SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Here Comes Truck Driver Hippo
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BIRTHDATE:
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CITY: Graton
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 362
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=21809
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born March 11, 1947, in Brooklyn, NY; son of Harry and Anne London; married (divorced 1974); married Maureen Weisenberger (a registered nurse), March 21, 1976; children: (second marriage) Aaron, Sean.
EDUCATION:San José State University, B.A., 1969, M.A., 1970; Sonoma State University, teaching certificate for grades K-12, 1985.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author of books for children. Worked variously as a freelance laborer, dancer, child counselor, and display installer; children’s writer, beginning 1989. American Booksellers Association, panelist for Children’s Book Council, 1993.
AVOCATIONS:Hiking, swimming, kayaking, travel, whale and bird watching.
MEMBER:Amnesty International, Wilderness Society.
AWARDS:Ina Coolbrith Circle Award for Poetry, 1979; Parent-Teacher Association scholarship, 1984; (with Joseph Bruchac) Teachers’ Choice selection, International Reading Association (IRA), 1993, for Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back; American Booksellers for Children Award, 1993, for The Eyes of Gray Wolf; Best Book selection, Child magazine, 1995, for Like Butter on Pancakes, and 1997, for Dream Weaver; Best Book citation, Time magazine, 1996, for Fireflies, Fireflies, Light My Way; Parent’s Choice Gold Award, 1997, for Ali, Child of the Desert; Children’s Literature Choice selection, Bank Street College of Education, 1993, for The Owl Who Became the Moon, 1995, for Where’s Home?, and 1998, for Ice Bear and Little Fox; IRA/Children’s Book Council Children’s Choice selection, for “Froggy” series.
WRITINGS
Contributor of poems and short stories to periodicals, including Child Life, Cricket, Short Story International, and Us Kids. Author of other works, including In a Season of Birds: Poems for Maureen, sometimes under the pseudonym Jonathan Sherwood.
Froggy Gets Dressed and Honey Paw and Lightfoot were featured on the PBS television program Storytime. Hip Cat and Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back were featured on Reading Rainbow. What Newt Could Do for Turtle was adapted for television and broadcast in the United Kingdom and Germany.
SIDELIGHTS
Jonathan London, a California-based poet-turned-children’s author, creates stories that often feature animals and reflect his love of nature. In entertaining books such as Gray Fox, Froggy’s Lemonade Stand, Condor’s Egg, Crocodile: Disappearing Dragon, and Little Pinto and the Wild Horses of Mustang Canyon, London uses fiction to introduce readers to animal habitats and the interconnections found in nature. He changes pace in his popular “Froggy” series, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz, as his amphibious hero takes on amusingly human traits. Humans also figure in some of London’s stories, among them warm family-themed tales such as The Sugaring-off Party, adventures such as Old Salt, Young Salt and Hurricane!, and the playful, rhyming picture-book texts that enliven Like Butter on Pancakes, Puddles, I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me, and Little Fox in the Snow.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1947, London started writing after earning a master’s degree in social sciences at California’s San José State University. He spent several years traveling around the world, encountering other cultures and ways of living, and began writing poetry while working jobs that ranged from dancing in a dance troupe to working as a child counselor. Once married and with two sons, he set about earning his teaching certificate, but while telling stories to his own children he began to wonder if writing children’s books might not be a viable option and a way to put his poetic voice to use. London’s first children’s book (and his fourth to be published), The Owl Who Became the Moon, was inspired by one of these bedtime stories. As he later explained to SATA, “The act of writing, for me, is a part of my celebration of life, a way to give back a little for all that I have been given.”
Animal characters exhibit human-like traits in many of London’s tales, such as Liplap’s Wish, Hip Cat , Count the Ways, Little Brown Bear, and a trio of stories about Little Hippo that feature illustrations by Gilles Eduar. In the first, a young rabbit named Liplap has lost his grandmother and finds little solace in busying himself by building a snowman. “This sympathetic book will help comfort generations of grieving children,” noted Martha Gordon in appraising Liplap’s Wish for School Library Journal. Friendship and sharing are explored in What Newt Could Do for Turtle, a “delightful” story, according to a critic in Kirkus Reviews, while Here Comes Doctor Hippo was praised by a Publishers Weekly critic for “quirky” and “expressive” illustrations that are “a whimsical counterpoint to London’s matter-of-fact prose.”
