SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: CHICKENS ON THE LOOSE
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.janekurtz.com/
CITY: Grand Forks
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 327
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born April 17, 1952, in Portland, OR; daughter of Harold and Pauline Kurtz; married Leonard Goering, 1979; children: David, Jonathan, Rebekah.
EDUCATION:Monmouth College, B.A., 1973; University of North Dakota, M.A., 1995.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, novelist, editor, literacy advocate, public speaker, and children’s book author. Carbondale New School, Carbondale, IL, teacher/director, 1975-81; Trinidad Catholic High School, Trinidad, CO, teacher, 1984-89; University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, senior lecturer, 1995-2002; Vermont College of Fine Arts, member of faculty in M.F.A. program. Ethiopia Reads (a nonprofit organization), cofounder; member of advisory board, Open Hearts, Big Dreams.. Speaker and presenter at schools and conferences.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
AWARDS:Golden Kite Award for best picture book text, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, 2001; Best of the Year Award, School Library Journal, 2001, for Water Hole Waiting; Book of the Year, American Girl, 2010, for Lanie’s Real Adventures; Kerlan Award, University of Minnesota, 2011; SEED Honor, Society of Ethiopians Established in Diaspora, 2014, for being a collaborative founder of Ethiopia Reads; David Steele Distinguished Writer Award, Presbyterian Writers Guild. 2020.
RELIGION: PresbyterianWRITINGS
Contributor of short story “A Family Sandwich” to Period Pieces, selected by Erzsi Deak and Kristin Embry Litchman, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.
SIDELIGHTS
Jane Kurtz is the author of more than thirty books for young readers and several nonfiction titles for both children and adults. Born in Oregon but brought up in Ethiopia, Kurtz draws from these experiences in her writing, setting many of her works in Ethiopia, as is the case with Ethiopia: The Roof of Africa, a nonfiction work for upper elementary students about life in Ethiopia. Similarly, her fictional stories, such as Fire on the Mountain, Pulling the Lion’s Tale, Trouble, and Water Hole Waiting are retellings of popular tales Kurtz heard as a youngster in Ethiopia and include characters based on some of her childhood friends. Other tales and novels use the African experience to illuminate the lives of characters, as in Faraway Home and Jakarta Missing, a novel set in North Dakota, where Kurtz once made her home. North Dakota is also the setting for her free-verse picture book River Friendly, River Wild, while a journey on the Oregon Trail forms the backdrop for I’m Sorry, Almira Ann.
“When I was two years old,” Kurtz once commented, “living in Portland, Oregon, my parents decided to move to Ethiopia to work for the Presbyterian church there. I often trace my career as a writer back to that decision. All of my early childhood memories are of Maji, a small village in southwestern Ethiopia, where my sisters and I explored, made up and acted out stories, and listened to stories told by my father and by other people around us. Though the whole town had only two or three motorized vehicles, no television, no radio stations, no computer games, no movies, I never felt a lack of entertainment. Life was full of sensations, interesting people, and adventures.”
Kurtz returned to the United States twice during her childhood years. Of her experiences during these year-long visits she commented: “Ethiopia was home and I generally felt like a stranger among my peers in the United States, who hardly knew what questions to ask and—if they did manage a question—were likely to blurt out something like ‘Did you see Tarzan?’” After moving back to the United States to attend college, Kurtz decided to play down her years in Ethiopia and focus on American life. “Nearly twenty years later, my feelings of homesickness and longing led to the realization that I could connect with my childhood—through the books and stories I was writing,” Kurtz revealed. Meanwhile, she was also starting a career in education, which would ultimately lead her to the University of North Dakota as senior lecturer. Married in 1979, she had three children. However, her years in Africa still demanded expression.
Her first work, I’m Calling Molly, is a story about friendship featuring four-year-old protagonist Christopher and his friend Molly. After learning how to call Molly over the phone, Christopher invites her over for a play date. She turns him down, however, because she is already playing with another friend. Hurt and disappointed, Christopher plays by himself. After Molly’s friend leaves, she calls Christopher to play and the two resolve their differences. Complimenting Kurtz’s presentation of an occurrence common among children, reviewer Marge Loch-Wouters noted in School Library Journal that “Kurtz and [illustrator Irene] Trivas catch the essence of children’s spats and casual rejections without making the situations uncomfortable or cruel.”
Turning to nonfiction, Kurtz published Ethiopia: The Roof of Africa in 1991, describing in this work many aspects of present-day Ethiopian life, including food, markets, festivals, legends, famine, emigration, and war. Reviewer Loretta Kreider Andrews, writing for School Library Journal, maintained that “Kurtz conveys a lively sense of reality through concrete descriptions of … Ethiopian life.” Information for this work was taken from the author’s personal knowledge of the country in addition to formal research. Kurtz revealed that it “was an important and healing thing to do research on the geography and history of the country where I grew up, things I never studied because I was being prepared to come back to the U.S. schools.”
Other nonfiction volumes by Kurtz include several volumes in the “Fifty States to Celebrate” series. In Celebrating Pennsylvania, Kurtz uses the character of Mr. Geo to provide a description of Pennsylvania and the most interesting and important parts of the state. He covers Philadelphia and the city’s importance to American history, Pittsburgh and its industrial past, the rural beauty of Amish country, and well-known towns and landmarks, such as Hershey, where famous chocolate is made. The book includes a glossary, fact summaries, information on important dates, and activities for readers. Booklist reviewer Kathleen Isaacs called the book a “pleasing way to travel and learn.” Kurtz provides similar state-level overviews in other books by her, including Celebrating Ohio, Celebrating Georgia, and Celebrating Colorado.
