he oversees the work of growing and picking the fruit. The Shakers are famous for their close-knit, collaborative way of life, and, Vasilakis continued, "Winter's full-color paintings reflect that sense of order and community." A Publishers Weekly reviewer also praised the book, calling it "a work of craftsmanship on all levels: exceptionally well written, elegantly designed, and lovingly illustrated."

Day of the Dead, written by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Winter, and Winter's own Niño's Mask, take various Mexican holidays as their subjects. The first book is about Día de los Muertos, a day for honoring dead ancestors. In both books, Winter uses her signature bright colors. Her paintings for Day of the Dead are "gem-like," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer. The illustrations are accented by their thick black borders, studded with colorful motifs such as the red chili peppers used to make food for the holiday picnic and the yellow-orange marigold petals scattered on the road so the spirits can find their way. To Booklist 's Hazel Rochman, Winter's distinctive style did a good job of conveying "the magic realism that is part of the ceremony under the stars."

In Niño's Mask, a little boy longs to play a part in his town's celebration of the Tigre. Older boys get to wear masks and pretend to be a conejo (rabbit) or ciervo (deer), but Niño's father says that he is not yet old enough to join in. Undiscouraged, Niño decides to carve his own mask. He makes his mask a perro (dog), the character which will catch the tigre (jaguar) and save the day. The story is told entirely through dialogue, and "Winter neatly slots her crisp prose into speech bubbles, lending the outing an inviting look and a rapid pace," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Besides being an engaging story, the book also teaches young readers many Spanish words, noted critics, whose meanings can easily be discerned by looking at the illustrations. According to Horn Book 's Joanna Rudge Long, Niño's Mask "is an affectionate portrayal of a Mexican tradition."

In the self-illustrated My Baby, Winter introduces readers to the Malian art form bogolan, in which mud is used to paint designs on fabric. The story follows onebogolan artist, a girl named Nakunte Diarra, as she grows to become the premiere bogolan maker of her village. Then Nakunte marries, and as she waits for her first child to be born, she sets out to make the best bogolan ever for the baby. As she paints, she talks to her unborn child about the things that inspired her designs, including drums, leopards, crocodiles, and cala-bash flowers. "The designs … appear in charming frames surrounding each wonder as [Nakunte] details its uniqueness," Rosalyn Pierini explained in School Library Journal. "Older children, who can better appreciate both the techniques and emotions, are probably the book's best audience," commented Booklist 's Ilene Cooper, "but many readers—from little ones to adults—will be enthralled by the illustrations."

Winter has written and illustrated several child-friendly biographies of artists and authors, including people such as Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach, who perhaps would not normally be known to young children. These books are notable, as Horn Book critic Lolly Robinson wrote in a review of Beatrix: Various Episodes from the Life of Beatrix Potter, because "Winter's goal … seems to be to capture the spirit of her subject rather than provide every salient fact for report writing." The biographies are written in short, simple sentences, with a minimal amount of text on each page. In many of these biographies, including Beatrix and My Name Is Georgia, a biography of painter Georgia O'Keeffe, Winter weaves quotations from the subject's own writings into her first-person narrative.

Several critics noted that Winter's design for Beatrix echoed the small, square format of Beatrix Potter's own books for children. The focus of the text is Potter's childhood, when she sketched, talked to animals, and studied art and science to assuage her loneliness. Although Beatrix, perhaps uniquely among Winter's biographies, focuses on a figure whose work is likely to be familiar to children, New York Times reviewer DeRaismes Combes wondered if the book's "serious subject matter of growing up feeling unloved and unhappy … is appropriate for very young readers." However, a Publishers Weekly reviewer thought that the story of Potter's lonely childhood is "likely to be of interest to a young audience."

In My Name Is Georgia, Winters "portrays Georgia O'Keeffe through words as clear, spare, and rhythmic as the painter's compositions," thought Booklist 's Carolyn Phelan. As with Beatrix, reviewers noted that My Name Is Georgia is "a biography only in the broadest, sparest sense," as Roger Sutton wrote in Horn Book. Although focusing more on O'Keeffe's creative vision than on her biographical details, Winter does cover the span of O'Keeffe's life, from art lessons during her childhood in Wisconsin, through her years of studying art in Chicago and New York, to the decades she spent living in New Mexico in the shadow of Pedernal Mountain, a frequent subject of her paintings. Commenting upon "Winter's poetic text," a Publishers Weekly reviewer declared this to be an "outstanding biography.… A superb and inspiring introduction for children to an exceptional American artist."

Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell is a picture book biography in which "Winter invitingly describes Russell's journey … in a concise text," Ellen Mandel noted in Booklist. Winter explains how, as a boy in St. Louis, Russell dreamed about the West. His parents finally allowed him to spend a month working in Montana when he was fifteen, and he never looked back. For decades, Russell worked on the open range, until crowding on the frontier and the introduction of the barbed-wire fence put an end to the cowboy way of life. At that point, Russell sat down to document the disappearing old West in paintings and sculpture.

Winter's illustrations for Cowboy Charlie were much commented on by critics. As with much of her work, Winter's paintings for Cowboy Charlie are "reminiscent of folk art, though far more sophisticated in picture design," noted Horn Book contributor Margaret A. Bush. Winter also updated her folk-art designs with rich, unusual colors, using shades of mauve, purple, blue, and green not typically associated with grasslands. The effects of this combination are "both timeless and cutting edge," thought a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

American Visions, December, 1991, Walter Dean Myers, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, pp. 31-32.

Booklist, January 1, 1992, Hazel Rochman, review of The Changeling, p. 826; July, 1992, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Klara's New World, p. 1940; February 1, 1993, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Cotton Mill Town, p. 989; September 1, 1993, Hazel Rochman, review of A Fruit and Vegetable Man, p. 71; October 15, 1993, Janice Del Negro, review of Sleepy River, pp. 448-449; August, 1994, Stephanie Zvirin, review of The Christmas Tree Ship, p. 2053; November 15, 1994, Carolyn Phelan, review of Shaker Boy, p. 613; November 1, 1995, Ellen Mandel, review of Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell, p. 475; October 15, 1996, Annie Ayres, review of Josefina, p. 423; September 15, 1997, Hazel Rochman, review of Day of the Dead, p. 242; March 1, 1998, Hazel Rochman, review of The Tortilla Cat, p. 1136; October 15, 1998, Carolyn Phelan, review of My Name Is Georgia, p. 418; April 1, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of Sebastian: A Book about Bach, p. 1409; February 15, 2001, Ilene Cooper, review of My Baby, p. 1158; March 1, 2001, Stephanie Zvirin, review of My Name Is Georgia, p. 1280; March 1, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World, p. 1148; February 1, 2003, Julie Cummins, review of Niño's Mask, p. 1002; March 1, 2003, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Beatrix: Various Episodes from the Life of Beatrix Potter, p. 1208; March 1, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Elsina's Clouds, p. 1199.

Horn Book, June, 1981, Virginia Haviland, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost in the Haunted Woods, p. 295; March-April, 1988, Elizabeth S. Watson, review of The Magic Ring, p. 220; May-June, 1992, Carolyn K. Jenks, review of The Changeling, pp. 337-338; January-February, 1994, Hanna B. Zeiger, review of A Fruit and Vegetable Man, p. 66; January-February, 1995, Nancy Vasilakis, review of Shaker Boy, pp. 52-53; January-February, 1996, Margaret A. Bush, review of Cowboy Charlie, pp. 95-96; September-October, 1998, Roger Sutton, review of My Name Is Georgia, p. 627; July, 1999, review of Sebastian, p. 487; March-April, 2003, Joanna Rudge Long, review of Niño's Mask, p. 208; May-June, 2003, Lolly Robinson, review of Beatrix, pp. 371-372; March-April, 2004, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Elsina's Clouds, p. 177.

Instructor, May, 1989, Lynn Minderman, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, p. 49.

Instructor and Teacher, May, 1981, Allan Yeager, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost in the Haunted Woods, p. 59; October, 1982, Allan Yeager, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost's Book of Things to Do, p. 24.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2002, reviews of Niño's Mask and Beatrix, pp. 1859-1860.

New York Times, July 13, 2003, DeRaismes Combes, review of Beatrix, p. 20.

New York Times Book Review, August 26, 1984, review of Hush Little Baby, p. 23; May 19, 1991, Patricia T. O'Conner, review of Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet, p. 29; January 12, 1992, Grace Glueck, review of Diego, p. 20; November 8, 1992, Ruth J. Abram, review of Klara's New World, p. 58; December 4, 1992, review of The Christmas Tree Ship, p. 76; May 19, 2002, Martha Davis Beck, "They're Somebody! Who Are You?: Jeanette Winter Acquaints Young Readers with Emily Dickinson," p. 33; December 8, 2002, p. 74.