In Count the Ways, Little Brown Bear a mama and baby bear spend a lazy day together, playing games, reading books, and picking apples. As the young cub demands to know how much his mother loves him, she replies with reference to things around them, from the apples on the trees to the stars in the sky, and the cub responds that it is not enough. Little Brown Bear returns in Do Your ABC’s, Little Brown Bear, in which an alphabet game with his father lasts until bedtime. Count the Ways, Little Brown Bear features a “text [that] is sweet and succinct,” commented a Publishers Weekly contributor, the critic adding that London’s tale will help young children learn about counting, addition, and subtraction.
Animals in their natural habitats are depicted in Gray Fox, as London chronicles the experiences of an animal in the wild. In Booklist, Emily Melton noted of this work that the “beauty and the cruelty of nature, the dangers posed to wild animals by humans, the invincibility of the animal spirit, and the reassuring cycle of life and death are all part of” London’s story. Illustrated in ink and watercolor wash by Daniel Miyares, Little Fox in the Snow finds a young fox surviving the winter by leaving his cozy burrow and hunting for food, in the process attracting the attention of several larger predators. Praising the picture book in Kirkus Reviews, a critic recommended London’s story here as “an … introduction to nature’s complexities” concealed in “an unexpectedly poetic package.” The author ability to mix “lyrical language with subtle rhymes creates an easy-to-read nature tale,” concluded Maryann Owen, praising Little Fox in the Snow in Booklist.
The life cycle of an elk is the focus of Master Elk and the Mountain Lion, in which a young calf grows into a strong bull and ultimately defends his herd against a hungry mountain lion. The Eyes of Gray Wolf and The Seasons of Little Wolf pair London’s text with Jon Van Zyle’s art, producing informative nature stories that a Kirkus Reviews critic deemed “respectful and informative, with dashes of humor and drama.” The life of a grizzly bear is chronicled in Honey Paw and Lightfoot, a “combination of fun and learning” that makes an “eloquent” if “implicit plea for wilderness preservation,” according to Booklist critic Mary Harris Veeder.
London’s story in Mustang Canyon follows a newborn mustang colt as he and his herd of wild horses survive such threats as aggressive lone stallions, low-flying airplanes, and river rapids. “The words are spare, immediate, and informative,” Gillian Engberg wrote in Booklist, recommending Mustang Canyon as “a must for cowboy wannabes.” A Kirkus Reviews writer suggested that children will take note of “the sense of community and family these ‘wild’ horses must have to survive in their harsh but beautiful land.”
In Little Penguin: The Emperor of Antarctica, London introduces readers to a baby penguin, from its hatching to its first trip to the sea. Through the chick’s story, children learn about penguin diet, predators, communication, and families, including the prominent role of penguin fathers. They also discover the ways in which the bird has adapted to life in the harsh environment of Antarctica. “The text and competent paintings [by Julie Olson] convey a realistic sense of the Antarctic world,” asserted Margaret Bush in her review of Little Penguin for School Library Journal. From Antarctica, readers fly northward to the Arctic in Little Puffin’s First Flight, as Van Zyle’s icy palette brings to life London’s story about a horned puffin as it learns to fly. Here the author “uses figurative language his preschool audience will understand,” noted a Kirkus Reviews writer, making the story “a bracing nature adventure for animal-loving” children.