A few years after writing Ethiopia: The Roof of Africa, Kurtz began devoting her attention to the retelling of folktales, some of which are from Ethiopia and others from other cultures. “I began to do my own versions of stories I had heard as a child in Ethiopia, putting characters into them who were like the playmates I grew up with,” Kurtz related. Fire on the Mountain, a picture book based on a well-known Ethiopian tale, focuses on Alemayu, an orphaned boy searching for his sister, who works as a cook for a wealthy and boastful man. After finding his sister, Alemayu takes a job as a cowherd, working for the same wealthy and boastful man. Challenged by his employer to spend a cold night alone in the mountains wearing only light clothing, Alemayu wins the bet by imagining himself warmed by a distant fire. His sore-losing boss, however, refuses to admit he lost and will not pay up. Left to their own wits, the siblings devise a clever plan that causes the man to keep his end of the bargain. Janice Del Negro, writing for Booklist, admired how Kurtz relates the tale “in a strong narrative voice: her language is simple and spare yet evocative.” School Library Journal contributor Jos N. Holman noted that “this is a well-written retelling that’s sure to be enjoyed whether read individually or aloud.” Similarly, Mary M. Burns, writing in Horn Book, concluded that Fire on the Mountain is a “handsome and evocative book for story hours or independent reading.”
Pulling the Lion’s Tale is based on the Ethiopian folktale “The Lion’s Whiskers,” a story about a mother who has lost the love of her son. Kurtz retells the tale by focusing on a stepmother and stepdaughter relationship. In Kurtz’s version, Almaz tries to win her stepmother’s love by pulling some hair from the tale of a lion. “Kurtz’s language has a tender lyricism further emphasized by [Floyd] Cooper’s oil paintings,” wrote Loretta Kreider Andrews in School Library Journal.
In Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun —a familiar folktale in many cultures—Kurtz focuses on the Ecuadorian Inca variant. She tells of a heroic girl who (along with her bird friends) saves the life of an ailing prince by bringing him water containing magical healing powers from a faraway lake. Those who attempted to collect the water before had failed, including her brothers, who were imprisoned for presenting ordinary water as the real thing. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly praised the way Kurtz “deftly weaves in details of pre-Conquest Inca life, giving readers a glimpse of a vanished culture.” Similarly, a commentator for Kirkus Reviews appreciated the way Kurtz “combines formal language and a contemporary style to make the story at once accessible and otherworldly.” Reviewing this title in Horn Book, Burns called it a “dramatic interpretation.” Burns added: “With its use of action verbs and concrete images, the text lends itself to reading aloud.”
With Trouble, Kurtz returns to Africa for a “lively Eritrean story of a young boy with a magnetic attraction to trouble,” according to a critic for Kirkus Reviews. When Tekleh manages to let the goats into the garden, his father gives the young boy a gebeta, or game board, in hopes of keeping the youth out of trouble. The next day, however, Tekleh manages to continue his mischief, trading the board successively for a knife, a musical instrument, a drum, then a bag of corn, and finally for another game board, which brings the story back to where it started. Reviewing the picture book in School Library Journal, Kate McLelland noted that Kurtz “depicts Tekleh as a mischief maker, teasing more humor out of the tale” than other retellers had. Reviewing the same story in Booklist, Kay Weisman commented that Tekleh possesses “a universal appeal that should be popular with young listeners everywhere.” Betsy Hearne, writing in Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, also remarked on the universality of Kurtz’s story: “Time and place will prove no barrier to kids’ identification with an inadvertent mischief-maker.”
Ethiopia is again the setting in Only a Pigeon, the tale of a poor boy in Addis Ababa who takes care of homing pigeons. Working in collaboration with her brother Christopher, Kurtz describes how young Ondu-ahlem gets up early every morning before school to take care of his precious birds, looking forward to their eggs hatching and racing them against the birds of his friends. After a half-day of school, the youth shines shoes to make money for his impoverished family. His birds are Ondu-ahlem’s only possessions and give his life meaning. Loretta Kreider Andrews praised this picture book in a School Library Journal review, noting that in “well-crafted, sometimes lyrical language and visual images,” the boy’s “life is made very real.” A contributor in Kirkus Reviews also lauded the “elegant storytelling,” and Hazel Rochman, writing in Booklist, drew attention to the “gentleness in the words,” concluding that children will enjoy reading about a unique type of pet “as much as … the account of one boy and the place where he lives.”
A further Ethiopian setting is served up in Kurtz’s middle grade novel The Storyteller’s Beads, about two young girls who struggle to overcome not only external difficulties, but also their prejudices about each other. Kurtz sets her story during the famine and political strife of the 1980s, focusing on Sahay, a Christian, and Rahel, a blind Ethiopian Jewish girl. Sahay’s family have been massacred, and she is traveling with her uncle to a refugee camp in Sudan when she meets Rahel, accompanied only by her brother. Until now, Sahay has learned to fear and hate Jews, but when the men are turned back at the Sudan border and Sahay and Rahel must proceed together alone, Sahay acts as the blind girl’s guide to the refugee camp. Rahel also, in her quiet way, helps to give strength to Sahay in the midst of frightening experiences along the route. Finally, coming to realize that Rahel and her people are not as foreign as she thought, Sahay, posing as Rahel’s sister, makes her way with the blind girl to Jerusalem in “this sensitive, from-the-heart tale,” as John Peters described the novel in Booklist. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly felt the story “pays tribute to survivors who find the strength and courage to help others reach freedom.” More praise came from a critic for Kirkus Reviews who remarked that “the story is beautifully told in words and phrases that enhance the exotic locale and situation.” Similarly, Victoria Yablonsky, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, called Kurtz’s novel “a moving story that makes the Ethiopian tragedy come alive through the adventures of these two courageous girls.”
