SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: SICK DAY JITTERS
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.juliedanneberg.com/
CITY: Denver
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 388
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1958, in Denver, CO; married; children: one daughter, one son.
EDUCATION:University of Colorado, Boulder, B.S. (psychology).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. Special-education teacher in Colorado; middle-school teacher in Denver, CO, now retired.
AVOCATIONS:Reading, gardening, biking, traveling, listening to music, sewing.
AWARDS:Best Children’s Book designation, Colorado Center for the Book, 2000, for Margaret’s Magnificent Colorado Adventure; Storyteller Award, 2000, for First Day Jitters; Regional Book Award, Mountains and Plains Booksellers, 2003, for Women Artists of the West: Five Portraits in Creativity and Courage.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Julie Danneberg draws upon her background as a third-generation resident of Colorado for inspiration, and several of her books profile notable woman who have made a mark on the American West. Among children, Danneberg is best known for picture books such as Margaret’s Magnificent Colorado Adventure, The Science of Fashion, First Day Jitters and its sequels, and illustrated biographies such as John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall.
While growing up, Danneberg had no thought of becoming a writer, although she often transcribed her thoughts in notebooks. As an adult, she established a career teaching middle-school English. Drawing on her own beginnings as a writer, her first book, Margaret’s Magnificent Colorado Adventure , weaves the history and geography of Colorado with the journal entries of a ten-year-old girl traveling west with her parents and younger brother. Margaret faithfully records real information about the state through which she is traveling, even when her temper frays while dealing with her annoying sibling. Margaret’s Magnificent Colorado Adventure won a best children’s book citation from the Colorado Center for the Book.
Captured in humorous artwork by Judy Love, First Day Jitters introduces young Sarah Jane Hartwell as she faces an important milestone: It is her first day of school and she does not want to get out of bed, eat her breakfast, or face classmates she does not know. Citing the picture book for its surprising and humorous ending, Adele Greenlee wrote in School Library Journal that Danneberg’s closing joke “provides a good laugh and children may find it reassuring that they are not alone in their anxieties about new situations.” In Booklist, Connie Fletcher described First Day Jitters as a “wittily drawn and suspensefully told story” that is both “funny and insightful.”
Sarah Jane’s adventures continue in several other books pairing the talents of Danneberg and Love. In First Year Letters teacher Mrs. Hartwell collects notes from students that describe the many amusing—and distressing—incidents that highlighted the school year now ending. While most of the notes are typed, some are hand written and demonstrate the writing skills students have developed over the year. A Kirkus Reviews critic called First Year Letters “both funny and touching,” while Diane Foote suggested in Booklist that students and teachers “will appreciate this unusual take on the ups and downs of a school year.”
In Last Day Blues the school year draws to a close and Mrs. Hartwell’s class reminisces. The children now worry that their teacher will be desperately unhappy over the summer months, assuming that she will have nothing to do but compose lesson plans and mourn their absence. “There’s an undertone of irony here, which adults may pick up sooner than children,” noted Carolyn Phelan in Booklist. “What a perfect end to the school year,” remarked a critic in Kirkus Reviews, and School Library Journal critic Genevieve Gallagher described Last Day Blues as “a story with both child and teacher appeal.”
Danneberg focuses on test anxiety in The Big Test, which finds Mrs. Hartwell’s students nervous, in spite of test-taking preparation. A trip to the school library, where the test is given, brings a collective sigh of relief when, but instead of an exam, they have a test party. In Booklist Diane Foote noted of The Big Test that it “effectively reassures” young students that text anxiety is common and “can be overcome.” A longer trip is in store for Mrs. Hartwell’s students in Field-Trip Fiasco, in which “the kids’ mishaps are just as tongue-in-cheek as ever,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer.
Sarah Jane Hartwell returns again in Danneberg’s Valentine’s Day Jitters. In this story, the elementary school teacher faces down her anxiety over throwing the best Valentine’s Day party her class has ever seen. In the past, Mrs. Hartwell’s party plans have produced mixed results. During Halloween there were smashed pumpkins. At the Thanksgiving party a real live turkey made a complete mess of things. Mrs. Hartwell asks her children for input, taking suggestions about the festivities. As a matter of course, the cake falls apart, and the craft projects are disastrously messy. The events of the day take a chaotic turn as Mrs. Hartwell copes and eventually releases her anxieties. Nonetheless, everyone has a great time. “Fun, though the series may appeal more to teachers, all of whom face down never-ending challenges,” wrote Connie Fletcher in Booklist. In School Library Journal, Allison Gray concluded, “school stories about Valentine’s Day can be hard to find; … this book fills a need.” In an interview with Laura Roettiger on the Laura Roettiger Books website Danneberg stated: “ Valentine’s Day Jitters is the sixth book in the Jitters series, the first one being First Day Jitters. All of the books are loosely based on things that happened when I was teaching. In fact, for many years I kept a file where I wrote down some of the funny things kids said and did in my class. As you can imagine, by the end of my teaching career, that file was pretty thick!” Danneberg commented later in the interview: “When they read Valentine’s Day Jitters as well as any of the other books in the Jitters series, I hope young readers will see that teachers, even though they try hard, sometimes goof up and make mistakes. And that’s okay.”