London turns his attention to human subjects in heartwarming and humorous tales that touch on topics ranging from family relations to ethnic differences. In The Sugaring-off Party the history of a French-Canadian family is crystallized into the moment of sugaring-off, a vital part of the syrup-making process. Another family tale, Giving Thanks, features artwork by Gregory Manchess that captures the brilliance of an autumn day in which a father and son hike near their home and express their thanks for the wonders of nature. “London’s evocative text perfectly re-creates the thrill and excitement of this coming-of-spring ritual,” observed Ann W. Moore in her School Library Journal review of The Sugaring-off Party, while in the same periodical Maryann H. Owen characterized the text of Giving Thanks as “a simple prayer of appreciation for being alive and at one with nature.”
London shares narrative tales in several stories, among them Ali, Child of the Desert, Hurricane!, At the Edge of the Forest, and The Waterfall. Focusing on Saharan cultures, Ali, Child of the Desert illustrates a boy’s rite of passage when a sandstorm separates him from his father on their way to market. “The theme of a young boy proving himself to his father and achieving manhood is a universal one,” noted Janice Del Negro in the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, “and this strongly plotted title communicates that theme quite successfully.” A storm also figures in Hurricane!, which recounts an incident from London’s childhood, while At the Edge of the Forest finds a sheep farmer’s son battling with coyotes. “London knows just how to kindle the audience’s concern and stoke his drama,” commented a Publishers Weekly critic in review of this story.
Like Butter on Pancakes and Puddles both celebrate the simple and best things in the life of a little boy, using onomatopoeic phrasing to tickle little funny bones. “London catalogues a glorious array of the delights of muddy weather,” commented School Library Journal critic Marcia Hupp in reviewing Puddles. Other singing rhymes fill the pages of The Candystore Man, a be-bop picture book by London in which a man working at a soda fountain serves up “ice cream and candy with flair,” in the view of School Library Journal critic Adele Greenlee.
London answers the perennial demand for toddler books about transportation in the stories A Truck Goes Rattley Bumpa, My Big Rig, A Train Goes Clickety-Clack, I’m a Truck Driver, and A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom! In its verse text, I’m a Truck Driver features all manner of commercial vehicles, from steamrollers and power shovel trucks to garbage and fire trucks, and a brother and sister and their pets have fun pretending to be drivers of the vehicles featured. A Kirkus Reviews critic called I’m a Truck Driver “a breath of fresh air to adults accustomed to the usual construction-truck fare,” while in Booklist Abby Nolan suggested that “this appealing introduction to powerful tools will draw in a significant demographic.”
In A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom! the two siblings return, this time to explore aircraft serving purposes ranging from carrying people to transporting jet planes. Featuring onomatopoetic verse, London’s text describes the thrill of take off, flight, and landing, and he “keeps the pacing brisk and the language both descriptive and tuneful,” according to a Kirkus Reviews contributor. In School Library Journal, Janet Weber predicted that A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom! “will be a hit with young transportation fans.”
London’s whimsical “Froggy” stories had their genesis in the demand of his son Aaron for a tale. “The image of a frog dressing in winter clothes so he can play in the snow struck my funny bone,” the author once told SATA, “and my kids’ funny bones, too!” In Froggy Gets Dressed, Froggy wakes up one morning to discover a snow-filled world. Jumping out of bed to go frolic, he is summoned back by his mother and requested to dress in warm clothes. London uses sounds such as “zoop,” “zup,” and “zip” for the action of putting on various articles of clothing. Ultimately the poor frog is embarrassed in front of his playmates when his mother yells to tell him he has forgotten his underwear. A reviewer in Horn Book noted that the text “has many wonderful sound effects” as well as “plenty of repetition to enhance the silliness of the story.”
London reveals more of the Froggy saga in other book-length adventures of the rambunctious amphibian. Froggy and his father go for a bike trip in Let’s Go, Froggy!, in which “humor, delightful sound effects, and bright, enthusiastic illustrations make the book appealing,” according to a Horn Book contributor. The frog takes to water in Froggy Learns to Swim and overcomes first-day jitters in Froggy Goes to School. In Booklist, Hazel Rochman concluded of the second book that “children will laugh at [Froggy’s] innocence and sympathize with his [schoolday] jitters.” Froggy is cast as the Frog Prince in Froggy’s Halloween, only to be chased by Princess Frogolina, who wants to plant a kiss on his cheek, while in Froggy’s First Kiss Valentine’s Day provides Froggy and Frogolina the perfect venue for amphibious amours.