Setting her story closer to home, but farther back in the past, Kurtz tells a tale of an eight-year-old girl, Sarah, and her friend, Almira Ann, as they make their way from Missouri by wagon train on the Oregon Trail in the chapter book I’m Sorry, Almira Ann. The two youngsters have many adventures as they cross the country, but none as devastating as the day Sarah surprises Almira Ann during their play in the wagon. Startled, Almira Ann falls out of the wagon and breaks her leg. This is, however, no simple accident, for Sarah had been feeling a little jealous of Almira Ann and decided to play a trick on her, which backfired. Now it seems there is no way to set the badly broken leg. Subsequently, Sarah must learn to deal with her own emotions before she can try to make it up to her friend. Reviewers were generally favorable of this change of pace for Kurtz. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly called the book a “believable tale of friendship, forgiveness, and adventure,” while Carolyn Phelan also praised this beginning novel in Booklist, calling it “good historical fiction for young readers.” Other reviewers commented on the quality of the characters. A contributor in Kirkus Reviews felt that Sarah’s “headstrong personality comes across clearly, as do her efforts to set things right.” Linda Binder, writing in School Library Journal, also thought Sarah “is an engaging character,” and further noted that Kurtz “successfully captures the adventure and hardships of life on the Oregon Trail” in this book. And a reviewer for Horn Book called I’m Sorry, Almira Ann an “eloquent short novel.”
Kurtz employs a cycle of poems to tell the story of how one family and its little girl survive a flood of the Red River in River Friendly, River Wild. A contributor in Publishers Weekly found the poems in this book “powerful” and “detailed,” while Booklist reviewer Connie Fletcher noted that Kurtz’s picture book is “about devastation, but it is also about the nature of home, community, and picking up the pieces.” Similarly, Marian Drabkin, writing in School Library Journal, concluded that the story will “reassure readers that despite natural disasters, families can survive.”
Faraway Home is another picture book set in North America, yet also dealing with Ethiopia. Desta is a young African American girl whose father has to return to Ethiopia to visit his sick mother. The young girl cannot bear the thought of parting from her father, but when he tells her tales of his childhood in Ethiopia, she begins to see that it must be difficult for him to be separated from the places and people he loves. A contributor in Publishers Weekly called this tale “a haunting blend of the familiar and foreign.” Diane S. Marton noted in School Library Journal that “the beautifully crafted [book] gives fresh meaning to the terms family, separation, and home.”
In Jakarta Missing, Kurtz explores the feelings of displacement in a young girl living for a year in North Dakota. Dakar has grown up thus far in several African countries, and the return to the United States does not feel like going home. In fact the adjustment to her new home in Cottonwood, North Dakota, is more difficult than in other places, partly because her older sister, Jakarta, is still at boarding school in Kenya. Dakar wants her family reunited, yet even when Jakarta arrives, things do not normalize. Her mother is suffering from depression, her father leaves on a rescue mission to Guatemala, and Jakarta gets hooked on basketball, leaving Dakar to face her new surroundings on her own. This novel received mixed reviews, with Booklist‘s Ilene Cooper complaining that “in order to manipulate the plot, Kurtz strains the credulity of her readers,” and a critic for Publishers Weekly remarking that though the book was “ambitious and complex,” it “doesn’t ultimately succeed.” Kathleen Isaacs, however, wrote in School Library Journal that some readers “may be left feeling the story changes direction too often and loses its way, [while] other readers will be caught up in it and will devour the details of exotic foreign and everyday family and school lives.” Likewise, Claire Rosser of Kliatt came down on the more positive side, noting that Kurtz “tells this story well, with wonderful descriptions of places and people.” Additionally, Susan P. Bloom praised the story in Horn Book, calling it a “tightly controlled, intense interior novel.”
Other picture books from Kurtz include Water Hole Waiting, about a baby monkey on the African savanna, and Rain Romp: Stomping Away a Grouchy Day, in which a little girl who wakes up on the wrong side of bed finds a creative way to get rid of her grumpiness. Reviewing Water Hole Waiting in School Library Journal, critic Ellen Heath claimed that Kurtz’s “surprising word choices make this story a natural for sharing with a group,” while Booklist writer Cynthia Turnquest believed that “the poetic rhythm of” Rain Romp “will ring true for many kids.”
The setting of Kurtz’s novel The Feverbird’s Claw is an “elaborate fantasy world filled with danger, beauty, and conflict,” observed School Library Journal writer Renee Steinberg. Moralin, the main character, is a young girl belonging to the elite Delagua, a group of sophisticated silk merchants who live in a stratified society inside a walled city. Moralin has been receiving warrior training in secret from her grandfather, Old Tamlin. On the eve of her initiation into temple service, which represents her transition into womanhood, Moralin and two of her friends sneak out of the city. After leaving safety, the three girls are captured by members of the Arkera, bitter enemies of the Delagua. To survive, Moralin must rely on her combat training, her wits, her courage, and her faith. However, the time she spends among the Arkera shows her that the deep prejudices held against them by her clan are not founded on reality. Jennifer Mattson, writing in Booklist, remarked that the book’s “theme of questioning entrenched assumptions will resonate with readers.” Throughout the story, Kurtz “interweaves meticulous world-building, thrilling exploits, and moments of transcendent wonder,” commented a Kirkus Reviews writer.
In the Small, Small Night features a story of sibling courage based on tales that Kurtz heard from a Ghanaian friend. Abena, her younger brother Kofi, and their parents are recent arrivals in America from Ghana. Unable to sleep one night, Kofi tells Abena about his fears of being in a new country. He is afraid that he will forget about his grandmother, cousins, and other relatives in Ghana. He is afraid that his life will be so different in America that he will lose his identity. He is uncertain about what to expect. In response, Abena soothes his worries by telling him some appropriate traditional tales from Ghana. Later, when Abena admits that she is also uncertain about what their life in America will hold, Kofi returns the favor and comforts her with morals from the stories she told him. A Kirkus Reviews writer called the book a “lovely story about wisdom and perseverance.” Kurtz “beautifully captures the way an age-old oral tradition emerges in the lilting, playful cadences of Abena’s voice,” observed a reviewer in Publishers Weekly.