[OPEN NEW]
The “Jitters” series continued with Picture Day Jitters. Mrs. Hartwell has the difficult task of keeping her students looking neat and tidy. The class photo will not be taken until the end of the day, and she is determined that everyone will look their best. That means students cannot use chalk at recess or do any science experiments that might make a mess. When things go wrong, like an exploding tomato, Mrs. Hartwell comes to the rescue. “Children will laugh at the fun Mrs. Hartwell’s class has together,” wrote a reviewer in Kirkus Reviews. They also praised Judy Love’s “marvelously detailed illustrations.”
Sick Day Jitters is a book about what happens when the teacher is sick and the substitute teacher does not show up. The result is that different teachers have to teach subjects that are unfamiliar to them, and the children miss the routines Mrs. Hartwell has established. Students try to reach her through messages to complain, but she does not look at them until she realizes there are 126 messages! “A lighthearted look at an increasingly common scenario” is how a writer in Kirkus Reviews described this outing in the series. They were particularly taken with the facial expressions that illustrator Judy Love has drawn, predicting that readers will enjoy “poring over them.”
[CLOSE NEW]
A cowpuncher’s skill with words saves the day in Cowboy Slim. Although Slim arrives at the WJ Ranch determined to be a real cowboy, he proves to be better at reciting poetry than riding horses or roping cattle. Tthe other cowboys soon tire of helping the newcomer and send him to watch the back of the herd during a dusty cattle drive. When a thunderstorm causes the herd to stampede, Slim’s lyrical verses manage to soothe the nervous bovines. “Danneberg includes lush descriptions that give a poetic feel to the text and provide a nice segue into Cowboy Slim’s poetry,” observed School Library Journal critic Catherine Callegari, and a Kirkus Reviews critic remarked that “the light text lathered liberally with western lingo neatly captures cowboy cadence.” “Proving that poetic language doesn’t have to be flowery, the well-chosen words of the narrative read aloud beautifully,” concluded Phelan in her appraisal of Cowboy Slim for Booklist.
Turning to history, Danneberg captures one day in the life of nineteenth-century French painter Claude Monet in Monet Paints a Day. Monet is painting outdoors in Normandy and the village children help him move his equipment to the shore where he can capture the ocean scene on canvas before the sun sets. Danneberg supplies first-person free verse to match the artwork by Caitlin Heimerl, and she also provides basic facts about Impressionism and about Monet’s life. Reviewing Monet Paints a Day , a Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote that Danneberg’s “engaging and well-researched picture book [is] written in the voice of the artist.” A Publishers Weekly critic also praised the work, deeming it a “lovely tribute to the artist … that emphasizes the challenge of capturing ephemeral moments in nature.”
In John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall, Danneberg presents “both a general introduction to the renowned environmentalist and a dramatic true account of one of his narrower squeaks,” according to Booklist critic John Peters. In this tall-tale-like story, readers follow the nineteenth-century naturalist to Yosemite, where he decides to climb to the top of a spectacular waterfall. Pastel artwork by Jamie Hogan captures the water’s energy, while Danneberg’s parallel text transforms this event from the late 1890s “into a surprisingly suspenseful survival story for a 21st-century audience,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer. A good choice for children studying “environmental studies, geography, writing, or biography,” John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall is “sure to inspire further interest in Muir,” predicted Patricia Ann Owens in her School Library Journal review.
Danneberg’s middle-grade novel Family Reminders is set in Colorado in the 1890s. Mary McHugh is ten years old when her world is turned upside down. Her cheerful, robust father loses a leg in a mining accident and can no longer support the family. Although he once carved wooden “reminders” for the family to commemorate important occasions, he is now sullen and depressed. Looking at the many wooden sculptures decorating her family home, Mary realizes that her father’s whittling might lead to a new career and renewed hope.