Froggy has trouble preparing for a medical appointment in Froggy Goes to the Doctor: he forgets to put on underwear and also neglects to brush his teeth. Fortunately, he has plenty of opportunities for fun, as readers discover in Froggy Plays Soccer, Froggy’s Sleepover, Froggy Builds a Tree House, Froggy Goes to Camp, and Froggy Plays T-Ball. Froggy Goes to Camp finds the friendly amphibian at Camp Run-a-Muck, where he becomes popular among his fellow campers while tormenting camp counselors. Froggy Plays T-Ball captures the frog’s love of team sports, although he gets confused by all the rules of the game. “As always, London’s text is succinct, snappy, and full of fun sound effects,” noted Donna Cardon in her School Library Journal review of Froggy Goes to Camp, and Susan E. Murray wrote in the same periodical that the hero of Froggy Plays T-Ball exudes a “natural exuberance and excitement.”
Froggy celebrates his very special day in Froggy’s Birthday Wish, and even more attention comes his way during his run for class president in Froggy for President! Standing behind a platform that includes expanding recess and offering more tasty snacks, London’s amphibious hero wins over an enthusiastic electorate, aided by campaign manager Frogolina. Paired with jokes and wordplay that “feel like comfortable old friends,” Remkiewicz’s illustrations for Froggy for President! are “brightly colored” and showcase the “lively cast,” according to a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Another story starring the enthusiastic amphibian, Froggy Picks a Pumpkin, finds London’s long-legged hopper joining his unruly classmates in totally misbehaving during a class trip to a local farm.
Another series featuring animal characters is “Duck and Hippo”, whose stories come to life in artwork by Andrew Joyner. In Duck and Hippo Lost and Found the title characters are celebrating the end of summer with a picnic with friends Pig, Turtle, and Elephant. All of the animals have brought edibles to share—all, that is, except Hippo, who forgot. Wishing to contribute his share, Hippo sets off in search of wild berries, hoping to schout out the last of the season. When Hippo does not return, the other animals set out to look for him, but the search is made more difficult as night falls. When the moonlight allows them to spot their rotund friend, he is safe and has berries to share. A writer in Kirkus Reviews remarked of Duck and Hippo Lost and Found that London’s “lively lark is a picnic basket full of fun.”
Other adventures of Duck and Hippo that are captured in Joyner’s art include Duck and Hippo Give Thanks, a fall-themed tale that includes a friend-filled celebration, and The Secret Valentine, another holiday story that involves a party. At the last minute, Duck realizes that she forgot Valentine’s Day, and her solution is to host a party for all her friends. Invitations are delivered, but the recipients have no clue who has sent them, and their suspicions lead to a humorous denouement. Noting the presence of a clock face in many of Joyner’s illustrations for The Secret Valentine, School Library Journal contributor Catherine Callegari recommended the work as “a friend-affirming Valentine story with a time-teaching element.” One Kirkus Reviews critic made special note of the “bright and cheery illustrations” in this holiday tale, while a colleague recommended Duck and Hippo Give Thanks for its appropriate “message of enjoying fellowship and valuing each individual’s contributions.”
London introduces young readers to one of nature’s most active and playful creatures in Otters Love to Play. Aided by illustrator Meilo So, readers first encounter a nest of young otters in springtime, when they are very small and not too otter-like. These baby otters soon grow large enough to leave the nest and play outside, where they wrestle, roll in the grass, and splash in the nearby water. They also learn to catch fish to eat, and London explains that otter play has a purpose: to teach them what they need to know in order to survive. In only a few months—by the fall—the young otters are nearly fully grown and able to live on their own. Noting that Otters Love to Play presents “main facts in broad strokes,” a Kirkus Reviews writer dubbed the book a “fine introduction to the species,” adding that its text is “playful and beguiling, just like its subjects.” London “combines family adventure and facts to create a frolicsome, informative tale,” asserted Terry Hong in appraising Otters Love to Play in Booklist.