Kurtz served as the editor of Memoirs of Sun: Stories of Africa and America. The anthology includes twelve stories and three poems that “take readers up close to contemporary young people in all their diversity and connections,” commented Hazel Rochman in a Booklist review. With works from the perspective of Americans, Africans, and African Americans, “this collection of vibrant stories and poems celebrates the distinct flavors of the African continent,” observed a Publishers Weekly contributor. In the first section, the contributors consider the beauty of the African landscape, its traditions, and its people. The second section concerns how Americans came to the continent and their first impressions of what they encountered there. The third section provides a look at Africans who are now living in America and how they still strongly feel the influence of their much-missed homeland. Horn Book writer Peter D. Sieruta concluded, “This thought-provoking if uneven collection of short fiction and three poems presents an illuminating look at contemporary Africa and its young people.”
(open new)
In her 2013 middle-grade novel, Anna Was Here, Kurtz offers a coming-of-age tale about ten-year-old Anna Nickel, who is moving from Colorado to Kansas, and is not at all happy about leaving all her friends. The family is moving back to her father’s hometown, Oakwood, where he will become the minister of the local church. Anna is nervous about going to a new school and having to make new friends. However, looming large on her anxiety chart is also the fact that Oakwood is right in the middle of Tornado Alley, and Anna is very cognizant of such things, keeping a notebook reminding her how to deal with disasters from a shark bite to hurricanes. He resourcefulness faces real tests in her new home. A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that “Anna is lively and thoughtful, and her parents are sympathetic and credible,” and that the book is “distinguished by its comfortable treatment of God and faith, as Anna struggles to understand the unfairness and unpredictability of disasters.” The reviewer concluded: “An appealing mix of humor and substance.” Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews critic termed the novel an “amusing and richly rewarding tale that features a very likable, one-of-kind protagonist.”
In her 2017 middle-grade novel, Planet Jupiter, Kurtz focuses on a young girl, Jupiter, who travels wih her family from town to town playing music to earn their living. Fifth-grade Jupiter likes this life, but when their van breaks down in Portland, Jupiter’s mom rents a house for the summer. Having a semi-permanent abode will allow the family to host Jupiter’s cousin Edom, originally from Ethiopia, and now living in California. Jupiter is happy on her own and doesn’t want to have to take care of a cousin, and it seems Edom is no more eager to be in Portland than Jupiter is to have her there. So, together the girls make a plan to send Edom back to her mother, but both learn the truth of the old adage that the best laid plans often go wrong. A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that a “host of quirky and appealing supporting characters rounds out this engaging, empathic story.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor also had praise for the “vivid characters and fascinating urban village they inhabit… [in this] solid middle-grade family story.”
Kurtz turns to the picture-book format for her 2018 work, What Do They Do with All That Poo?, with illustrations by Allison Black. This fact-filled and humorous picture book looks at a real problem: with all the different sorts of animals gathered in a zoo, what do the zookeepers do with all the poop that is collected? The book looks at a variety of poo, from hyena scat to the weirdly cube-shaped wombat poop, and discusses the many uses this is put to, from garden fertilizer to research samples in science labs. Writing in Booklist, John Peters noted, “There’s quite a lot here to digest. In a mix of rhymed general statements and, in smaller type, pithy prose explanations, Kurtz drops nuggets of information.” A Kirkus Reviews critic likewise dubbed this a “scatological success.”
Chickens on the Loose, a further picture book from 2021 with illustrations by John Joseph, is a rhyming adventure about chickens escaping from their yard. These urban chickens then go on a crazy romp through the city, pursued by a group of anxious humans. “As in many picture books about mischievous chickens, the joy lies in the thrilling pandemonium the birds create,” noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor, who nonetheless concluded: “Fun but lightweight, this title adds little to the canon of chicken kid-lit.” A much higher assessment was offered by Dorothy Levine in the online Celebrate Picture Books: “Author Jane Kurtz wows again with another read-out-loud tale perfect for youngsters. Her infectious rhymes and zippy rhythm propel the story with wit as quick as those runaway chickens. Kurtz’s vivacious vocabulary adds to the fun, and her repeated phrasing will have kids vocally joining the chase. John Joseph’s colorful, comedic drawings feature a diverse cast of city residents of different races, religions, ethnicities, and abilities.”
(close new)
“My books have given me a way to connect with my own memories, with Ethiopian friends here in the United States and in Ethiopia, and with school children,” Kurtz once commented. “For the first time, I can comfortably go into a classroom and talk about growing up in a beautiful country far away from where I now live.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 15, 1994, Janice Del Negro, review of Fire on the Mountain, p. 432; September 1, 1995, p. 87; May 1, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun, p. 1510; March 15, 1997, Kay Weisman, review of Trouble, p. 1246; June 1, 1997, Hazel Rochman, review of Only a Pigeon, p. 1719; May 1, 1998, John Peters, review of The Storyteller’s Beads, p. 1518; November 15, 1999, Carolyn Phelan, review of I’m Sorry, Almira Ann, p. 626; February 1, 2000, Connie Fletcher, review of River Friendly, River Wild, p. 1018; February 15, 2000, Hazel Rochman, review of Faraway Home, p. 1105; May 15, 2001, Ilene Cooper, review of Jakarta Missing, p. 1753; May 15, 2002, Kay Weisman, review of Water Hole Waiting, p. 1601; September 15, 2002, Cynthia Turnquest, review of Rain Romp: Stomping Away a Grouchy Day, p. 240; October 1, 2003, Gillian Engberg, review of Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot, p. 321; October 15, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of Bicycle Madness, p. 412; January 1, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Memories of Sun: Stories of Africa and America, p. 846; April 14, 2004, Jennifer Mattson, review of The Feverbird’s Claw, p. 1456; March 15, 2005, review of In the Small, Small Night, p. 1299; November 1, 2013, Kathleen Isaacs, review of Anna Was Here, p. 79; August 1, 2016, Kathleen Isaacs, review of Celebrating Pennsylvania, p. 74; March 15, 2017, Ilene Cooper, review of Planet Jupiter, p. 64; April 15, 2018, John Peters, review of What Do The Do with All That Poo?, p. 45.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, May, 1997, Betsy Hearne, review of Trouble, pp. 326-327; December, 1999, Elizabeth Bush, review of I’m Sorry, Almira Ann, p. 138; May, 2001, review of Jakarta Missing, p. 341.
