Winter, Susan

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Winter, Susan

Personal

Born in South Africa married; children: one son, one daughter. Education: Natal University, degree (social work); studied illustration at Chelsea School of Art.

Addresses

Home—West London, England.

Career

Illustrator and author of children's books. Formerly worked as a social worker in South Africa, then London, England.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Me Too, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 1993.

I Can, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 1993.

My Shadow, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1994.

A Baby Just like Me, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 1994.

ILLUSTRATOR

Mary Hoffman, Henry's Baby, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 1993.

Angela McAllister, Sleepy Ella, Dent (London, England), 1993, Delaocorte (New York, NY), 1994.

Jean Richardson, The Bear Who Went to the Ballet, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 1995.

Helen Cresswell, A Gift from Winklesea (originally published, 1969), Hodder (London, England), 1995.

Helen Cresswell, Mystery at Winkelsea, Hodder (London, England), 1995.

Helen Cresswell, Whatever Happened in Winkelsea?, Hodder (London, England), 1995.

Debbie Driscoll, adaptor, Jenny Came Along, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1995.

Eileen Moore, The Ghost Watchers, Hodder (London, England), 1997.

Tony Bradman, Nicky and the Twins: The Lost Rabbit, Collins (New York, NY), 1997.

Lee Davis, The Bear Who Wanted to Read, Dorling Kindersley (London, England), 1998.

Tony Bradman, Nicky and the Twins: The Great Nappy Disaster, Collins (London, England), 1998.

Francesca Simon, Calling All Toddlers, Orion (London, England), 1998, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Richard Edwards, Copy Me, Copycub, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

Francesca Simon, Toddler Times, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Anne Fine, Bad Dreams, Doubleday (London, England), 2000.

Opal Dunn, Acker Backa Boo!: Playground Games from around the World, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2000.

Marion Dane Bauer, If You Had a Nose like an Elephant's Trunk, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2001.

Richard Edwards, Where Are You Hiding, Copycub?, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

Linda Ashman, Sailing off to Sleep, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001.

Richard Edwards, Always Copycub, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

Kathy Henderson, Tabby Cat's Secret, Frances Lincoln (London, England), 2002.

Joanne Ryder, Come Along, Kitten, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.

Margaret Anastas, Mommy's Best Kisses, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

Richard Edwards, Good Night, Copycub, Frances Lincoln (London, England), 2003, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

Margaret Anastas, A Hug for You, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

David Bedford, Little Otter's Big Journey, Good Books (Intercourse, PA), 2006.

Diana Reynolds Roome, Tulliver's Tunnel, Frances Lincoln (London, England), 2006.

Richard Edwards, Little Monkey's One Safe Place, Frances Lincoln (London, England), 2006.

April Pulley Sayre, Hush Little Puppy, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

Children's book author and illustrator Susan Winter began her working life as a social worker in her native South Africa. Moving to England, she continued to work as a counselor. Eventually Winter made her career switch to art, enrolling at the Chelsea School of Art to study book illustration after the birth of her second child. Her self-illustrated books include A Baby Just like Me, which a young black girl anticipates the close friendship she will have with her soon-to-be-born baby sister. In Publishers Weekly, a contributor praised A Baby Just like Me, writing that "Winter's straightforward text and realistic, full-page watercolors are a winning combination."

While Winter created original picture books early in her career, she now works primarily as an illustrator, and her art has been paired with text by authors such as Richard Edwards, David Bedford, Diana Reynolds Roome, Margaret Anastas, Marion Dane Bauer, Tony Bradman, Helen Cresswell, and Francisca Simon. In a review of Simon's Calling All Toddlers, a Publishers Weekly reviewer predicted that "toddlers will easily spot themselves in Winter's gentle, realistic depictions of [children] … acting silly, busy, naughty and nice."

Winter is best known for her collaborations with Edwards in the "Copycub" books, which include Copy Me, Copycub, Always Copycub, and Good Night, Copycub. In the series, a young bear cub imitates everything Mother Bear does. In Copy Me, Copycub, for example, the cub follows his mother home to their cozy den in time to snuggle in for a long winter's nap, while Good Night, Copycub finds the restless cub soothed by a bedtime story about the many ways other creatures drift off to sleep. Reviewing Winter's illustrations for Always Copycub, which finds the young cub playing tricks on his ever-patient mother, a Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote that the artist's "finely detailed watercolors vividly express the shifting emotions of the tale," and School Library Journal reviewer Janet M. Bair concluded that the book's "soft-toned watercolor pictures portray the cozy [family] relationship." Praising the series' "charming" bear character, Bina Williams wrote of Good Night, Copycub that Edwards' "simple tale is made all the more wonderful by Winter's soft watercolors."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 1993, Hazel Rochman, review of Henry's Baby, p. 63; October 15, 1994, Ilene Cooper, review of My Shadow, p. 440; February 15, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Bear Who Went to the Ballet, p. 1027; April 15, 1999, Shelley Townsend-Hudson, review of Calling All Toddlers, p. 1537; September 1, 1999, Kathy Broderick, review of Copy Me, Copycub, p. 139; May 1, 2000, Kathy Broderick, review of Toddler Time, p. 1675; September 15, 2001, Helen Rosenberg, review of If You Had a Nose like an Elephant's Trunk, p. 230; January 1, 2002, Connie Fletcher, review of Sailing off to Sleep, p. 862; September 1, 2003, Lauren Peterson, review of Come Along, Kitten, p. 130; January 1, 2007, Diana Tixier Herald, review of A Kiss in Winter, p. 67; June 1, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Hush, Little Puppy, p. 76.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 1999, review of Calling All Toddlers, p. 217; March, 2004, Karen Coats, review of Good Night, Copycub, p. 270.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2001, review of If You Had a Nose like an Elephant's Trunk, p. 1117; November 1, 2001, review of Sailing off to Sleep, p. 1546; January 1, 2002, review of Always Copycub, p. 44; March 1, 2003, review of Mommy's Best Kisses, p. 378; March 15, 2006, review of Little Monkey's One Safe Place, p. 288; September 15, 2006, review of Little Otter's Big Journey, p. 947.

Publishers Weekly, May 17, 1993, review of Me Too and I Can, p. 76; August 23, 1993, review of Henry's Baby, p, 71; September 12, 1994, review of A Baby Just like Me, p. 90; November 20, 1995, review of The Bear Who Went to the Ballet, p. 77; January 11, 1999, review of Calling All Toddlers, p. 70; July 26, 1999, review of Copy Me, Copycub, p. 90; July 9, 2001, review of If You Had a Nose like an Elephant's Trunk, p. 66; July 7, 2003, review of Come Along, Little Kitten, p. 70.

School Library Journal, February, 1994, Denise Furgione, review of Me Too and I Can, p. 92; September, 2001, Shara Alpern, review of If You Had a Nose like an Elephant's Trunk, p. 183; January, 2002, Maryann H. Owen, review of Sailing off to Sleep, p. 89; February, 2002, Janet M. Bair, review of Always Copycub, p. 100; April, 2003, Judith Constantinides, review of Mommy's Best Kisses, p. 114; July, 2003, Sandra Kitain, review of Come Along, Kitten, p. 104; February, 2004, Bina Williams, review of Good Night, Copycub, p. 111; March, 2005, Rebecca Sheridan, review of A Hug for You, p. 164; December, 2006, Linda L. Walkins, review of Little Otter's Big Journey, p. 95.