In Pup the Sea Otter, London focuses on the life of a single otter, following Pup from birth through his younger days playing and splashing with other otters, up to the time when he is ready to leave his mother and survive on his own. Supplemented with illustrations by London’s son Sean London, the text in Pup the Sea Otter chronicles Pup’s early life by depicting how his mother feeds and grooms him to help keep him healthy, and how she works to keep him safe even when she has to leave and hunt for food. Among the many things the young otter must know at eight months of age are how to forage for food, how to finds a new home, and how to use a stone to crack open a shell. Pup the Sea Otter “provides an agreeable introduction” to the life of otters, commented a Kirkus Reviews writer, and in Booklist Carolyn Phelan concluded that the author “conveys plenty of intriguing facts about sea otters, along with a bit [of] drama to hold children’s attentions.”
One of only a handful of books London has written for older readers, the middle-grade novel Grizzly Peak introduces Aaron, an eighth grader who was expelled from school for carrying a pocket knife. Instead of going to a camp for juvenile delinquents, Aaron convinces his parents to let him go on a kayaking trip with his father. This option is preferable to the juvenile camp, even though the preteen and his dad are not on good terms; in fact, they can barely stand to be near each other. Although arguments and challenges break out constantly during their first days in the wild, Aaron is forced to take a protective role when his father is injured in an accident. In the midst of the life-threatening crisis, father and son must learn to trust each other. While mustering traits and qualities neither knew he had, both father and son come to understand what it means to want independence. Praising the “richly realized setting” in Grizzly Peak, a Kirkus Reviews critic added that London’s “familiar story of a headstrong … teen squaring off against his father [seems] fresh.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 1, 1992, Karen Hutt, review of Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back: A Native American Year of Moons, p. 1281; January 15, 1993, Kay Weisman, review of The Owl Who Became the Moon, and Emily Melton, review of Gray Fox, both p. 922; November 1, 1993, Janice Del Negro, review of Voices of the Wild, p. 523; March 15, 1995, Mary Harris Veeder, review of Honey Paw and Lightfoot, p. 1335; April 1, 1995, Janice Del Negro, review of Like Butter on Pancakes, p. 1428; December 15, 1995, Janice Del Negro, review of Master Elk and the Mountain Lion, p. 709; January 1, 1996, Hazel Rochman, review of Red Wolf Country, p. 847; June 1, 1996, Hazel Rochman, review of Froggy Goes to School, p. 1735; July, 1996, Kay Weisman, review of Jackrabbit, p. 1830; November 1, 1998, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Moshi Moshi; April 15, 2000, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Shawn and Keeper: Show-and-Tell, p. 1555; January 1, 2001, Ellen Mandel, review of Panther: Shadow of the Swamp, and Carolyn Phelan, review of Gone Again Ptarmigan, both p. 963; June 1, 2001, Gillian Engberg, reviews of White Water and Froggy Eats Out, both p. 1892; December 1, 2001, Carolyn Phelan, review of Crocodile: Disappearing Dragon, p. 646; May 15, 2002, Carolyn Phelan, review of What the Animals Were Waiting For, p. 1602; December 1, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of Mustang Canyon, p. 675; January 1, 2003, Catherine Andronik, review of Froggy Goes to the Doctor, p. 908; February 1, 2004, Carolyn Phelan, review of Giving Thanks, p. 980; April 15, 2005, review of Do Your ABC’s, Little Brown Bear, p. 1460; June 1, 2005, Linda Perkins, review of Sled Dogs Run, p. 1822; October 1, 2005, Carolyn Phelan, review of A Truck Goes Rattley Bumpa, p. 64; April 15, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, review of My Big Rig, p. 49; April 15, 2008, Abby Nolan, review of Flamingo Sunset, p. 47, May 1, 2009, Connie Fletcher, review of Little Swan, p. 86; May 1, 2010, Abby Nolan, review of I’m a Truck Driver, p. 89; September 1, 2010, Carolyn Phelan, review of A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom!, p. 113; June 1, 2012, Julie Cummins, review of Little Lost Tiger, p. 108; February 2, 2016, Terry Hong, review of Otters Love to Play, p. 36; February 1, 2017, Carolyn Phelan, review of Pup the Sea Otter, p. 34; November 1, 2018, Maryann Owen, review of Little Fox in the Snow, p. 58.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, February, 1993, review of The Owl Who Became the Moon, p. 183; October, 1994, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Condor’s Egg, p. 55; June, 1996, Susan S. Verner, review of Red Wolf Country, p. 344; February, 1997, review of What Newt Could Do for Turtle, p. 213; June, 1997, Janice Del Negro, review of Ali, Child of the Desert, p. 365.