Childhood Education, fall, 2004, Arlene Campbell, review of Memories of Sun, p. 46.
Five Owls, November, 1995, p. 35.
Horn Book, November-December, 1994, Mary M. Burns, review of Fire on the Mountain, p. 739; November-December, 1996, Mary M. Burns, review of Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun, pp. 750-751; March-April, 2000, review of I’m Sorry, Almira Ann, p. 196, review of River Friendly, River Wild, p. 206; May-June, 2001, Susan P. Bloom, review of Jakarta Missing, pp. 329-330; September-October, 2003, Joanna Rudge Long, review of Bicycle Madness, p. 613; January-February, 2004, Peter D. Sieruta, review of Memories of Sun, p. 82.
Horn Book Guide, fall, 1997, Kitty Flynn, review of Only a Pigeon, p. 271.
Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 1996, review of Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun, p. 137; March 1, 1997, review of Trouble, p. 383; May 15, 1997, review of Only a Pigeon, p. 802; May 15, 1998, review of The Storyteller’s Beads, p. 740; October 15, 1999, review of I’m Sorry, Almira Ann, p. 1645; March 1, 2002, review of Water Hole Waiting, p. 337; August 1, 2003, review of Bicycle Madness; December, 2003, review of Memories of Sun; May 1, 2004, review of The Feverbird’s Claw; August 15, 2004, review of Johnny Appleseed; January 1, 2005, review of In the Small, Small Night; July, 2013, review of Anna Was Here; March 15, 2017, review of Planet Jupiter; April 15, 2018, review of What Do The Do with All That Poo?; April 15, 2021, review of Chickens on the Loose.
Kliatt, March, 2001, Claire Rosser, review of Jakarta Missing, p. 12.
New Advocate, summer, 1995, pp. 213-214.
Publishers Weekly, April 8, 1996, review of Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun, p. 67; June 18, 1998, review of The Storyteller’s Beads, p. 61; November 22, 1999, review of I’m Sorry, Almira Ann, p. 56; January 24, 2000, review of River Friendly, River Wild, p. 311; February 28, 2000, review of Faraway Home, p. 80; April 2, 2001, review of Jakarta Missing, p. 65; September 22, 2003, review of Bicycle Madness, p. 104; October 20, 2003, review of Saba, p. 55; December 22, 2003, review of Memories of Sun, p. 61; May 3, 2004, review of The Feverbird’s Claw, p. 192; January 24, 2005, review of In the Small, Small Night, p. 243; February 28, 2005, review of Do Kangaroos Wear Seat Belts?, p. 65; July 22, 2013, review of Anna Was Here, p. 69; February 27, 2017, review of Planet Jupiter, p. 100.
School Library Journal, March, 1990, Marge Loch-Wouters, review of I’m Calling Molly, p. 198; May, 1992, Loretta Kreider Andrews, review of Ethiopia: The Roof of Africa, p. 123; December, 1994, Jos N. Holman, review of Fire on the Mountain, p. 99; December, 1995, Loretta Kreider Andrews, review of Pulling the Lion’s Tale, p. 83; April, 1997, Kate McLelland, review of Trouble, pp. 127-128; June, 1997, Loretta Kreider Andrews, review of Only a Pigeon, p. 96; November, 1999, Linda Bindner, review of I’m Sorry, Almira Ann, pp. 121-122; March, 2000, Marian Drabkin, review of River Friendly, River Wild, p. 209; April, 2000, Diane S. Marton, review of Faraway Home, p. 108; May, 2001, Kathleen Isaacs, review of Jakarta Missing, p. 154; September, 2002, Roxanne Burg, review of Rain Romp, p. 196; May, 2002, Ellen Heath, review of Water Hole Waiting, p. 120; January, 2004, Kathleen Isaacs, review of Memories of Sun, p. 132; May, 2004, Renee Steinberg, review of The Feverbird’s Claw, p. 151; December, 2004, Laura Scott, review of Johnny Appleseed, p. 134; February, 2005, Suzanne Myers Harold, review of In the Small, Small Night, p. 106; March, 2005, Kathleen T. Isaacs, review of Memories of Sun, p. 69; April, 2005, Piper L. Nyman, review of Do Kangaroos Wear Seat Belts?, p. 105; July, 2010, Kira Moody, review of Lanie, p. 62; September, 2013, Kerry Roeder, review of Anna Was Here, p. 145.
Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 1998, Victoria Yablonsky, review of The Storyteller’s Beads, pp. 274-275.
ONLINE
Celebrate Picture Books, https://celebratepicturebooks.com/ (July 26, 2021), Dorothy Levine, author interview and review of Chickens on the Loose.
Deb Watley website, http://www.debwatley.com/ (March 3, 2015), “Interview: Jane Kurtz, Author of Anna Was Here.”
Ethiopia Reads, http://www.ethiopiareads.org/ (March 3, 2018).
Explorations Blog, http://sarahblakejohnson.blogspot.com/ (June 4, 2012), “Jane Kurtz—A Conversation about Ethiopia Reads and Volunteerism.”
I Am a Reader, http://www.iamareader.com/ (February 27, 2014), interview with Jane Kurtz.
International Christian Fiction Writers Blog, http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com/ (February 9, 2010), LeAnne Hardy, “Ethiopia in Her Heart: An Interview with Jane Kurtz.”
Jane Kurtz website, http://www.janekurtz.com (August 25, 2021).
Portland Book Review, http://www.portlandbookreview.com/ (February 24, 2014), Barbara Cothern, “An Interview with Jane Kurtz, Author of Anna Was Here.”
Presbyterian Mission Agency website, https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ (January 15, 2020), “Jane Kurtz Named Winner of Top Presbyterian Writers Guild Award.”
Redeemed Reader, http://www.redeemedreader.com/ (March 3, 2018), “Interview with Author Jane Kurtz on African Stories.”