Family Reminders “is a heartwarming novel about overcoming hardship,” noted Michele Shaw in a School Library Journal review, and a Kirkus Reviews critic described Danneberg’s book as a “warm family story with characters a reader might like to know.” In Horn Book Martha V. Parravano also praised the work, citing the “heartfelt text” in this tale of family survival.
Danneberg mines the American West in several books about the women who lived and worked in that region. Women Writers of the West: Five Chroniclers of the Old West explores the lives of Jessie Benton Fremont, Louise Clappe, Mary Hallock Foote, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Gertrude Bonnin, each of whom used her writing talents as a means of communicating individuality, and Kliatt reviewer Edna Boardman wrote that “the overall picture of each woman comes through in a vivid and lively manner.” The profiles in Women Artists of the West: Five Portraits in Creativity and Courage include Maria Martinez, Georgia O’Keefe, Laura Gilpin, Dorothea Lange, and Mary-Russell Colton. The artwork they produced varies from traditional Pueblo pottery crafted by Martinez to the Depression-era photographs snapped by Lange. Carol-Ann Hoyle, reviewing Women Artists of the West for Kliatt, called it “a well-researched and entertaining book that makes for an accessible entry into the world of art history.”
In Women Icons of the West: Five Women Who Forged the American Frontier readers meet Clara Brown, a freed slave; Sarah Winnemucca, an educator and activist; Nellie Cashman, an Irish-born nurse and gold prospector; Margaret “Molly” Brown, a socialite who gained fame as a survivor of the ill-fated ocean liner Titanic; and noted nineteenth-century English travel writer Isabella Bird. Danneberg focuses on the gold fever that swept Colorado and California in Amidst the Gold Dust: Women Who Forged the West , offering a history-based introduction to female prospectors. Reviewing Amidst the Gold Dust in School Library Journal, Patricia Ann Owens wrote that the author’s character sketches reveal “determination, perseverance, and hard work.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2000, Connie Fletcher, review of First Day Jitters, p. 1386; February 1, 2003, Diane Foote, review of First Year Letters, p. 1000; January 1, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Last Day Blues, pp. 109-110; February 15, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Cowboy Slim, p. 101; August 1, 2011, Diane Foote, review of The Big Test, p. 52; February 15, 2015, John Peters, review of John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall, p. 75; October 1, 2021, Connie Fletcher, review of Valentine’s Day Jitters, p. 76.
Book Report, September-October, 2001, Tena Natale Litherland, review of Amidst the Gold Dust: Women Who Forged the West, p. 74.
Children’s Bookwatch, March, 2006, review of Cowboy Slim.
Horn Book, July-August, 2009, Martha V. Parravano, review of Family Reminders, p. 420.
Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2002, review of First Year Letters, p. 1848; December 15, 2005, review of Cowboy Slim, p. 1320; January 15, 2006, review of Last Day Blues, p. 82; June 15, 2009, review of Family Reminders; June 1, 2011, review of The Big Test; June 1, 2012, review of Monet Paints a Day; November 15, 2014, review of Field-Trip Fiasco; January 15, 2015, review of John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall; September 1, 2022, review of Picture Day Jitters; September 15, 2023, review of Sick Day Jitters.
Kliatt, May, 2003, Carol-Ann Hoyte, review of Women Artists of the West: Five Portraits in Creativity and Courage, p. 41; November, 2003, Edna Boardman, review of Women Writers of the West: Five Chroniclers of the Old West, p. 32.
Publishers Weekly, May 21, 2012, review of Monet Paints a Day, p. 55.
School Library Journal, May, 2000, Adele Greenlee, review of First Day Jitters, p. 133; June, 2001, Patricia Ann Owens, review of Amidst the Gold Dust, p. 167; April, 2003, Piper L. Nyman, review of First Year Letters, p. 118; July, 2004, Lisa G. Kropp, review of First Day Jitters, p. 42; February, 2006, Catherine Callegari, review of Cowboy Slim, pp. 94-95, and Genevieve Gallagher, review of Last Day Blues, p. 95; August, 2009, Michele Shaw, review of Family Reminders, p. 100; July, 2011, Ieva Bates, review of The Big Test, p. 64; August, 2012, Linda L. Walkins, review of Monet Paints a Day, p. 91; February, 2015, Patricia Ann Owens, review of John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall, p. 118; January 1, 2022, Allison Gray, review of Valentine’s Day Jitters, p. 55.
ONLINE
Julie Danneberg website, http://www.juliedanneberg.com (July 8, 2022).
Laura Roettiger Books, https://lauraroettigerbooks.com/ (January 14, 2022), Laura Roettiger, author interview.