Five Owls, January-February, 1993, review of Froggy Gets Dressed, p. 59; September-October, 1994, review of Liplap’s Wish, p. 10.
Horn Book, spring, 1993, review of Froggy Gets Dressed, p. 37; fall, 1994, review of Let’s Go, Froggy!, p. 280; March-April, 2005, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Do Your ABC’s, Little Brown Bear, p. 191; March-April, 2016, Daniele J. Ford, review of Otters Love to Play, p. 110.
Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 1993, review of Voices of the Wild, p. 1276; December 1, 1995, review of I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me, p. 1704; November 15, 1996, review of What Newt Could Do for Turtle, p. 1671; February 1, 1999, review of The Waterfall; November 15, 2001, review of Count the Ways, Little Brown Bear, p. 1613; August 1, 2002, review of Froggy Goes to the Doctor, p. 1135; May 1, 2003, review of When the Fireflies Come, p. 679; January 1, 2005, review of Froggy’s Sleepover; August 1, 2005, review of A Truck Goes Rattley Bumpa, p. 853; February 15, 2007, review of My Big Rig; August 1, 2007, review of A Train Goes Clickety-Clack; March 1, 2009, review of Little Swan; May 15, 2010, review of I’m a Truck Driver; August 1, 2010, review of A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom!; September 1, 2011, review of Little Penguin: The Emperor of Antarctica; April 1, 2012, review of Little Lost Tiger; August 1, 2012, review of Here Comes Doctor Hippo; December 15, 2013, review of Froggy Gets a Doggy; August 1, 2014, review of The Seasons of Little Wolf; January 1, 2015, review of Hippos Are Huge!; January 15, 2015, reviews of Froggy’s Birthday Wish and Little Puffin’s First Flight; December 15, 2015, review of Otters Love to Play; January 1, 2016, review of Froggy Goes to the Library; May 15, 2016, review of Bella Bella; December 15, 2016, review of Grizzly Peak; February 15, 2017, review of Pup the Sea Otter; May 15, 2017, review of Duck and Hippo Lost and Found; August 1, 2018, review of Duck and Hippo Give Thanks; September 15, 2018, review of Little Fox in the Snow; October 1, 2018, review of The Secret Valentine; August 1, 2019, review of Froggy Picks a Pumpkin; March 15, 2020, review of Froggy for President!
Publishers Weekly, August 3, 1992, review of Froggy Gets Dressed, p. 70; December 28, 1992, review of The Owl Who Became the Moon; August 16, 1993, review of The Eyes of Gray Wolf, p. 102; October 3, 1994, review of Condor’s Egg, p. 68; August 16, 1993, review of Hip Cat, p. 102; July 20, 1998, review of The Candystore Man, p. 219; August 17, 1998, review of At the Edge of the Forest, p. 72; November 19, 2001, review of Count the Ways, Little Brown Bear, p. 66; June 11, 2001, reviews of Sun Dance, Water Dance and White Water, both p. 85; June 24, 2002, review of Froggy Goes to the Doctor, p. 59; April 28, 2003, review of When the Fireflies Come, p. 69; November 10, 2003, review of “Eat!” Cried Little Pig, p. 60; January 5, 2004, review of Giving Thanks, p. 60; February 26, 2007, review of My Big Rig, p. 88; August 6, 2012, review of Here Comes Doctor Hippo, p. 51; September 17, 2018, review of Little Fox in the Snow, p. 82.