Publishers Weekly, March 21, 1980, review of Harry (The Monster), p. 69; August 20, 1982, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost's Book of Things to Do, p. 72; March 30, 1984, review of Hush Little Baby, pp. 56-57; September 7, 1984, review of The Girl and the Moon Man: A Siberian Tale, p. 79; June 27, 1986, review of Come Out to Play, p. 84; October 14, 1988, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, p. 73; August 31, 1990, review of The World's Birthday: A Rosh Hashanah Story, pp. 64-65; August 9, 1991, review of Diego, pp. 57-58; December 6, 1991, review of The Changeling, p. 73; August 10, 1992, review of Klara's New World, pp. 70-71; January 18, 1993, review of Cotton Mill Town, p. 468; September 6, 1993, review of Sleepy River, pp. 96-97; September 20, 1993, review of A Fruit and Vegetable Man, p. 71; September 19, 1994, review of The Christmas Tree Ship, p. 30; October 17, 1994, review of Shaker Boy, p. 80; August 14, 1995, review of Cowboy Charlie, p. 84; October 28, 1996, review of Josefina, p. 81; September 1, 1997, review of Day of the Dead, p. 103; March 2, 1998, review of The Tortilla Cat, pp. 68-69; September 14, 1998, review of My Name Is Georgia, p. 69; October 19, 1998, "In the Studio with Jeanette Winter"; April 5, 1999, review of Sebastian, p. 241; May 22, 2000, review of The House that Jack Built, p. 91; September 11, 2000, review of Day of the Dead, p. 93; January 1, 2001, review of My Baby, p. 91; January 7, 2002, review of Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World, p. 65; January 20, 2003, reviews of Niño's Mask and Beatrix, p. 81; April 19, 2004, review of Elsina's Clouds, p. 60.

Reading Teacher, March, 1998, review of Josefina, pp. 504-512.

Riverbank Review, winter, 2002-2003, Susan Marie Swanson, "Jeanette Winter," pp. 11-14.

San Francisco Chronicle, October 26, 1997, Susan Faust, "One Village's Day to Remember," review of Day of the Dead, p. 10.

School Library Journal, May, 1980, Joan McGrath, review of Harry (The Monster), pp. 51-52; March, 1985, Carol Kolb Phillips, review of The Girl and the Moon Man, p. 160; December, 1985, review of Witch, Goblin, and Ghost Are Back, p. 108; September, 1986, Mary Lou Budd, review of Come Out to Play, p. 118; September, 1987, Mary B. Nickerson, review of Hush Little Baby, p. 104; March, 1988, Helen Gregory, review of The Magic Ring, p. 186; May, 1989, Kathleen T. Horning, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, p. 95; February, 1991, Micki S. Nevett, review of The World's Birthday, p. 69, and Elise Wendel, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, pp. 53-54; July, 1991, Kathy Piehl, review of Eight Hands Round, p. 70; January, 1992, Ruth Semrau, review of Diego, p. 107; April, 1992, Susan Scheps, review of The Changeling, p. 118; September, 1992, Denise Anton Wright, review of Klara's New World, p. 214; November, 1992, Kevin Wayne Booe, review of Diego, p. 51; March, 1993, Ellen Fader, review of Cotton Mill Town, p. 129; May, 1993, Fritz Mitnick, review of Follow the Drinking Gourd, p. 62; October, 1993, Cynthia K. Richey, review of A Fruit and Vegetable Man, p. 112; November, 1993, Marianne Saccardi, review of Snow, p. 81; October, 1994, Jane Marino, review of The Christmas Tree Ship, p. 45; November, 1994, Marie Clancy, review of Shaker Boy, pp. 89-90; December, 1995, Claudia Cooper, review of Cowboy Charlie, p. 101; October, 1996, Pam Gosner, review of Josefina, p. 109; September, 1997, Ann Welton, review of Day of the Dead, p. 184; March, 1998, Ann Welton, review of The Tortilla Cat, p. 190; April, 1999, Jane Marino, review of Sebastian, p. 128; May, 2000, Christine Lindsey, review of The House that Jack Built, p. 158; April, 2001, Rosalyn Pierini, review of My Baby, p. 126; March, 2002, Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, review of Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World, p. 224; March, 2003, Kathy Piehl, review of Beatrix, p. 225; December, 2003, Daryl Grabarek, review of Niño's Mask, p. 131; April, 2004, Mary N. Oluonye, review of Elsina's Clouds, p. 127.