Lighthouse Writers Workshop website, https://www.lighthousewriters.org/ (July 8, 2022), author profile.
Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop, https://www.twjbookshop.com/ (November 29, 2021), author interview.*
Meet The Author: Julie Danneberg
I am retired now, but I was a teacher for many years.
Throughout my career I taught all grades, but for the last 14 years I was a middle school teacher.
I really loved teaching and of course, being around kids all day gave me LOTS and LOTS of ideas! Sometimes I even made…I mean asked…my students to read my stories and give me ideas for improvement.
I’m glad you stopped by for a visit.
Let me take a few minutes to introduce myself.
Well, I live in Boulder, Colorado with my incredibly intelligent and handsome husband! (He made me say that).
I also have two kids who are all grown up and don’t live at home anymore.
They were little when I started writing children’s books. I think I was inspired because of all of our visits to the library!
Here are my kids when they were little. Aren’t they cute?
Lots of times, when I was working on a book, we would take family trips to find out more about my subject. We traveled to Yosemite to learn about John Muir (JOHN MUIR WRESTLES A WATERFALL), to Paris, to learn about Claude Monet (MONET PAINTS A DAY) and traveled all over the West to learn about the women in my Notable Women of the West biography series published by Fulcrum.
Taken at Monet’s house in Giverney, France.
Mesa Verde, Colorado
Yosemite, California
I am retired now, but I was a teacher for many years. Throughout my career I taught all grades, but for the last 14 years I was a middle school language arts teacher. I really loved teaching and of course, being around kids all day gave me LOTS and LOTS of ideas! Sometimes I even made…I mean asked…my students to read my stories and give me ideas for improvement.
I have lots of hobbies. I LOVE to read, garden, bike, travel, listen to music and sew. Sometimes, if I’m really lucky, I can do more than one hobby at a time. I like working on a quilt while I’m flying on an airplane and I listen to music while I garden. I still haven’t figured out how to read while I ride my bike, though. If I do, I’ll let you know!
Biking in Grand Teton National Park….Amazing!
I like to get up VERY early every morning and spend the first part of my day working on my writing. Sometimes I’m just coming up with ideas, sometimes I’m revising and editing an old story, and sometimes I’m drafting a new story. Whatever I do, working in my writer’s notebook is always a peaceful, creative way to start my day.
One thing that I’m really proud of is the fact that I am a third generation Colorado native. My grandmother was the daughter of a miner and grew up in some of our state’s most famous mining towns. I grew up listening to her stories and I was lucky enough, when I got older, to be able to travel with her and visit some of the mining towns that she lived in as a little girl. My book, FAMILY REMINDERS, is a story based on my grandmother’s little girl life.
If you want to find out more about me, or about what its like to be a writer check out the FAQ section of this website. On that page I’ve tried to answer some of kid’s most frequently asked questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you do virtual school visits? What do you do?
Yes! Check out my school visit page.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
I’ve always loved to write. I’ve written stories, poems and journals for as long as I can remember. As a kid, when I daydreamed or played at being grown-up I never imagined myself as a writer. Instead I dreamed of being a famous girl reporter, a secret agent or a teacher. Although the girl reporter and secret agent never worked out, I was lucky enough to work as a teacher for many years.
What the heck do writers do all day?
Beside writing, I do a lot of reading, letter writing, answering emails and school visits.
No matter what though I start out each day with my writer’s notebook. I get up really early and before anyone else in the house is up, I spend an hour just writing. Just like when I was a kid, I write stories, poems and journal entries. I write for the pure fun of it without worrying about editors, publishers or making books. It is my favorite time of the day! And the good thing about that kind of fun, creative writing, sometimes, something that I write turns into a story.
After I’m done with my fun, morning writing time, I usually switch gears and work on my current book project. If I’m doing nonfiction writing, I might need to do research, note-taking or even take a trip to the museum. If I’m working on a fiction story, I will probably be rewriting and rewriting and maybe even more rewriting.. (Whenever I’m stuck, one of my favorite things to do is to go to the library! It is so close I can walk!) And the truth is, I usually have several book projects going at once, so I often bounce between them. I might be revising one, and doing research on another. This way, my daily work varies and I never get in a rut and never get bored with what I’m working on.
What’s the best part about being a writer?
There are actually a couple of best parts. First of all, being a writer has given me the chance to learn all sorts of new things, go new places and meet new people, including all the kids I meet at school visits.
Also, being a writer gives me the excuse to buy books and to read, read and read some more!
How can I become a writer?