Quill & Quire, March, 1995, review of The Sugaring-off Party, p. 78; June, 1998, review of Dream Weaver, p. 58.
School Library Journal, February, 1993, Marianne Saccardi, review of The Owl Who Became the Moon, p. 76; August, 1993, Carolyn Polese, review of Fire Race: A Karuk Coyote Tale, p. 159; November, 1994, Martha Gordon, review of Liplap’s Wish, p. 84; January, 1995, Ann W. Moore, review of The Sugaring-off Party, p. 89; August, 1995, Cindy Darling Codell, review of Where’s Home?, pp. 154-155; March, 1996, Joy Fleishhacker, review of Red Wolf Country, p. 178; June, 1996, Judith Constantinides, review of Fireflies, Fireflies, Light My Way, p. 104; May, 1997, Marcia Hupp, review of Puddles, p. 104; July, 1998, Margaret Bush, review of Dream Weaver, pp. 78-79; October, 1998, Adele Greenlee, review of The Candystore Man, p. 107; June, 1999, Gale W. Sherman, review of Wiggle, Waggle, p. 100; May, 2000, Susan M. Moore, review of Snuggle Wuggle, p. 148; June, 2000, Elizabeth O’Brien, review of Froggy Goes to Bed, p. 119; September, 2000, Maura Bresnahan, review of Shawn and Keeper, p. 204; October, 2000, review of Froggy’s Best Christmas, p. 61; December, 2000, Susan Hepler, review of What Do You Love?, p. 114; January, 2001, Arwen Marshall, review of Panther, p. 119; April, 2001, Meghan R. Malone, review of Crunch Munch, p. 117; May, 2001, Robin L. Gibson, review of Park Beat: Rhymin’ through the Seasons, and Sue Sherif, review of Gone Again Ptarmigan, both p. 128; June, 2001, Diane Olivo-Posner, review of White Water, p. 125; July, 2001, Lisa Dennis, review of Sun Dance, Water Dance, p. 85; November, 2001, Cathie E. Bashaw, review of Crocodile, p. 129; April, 2002, Gay Lynn Van Vleck, review of Count the Ways, Little Brown Bear, p. 116; May, 2002, Margaret Bush, review of What the Animals Were Waiting For, p. 121; September, 2002, Shawn Brommer, review of Loon Lake, pp. 199-200; August, 2003, Ruth Semrau, review of Mustang Canyon, p. 138; December, 2003, Linda M. Kenton, review of “Eat!” Cried Little Pig, and Andrea Tarr, review of Froggy’s Baby Sister, both p. 119; January, 2004, Maryann H. Owen, review of Giving Thanks, p. 100; June, 2004, Holly T. Sneeringer, review of Froggy’s Day with Dad, p. 114; March, 2005, Linda L. Walkins, review of Do Your ABC’s, Little Brown Bear, p. 175; September, 2005, Geneviene Gallagher, review of A Truck Goes Rattley Bumpa, p. 177; May, 2007, Susan E. Murray, review of Froggy Plays T-Ball, p. 102; October, 2007, Linda Staskus, review of A Train Goes Clickety-Clack, p. 122; June, 2008, Donna Cardon, review of Froggy Goes to Camp, p. 108; July, 2008, Margaret Bush, review of Flamingo Sunset, p. 89; April, 2009, Maryann H. Owen, review of Little Swan, p. 112; July, 2010, Lora Van Marel, review of I’m a Truck Driver, p. 64; November, 2010, Janet Weber, review of A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom!, p. 77; September, 2011, Margaret Bush, review of Little Penguin, p. 124; April, 2012, Kathleen Finn, review of Little Lost Tiger, p. 139; September, 2014, review of Here Comes Doctor Hippo, p. 118; January, 2014, Jennifer Miskec, review of Froggy Gets a Doggy, p. 73; November, 2014, Susan E. Murray, review of Ollie’s First Year, p. 87, and Martha Rico, review of The Seasons of Little Wolf, p. 88; December, 2014, Sara White, review of Froggy’s Birthday Wish, p. 106; February, 2015, Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, review of Hippos Are Huge!, p. 121; February, 2019, Catherine Callegari, review of The Secret Valentine, p. 43.