School Library Journal, https://blogs.slj.com/ (December 3, 2020), Elizabeth Bird, “Worldwide Literacy Efforts: A Talk With Jane Kurtz and Ellenore Angelidis.”
Vermont of College of Fine Arts website, http://www.vcfa.edu/ (August 25, 2021), biography of Jane Kurtz.
Wonderous Reviews Blog, http://wonderousreviews.blogspot.com/ (February 24, 2014), “Anna Was Here by Jane Kurtz: Interview and Review.”
An Introduction
Award-winning author Jane Kurtz has published more than 40 books—fiction and nonfiction, picture books and novels. She grew up mostly in Ethiopia where she now does a lot of volunteer work for helping kids get books. She also is on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Children’s and YA Literature where she works with adults who want to become professional writers.
A Little Bit More...
Jane has written extensively about her life and books in a resource for educators Jane Kurtz and You. She also answers questions about her childhood, her books, and family on her FAQ page.
Jane Kurtz and YouJane Kurtz was born in Portland, Oregon, but when she was two years old, her parents moved to Ethiopia. Jane grew up in Maji, a small town in the southwest corner of the country.
Since there were no televisions, radios, or movies, her memories are of climbing mountains, wading in rivers by the waterfalls, listening to stories, and making up her own stories, which she and her sisters acted out for days at a time. When she was in fourth grade, she went to boarding school in Addis Ababa. Her family left Ethiopia in the late 1970s, but a decade later, first her brother and his family and then her older sister and her family went back to teach in a girls’ school in Addis Ababa. By the time Jane came back to the United States for college, she felt there was no way to talk about her childhood home to people here. It took nearly twenty years to finally find a way – through her children’s books. Now she often speaks in schools and at conferences, sharing memories from her own childhood and bringing in things for the children to touch and taste and see and smell and hear from Ethiopia. “It’s been a healing and inspiring experience,” she says, “to re-connect with my childhood and also be able to help people know just a little of the beautiful country where I grew up.”
She is a co-founder of the nonprofit organization Ethiopia Reads that works to bring books, libraries and literacy practices to the children in Ethiopia. After fifteen years on the board of directors of Ethiopia Reads, Jane saw a crucial missing piece of the literacy work and turned her volunteer effort to heading the Creative Team of Ready Set Go Books, a project of Open Hearts Big Dreams. In late 2020, the team reached a goal of publishing 100 colorful books—fiction and nonfiction—each available in English and various Ethiopian languages. These books are available online and, as funding becomes available, printed and distributed in Ethiopia, providing reading practice and spreading knowledge of the daily life, geography, history, stories, proverbs and cultural traditions of Ethiopia.
Jane Kurtz and siblingsJane’s career as a writer began with the publication of her own books. She soon turned to stories that incorporated many of her childhood experiences. E. B. Lewis illustrated Jane’s first Ethiopian story, Fire on the Mountain. He used photographs that Jane sent him and photographs which he took of Ethiopian families in his home city of Philadelphia to help him create the illustrations in the book. When Jane’s brother came back from teaching in Ethiopia and told her about the street boys who taught him to raise pigeons, she and her brother, Christopher, wrote Only a Pigeon – a book that was published in spring 1997. Earl (E.B.) Lewis and Chris Kurtz traveled to Ethiopia in 1995 so Earl could do the art research for the story. Floyd Cooper illustrated the second story, Pulling the Lion’s Tail, using photographs and his own imagination to make the story of Almaz come to life.
After the publication of her first books, Jane went on to publish fiction and nonfiction: picture books, novels for young readers, and ready-to-read books as well as a few resources for educators. She has drawn on her classroom experience (elementary and high school) for many years of author visits in all but a handful of the United States and in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. During that time, she also taught writing at the University of North Dakota for ten years and then joined the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Children’s and YA Literature. After living in North Dakota and Kansas, Jane moved back to the city where she was born, Portland, Oregon, where she lives with her husband Leonard.
Jane Kurtz
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Jane Kurtz
Born April 17, 1952 (age 69)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Occupation Writer
Nationality American
Alma mater Monmouth College
Notable awards Kerlan Award, Golden Kite Award
Website
janekurtz.com
Jane Kurtz (born April 17, 1952) is an American writer of including more than thirty picture books, middle-grade novels, nonfiction, ready-to-reads, and books for educators.[1] A member of the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in children's and adult literature, Kurtz is an international advocate for literacy and writing. She was also part of a small group of volunteers who organized the not-for-profit organization, Ethiopia Reads, which has established more than seventy libraries for children, published books, and built four schools in rural Ethiopia.[2]
Contents
1 Early life
2 Professional writing career
3 Major works
4 Awards
5 References
6 External links
Early life
Kurtz was born in Portland, Oregon, to missionary parents, who moved the family to Ethiopia when she was two years old.[3][4] Her parents, the Rev. Harold and Pauline (Polly) Kurtz, worked for the Presbyterian Church in Ethiopia for twenty-three years.[4]
After two years of language study in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, her parents moved their four children to Maji, Ethiopia in the far southwest of the country. The journey up to Maji—usually in a Jeep—took all day to drive thirty-two miles. Sometimes the family traveled by mule, a two-day trip. Maji, which was at an 8000-foot altitude, was where Jane first learned to read as Polly Kurtz homeschooled Kurtz and her sisters.
The family spent one year in Boise, Idaho when Kurtz was in second grade. After returning to Ethiopia, Kurtz was home schooled for one additional year before leaving Maji to attend fourth grade at Good Shepherd boarding school in Addis Ababa. Except for spending her eighth-grade year in Pasadena, California, she would remain at Good Shepherd through her junior year of high school. One of her middle-grade novels, Jakarta Missing (Greenwillow/HarperCollins), is the fictional story of what it was like to leave East Africa to spend a teenaged year in the United States.