There are two sure fire ways to help yourself become a better writer. First of all, try and write every day, or at least as often as you can. Most of what you write probably won’t even be very good. Mine isn’t. That’s okay, I don’t show most of what I write to anyone. I know that it takes a lot of bad writing to get to good writing.
The second thing you should do is READ. Read all sorts of things, but mostly read the kind of books that you want to write. If you want to write mysteries then read them. If you want to write humorous books, read them. You won’t even realize it, but you will be learning how to write as you are enjoying yourself by reading a good book.
Where can I get your books?
You should be able to find them at a bookstore near you. Also, you can order them directly from the publishers or go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble
About the author
Please check my website at www.juliedanneberg.com.
As a child, when I played at being grown-up, I never imagined myself as a writer. Instead I dreamed of being a famous chef, a secret agent, or a psychologist. I didn't end up becoming any of those things. Instead, I became a teacher.
I started off as an elementary school teacher, and thanks to my job, read lots and lots and lots of children's books. Not only was it fun, I witnessed, first hand the profound impact a good book can have on a child. It didn't take long before I was motivated to try and write books like the ones I enjoyed reading.
Later, when I became a mother, I began to seriously consider becoming a writer during our weekly trips to the library with my children. I think I enjoyed story time more than they did! The funny thing is that my kids eventually graduated from the children's section of the library and I never did. I still go to the library at least once a week, and while I don't sit in on story time anymore, I do leave every week with an armload of picture books.
Looking back I see how being a children's writer has helped me bring together many of my interests—teaching, traveling, and being creative.
After several years of teaching elementary school, I ended up teaching middle school, and I loved it. I am now newly retired and am enjoying immersing myself fulltime in writing and teaching writing to others.
My husband and I live in Boulder, Colorado where I enjoy reading, quilting, hiking, biking, and spending time with my family.
Danneberg, Julie SICK DAY JITTERS Charlesbridge (Children's None) $17.99 10, 17 ISBN: 9781623544249
In this newest installment in Danneberg's series following Mrs. Hartwell's elementary school class, other staff members must step in when Mrs. H is ill.
It's a teacher's worst nightmare--feeling awful, you call in sick, relying on your emergency sub plans to get your class through the day but the substitute fails to show! Various staffers fill in for the beloved teacher, but none quite fill her shoes, as her students point out in messages sent over the Homeroom Hub. The gym teacher starts the day with loud music and exercise instead of having the kids do their morning jobs, and the math teacher fails to read a Junie B. Jones book aloud with multiple character voices. Alternating or facing pages show that Mrs. Hartwell isn't getting the kids' messages. Instead, she's taking care of herself and gradually starting to feel better, many of her activities matching the things going on in the class (they watch a penguin documentary; she watches dog and cat videos). When Mrs. Hartwell finally looks at her messages, she has 126, and she knows just what to do with her class the next day. Details in the watercolor, dye, and India ink illustrations will keep readers poring over them; the children's facial expressions are an especial delight. Mrs. Hartwell has light skin; students and other staff are diverse.
A lighthearted look at an increasingly common scenario. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Danneberg, Julie: SICK DAY JITTERS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A764873186/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4d8747ca. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.
Danneberg, Julie PICTURE DAY JITTERS Charlesbridge (Children's None) $17.99 9, 13 ISBN: 978-1-62354-157-6
A tradition as familiar as the first day of school.
Mrs. Hartwell's elementary class has come dressed to the nines for class-picture day. The only problem? Photographs won't be taken until the end of the day, so everyone has to stay neat and tidy until then. Throughout the day, the students are tremendously careful, and their routine goes relatively smoothly--except when a tomato explodes on a student; the pencil sharpener breaks, spilling shavings all over another student; and everyone cleans up the classroom at the end of the day. Each time there's a mishap, Mrs. Hartwell reassures the kids with a "Don't worry, I can fix it." When it is finally time for pictures, the students look smart and neat in their individual photos. Relieved, they run off to play--and make a mess--before convening for a photo of the whole class, in which everyone looks rumpled and disorganized. But, says Mrs. Hartwell when they finally see the photo, "You're picture-perfect just the way you are!" This latest series installment is as much about Mrs. Hartwell as it is about her students, reminding readers that all classrooms have their own symbiosis. Educators will find this book all too relatable, while children will laugh at the fun Mrs. Hartwell's class has together. Love's watercolor illustrations are marvelously detailed and look almost like photographs themselves. Mrs. Hartwell is light-skinned; her class is diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A class abuzz on a special day! (Picture book. 5-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Danneberg, Julie: PICTURE DAY JITTERS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A715352895/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9323c364. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.