ONLINE
Children’s Book Council website, https://www.cbcbooks.org/ (January 25, 2018, author interview.
Jonathan London website, http://www.jonathan-london.net (August 12, 2020).*
Jonathan London (author)
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonathan London
Born March 11, 1947 (age 76)
Brooklyn, New York
Nationality American
Education San Jose State University (M.A.)
Spouse Maureen Weisenberger
Children Aaron London, Sean London
Website www.Jonathan-London.net
Jonathan London (born March 11, 1947) is an American writer of children’s books, best known as the author of the popular Froggy series.
Early life
London was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a career Navy officer and London lived with his parents and brother Jeff on or near Navy bases all over the country, including Puerto Rico, until he was 18 years old.[citation needed] In college at San Jose State University he studied history and social sciences but became a poet. After receiving an MA in Social Sciences he joined a dance company in San Francisco, wrote poetry and short fiction, and travelled around the world.[1]
Career
London published around 200 poems and short stories in literary magazines, worked in a union labor job, and didn’t make a living as a children’s book author until he was 45. His first published picture books were first told to his sons when they asked him to tell them a story. Aaron was five and Sean was two. They liked his stories so much he wrote them down, and one of them became FROGGY GETS DRESSED, which became a bestseller and is in on the New York Public Library 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know list.[citation needed] Since then he has published over 120 books,[2] including 30 Froggy books.[3][4] Over 16 million Froggy books have sold in North America, and they are published in 8 languages, including Mandarin, Russian, Persian, Greek, and Spanish. Many Froggy titles have appeared on the New York Times and other bestseller lists.[5][6][7]
London also writes picture books about wildlife, including Pup The Sea Otter (illustrated by his son Sean London), and has published Aaron’s Wilderness Trilogy of middle grade novels: Desolation Canyon, Bella Bella, and Grizzly Peak (illustrated by Sean London).[citation needed]
Awards
The Froggy series and other titles by London have received numerous awards and honors, such as the New York Public Library 100 Picture Books Everyone should Know list[8][9][10][11]
London, Jonathan HERE COMES TRUCK DRIVER HIPPO Astra Young Readers (Children's None) $12.99 11, 8 ISBN: 978-1-63592-589-0
In this latest series installment, the titular character decides that today is "a good day to be a truck driver."
Accompanied by his monkey sidekick, Little Hippo is on a mission to take sand to the little cubs--"vroom! vroom!" To find out who the lucky little cubs are, young readers will have to wait a bit. Meanwhile, Little Hippo gets plenty of help along the way. Giant Crocodile helps fill the truck with sand--"snap! snap!" A herd of zebras make way so Little Hippo can get through, and Big Hairy Gorilla offers bananas to the hungry duo. Great Horned Rhino removes a log blocking the way, and Long Neck Giraffe stretches her long neck as a barrier as a train rumbles by. At every turn, Little Hippo says thank you by declaring, "You're the best!" Eventually, the sand is delivered, and after some play, Little Hippo and the monkey head back home, where two moms await with reassuring hugs. The terrain the duo traverse is filled with fantastical vegetation with a Seussian vibe, the charming illustrations rendered in bright, saturated colors. Young readers will easily follow this uncomplicated adventure and delight at finding out how it wraps up. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Simple and sweet. (Picture book. 2-4)
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"London, Jonathan: HERE COMES TRUCK DRIVER HIPPO." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729072756/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d6c1d37b. Accessed 19 May 2023.