Following in her parents' footsteps, Kurtz was admitted to Monmouth College (Illinois) after her junior year of high school and graduated in 1973 as a psychology major. During graduation ceremonies, she was involved in a crash of a small plane piloted by her father, while visiting her family in Ethiopia. She spent about six months in a body cast before beginning her work life.
In Carbondale, Illinois, she worked at the Carbondale New School, a private alternative school for students in kindergarten through sixth grade, first as a writing teacher, next as director, and finally teaching a combined class of third- and fourth-graders. When her husband, Leonard Goering, accepted a position in Trinidad, Colorado, she spent five years teaching English at Trinidad Catholic High School. She also served as the director of a not-for-profit organization, Trinidad Downtown Area Development and was a member of the Colorado Council on the Arts before moving to Grand Forks, North Dakota, where she completed her master's degree in English and taught as a senior lecturer in the English department.
Professional writing career
Years spent reading and discussing books and writing with young people encouraged Kurtz to try to publish her own stories. Her first picture book, I’m Calling Molly (Albert Whitman), was inspired by watching her son interact with a next-door neighbor. For her second picture book, Fire on the Mountain (Simon & Schuster), Kurtz began to reach back to the stories of her childhood in Ethiopia.[5]
Fire on the Mountain was the first picture book illustrated by E.B. Lewis who went on to illustrate more than seventy books for children and to win the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and Caldecott Honor Award. Fire on the Mountain received a starred review, was a Children's Book of the Month Club selection, and has remained in print for more than twenty years.[6]
Kurtz's first middle-grade novel, The Storyteller's Beads (Harcourt), is an attempt to show what life was like in Ethiopia during the time of "red terror" after her family moved back to the United States. Her goal was to evoke the realities of children encountering conflict and the danger of war. The novel is based on real-life events in Ethiopia after Christianity, Islam, and Judaism (Beta Israel) were all put under intense political pressure in Ethiopia during the 1970s and 1980s and many Ethiopians fled to refugee camps in the Sudan. From there, thousands of the Beta Israel were flown to Israel in air lifts with striking nicknames such as Operation Moses and Operation Joshua. Kurtz has written that she was moved to begin drafting the story after reading eyewitness accounts of some of those who made the journey.
She has also written picture books about the beauty of Ethiopia, including Water Hole Waiting (Greenwillow/HarperCollins), co-authored by her brother Christopher Kurtz. Another book co-authored with her brother is Only a Pigeon (Simon & Schuster), a true story of a shoeshine boy who became friends with her brother when Christopher Kurtz returned to Ethiopia as a young adult to teach in a girls’ school in Addis Ababa.[5][7]
In 1997, Kurtz was able to return to Ethiopia after having been away for twenty years. That spring, she was invited to conduct author visits at the International Community School, Bingham Academy, and Sandford International School. After completing the author visits, she traveled to Lalibela and Gondar, a trip that would later lead to Kurtz's writing of a historical fiction middle-grade novel for American Girl, Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot, set in 1846 when Gondar was in decline as the Ethiopian capital.
When she returned to North Dakota, she was only home a few days before she and her family had to leave their house that was in the first neighborhood to be evacuated during the 1997 Red River flood. They spent six weeks in Walhalla, North Dakota, during which time Kurtz flew to Atlanta to be part of a presentation at the International Reading Association, speaking about the power of encouraging children to capture their real lives through the rhythms and imagery of poetry, a practice she began at the Carbondale New School and continued during years of Writer in the Schools projects.
Shortly after returning to clean up the house she and her own children had lived in since they had moved to Grand Forks, she created what became the picture book River Friendly River Wild (Simon & Schuster), the text of which won the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Kurtz also drew on her flood memories for tornado scenes in her 2013 novel Anna Was Here (Greenwillow/HarperCollins). She often describes that novel as "a story of life's big questions and a few puny answers." A reviewer in the New York Times called it "sweetly funny" and "a moving-day classic, destined to sidestep its boxed-up brethren for the important job of steadying someone's shaky little hands."[8]
Kurtz has been invited to speak in forty states of the United States and in various countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Her presentations are often praised for their wittiness, their ability to connect with young writers, and their emphasis on the life-changing power of reading. She was also invited to be part of "Laura Bush Celebrates America's Authors," a day of literacy celebration prior to U.S. President George Bush's 2001 inauguration, during which fourteen children's book authors were honored and then conducted presentations in Washington D.C. schools.[9]
In April 2008, when Kurtz was performing author visits in Indonesia and Cambodia, she was contacted by an editor at American Girl about writing two books to be sold with Lanie, American Girl Doll of the Year 2010. Inspired by the students at Pasir Ridge International School in Palikpapan, Indonesia, who provide support for the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, Kurtz created a secondary character, Dakota, Lanie's best friend, who goes to Indonesia and works with orangutans. In 2011, Kurtz returned to the Pasir Ridge International School to show the students the book that had been partially inspired by them. One student wrote, "I would like to help animals, but I can’t help these." He then listed his favorites and the reasons he couldn't help them. A seal? Too far. A snake? Too scary. A lion? Too strong. A penguin? Too far. He concluded that he had been inspired to catch krill, an important part of the food web, and ended, "Even poor people can help animals."
Kurtz wrote the books Lanie and Lanie's Real Adventures while she was living in Lawrence, Kansas, where her son and daughter-in-law were attending college at the University of Kansas. She decided to create a character who engages in citizen science to help save monarch butterflies after reading about Monarch Watch, a cooperative network of students, teachers, volunteers and researchers based in Lawrence.
Major works
I'm Calling Molly with illustrations by Irene Trivas (picture book) 1990
Ethiopia: The Roof of Africa (juvenile nonfiction) 1991
Fire on the Mountain with illustrations by E. B. Lewis (picture book) 1994
Pulling the Lion's Tail with illustrations by Floyd Cooper (picture book) 1995
Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun with illustrations by David Frampton (picture book) 1996[10]
Only a Pigeon with Christopher Kurtz; illustrations by E. B. Lewis (picture book) 1997
Trouble with illustrations by Durga Bernhard (picture book) 1997[11]
The Storyteller's Beads with illustrations by Michael Bryant (juvenile novel) 1998
I'm Sorry, Almira Ann with illustrations by Susan Havice (juvenile novel) 1999
Faraway Home with illustrations by E. B. Lewis (picture book) 2000
River Friendly, River Wild with illustrations by Neil Brennan (picture book) 2000
Jakarta Missing (juvenile novel) 2001
Water Hole Waiting with Christopher Kurtz; illustrations by Lee Christiansen (picture book) 2001
Rain Romp: Stomping Away a Grouchy Day with illustrations by Dyanna Wolcott (picture book) 2002
Bicycle Madness with illustrations by Beth Peck (juvenile novel) 2003
Memories of Sun: Stories of Africa and America editor (short stories and poetry) 2003
Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot with illustrations by Jean-Paul Tibbles (young adult novel) 2003
The Feverbird's Claw (young adult novel) 2004
Johnny Appleseed with illustrations by Mary Haverfield (easy reader) 2004
Mister Bones: Dinosaur Hunter with illustrations by Mary Haverfield (easy reader) 2004
Do Kangaroos Wear Seat Belts? with illustrations by Jane Manning (picture book) 2005
In the Small, Small Night with illustrations by Rachel Isadora (picture book) 2005
What Columbus Found: It Was Orange, It Was Round with illustrations by Paige Billin-Frye (easy reader) 2007
Martin's Dream (easy reader) 2008
Anna Was Here (middle-grade novel) 2013
Celebrating Ohio: 50 States to Celebrate with illustrations by C.B. Canga (picture book) 2015
Celebrating Pennsylvania: 50 States to Celebrate with illustrations by C.B. Canga (picture book) 2015
Celebrating New Jersey: 50 States to Celebrate with illustrations by C.B. Canga (picture book) 2015
Celebrating Georgia: 50 States to Celebrate with illustrations by C.B. Canga (picture book) 2015
Planet Jupiter (young adult novel) 2017
Awards
2001, Golden Kite Award, (for best picture book text) by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
2001, Best-of-the-Year Award, by School Library Journal for Water Hole Waiting[2]
2005, Year's Best Books and Year's Best Children's Books, by The Washington Post for In the Small, Small Night[2]
2010, Book of the Year, by American Girl for Lanie's Real Adventures
2011, Kerlan Award, by the University of Minnesota[1]
2014, SEED Honor, for being a collaborative founder of Ethiopia Reads, 23rd Annual SEED Awards by the Society of Ethiopians Established in Diaspora
2015, Nominated for the 2015-2016 South Carolina Children's Book Awards, for Anna Was Here[12]
Jane Kurtz
Faculty, MFA in WCYA
Profile
Jane Kurtz’s recent middle grade novel, Planet Jupiter (Greenwillow/ HarperCollins) was called “a page turner” by several reviews, and she’s proud of the plot craft she learned at VCFA.
She has also published picture books, nonfiction, novels for young readers, easy ready-to-read books, short stories and articles. Her poetic picture book, River Friendly River Wild, was given the Golden Kite award for excellence in picture book text by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Another picture book, In the Small, Small Night, was named one of the year’s best by the Washington Post, and School Library Journal put Jane’s picture book glimpse of animals on the African savanna (Water Hole Waiting) onto their best-of-the-year list.
Many of her books connect with Ethiopia, where she spent most of her childhood and now volunteers to create Ready Set Go books, easy readers for Ethiopian children. She does author visits all over the US and internationally and has taught writing at the elementary, secondary, and university levels.
Contact
Jane.Kurtz@vcfa.edu
Education
MA - English | University of North Dakota
Jane Kurtz named winner of top Presbyterian Writers Guild award
Communication January 15, 2020
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Author, artist and literacy advocate to speak at General Assembly luncheon on June 25
by Emily Enders Odom, Presbyterian Writers Guild | Special to Presbyterian News Service
Author, artist and literacy advocate Jane Kurtz, the daughter of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers, has been awarded the 2020 David Steele Distinguished Writer Award by the Presbyterian Writers Guild. (Photo by Jeri Candor)
LOUISVILLE — Jane Kurtz, prolific author, artist, literacy advocate and a child of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission workers, has been named the recipient of the 2020 David Steele Distinguished Writer Award by the Presbyterian Writers Guild.
Kurtz, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ruling elder, has published over 35 children’s books, from picture books and easy-readers to middle grade novels. Her most recent picture book won the 2019 Oregon Spirit Book Award for non-fiction from the Oregon Council of Teachers of English. “What Do They Do with All That Poo?” is full of fun and serious facts about what zoos do with the poo generated every day by their animal residents.
“Jane has modeled a life dedicated to sharing her passion for creativity, writing and teaching,” wrote Caroline Kurtz, founder and executive director of the Maji Development Coalition, in nominating her sister for the honor. “Jane and I are daughters of Presbyterian missionaries in Ethiopia for 23 years, Harold and Polly Kurtz. I am not totally objective, but I believe Jane’s lifetime of literary accomplishment deserves to be celebrated!”
Kurtz will receive the award at the Presbyterian Writers Guild’s General Assembly luncheon June 25 in Baltimore, at which she will also serve as the featured speaker.
Named for the late David Steele — Presbyterian poet and essayist best known for his “Tuesday Morning” column in The Presbyterian Outlook — the distinguished writer award is given biennially to a Presbyterian writer who blessed the church with his or her writing over the course of a career.
As an artist and author, Kurtz has spoken in schools all over the U.S. and the world, encouraging children to write what is in their hearts. Over 20 years ago, she co-founded Ethiopia Reads, a non-profit in Ethiopia dedicated to literacy and the founding of children’s libraries. Most recently she co-founded and is one of three creative directors of Ready Set Go Books, creating practice reading books for Ethiopian children. The Ministry of Education in Ethiopia is printing thousands of copies of 45 Ready Set Go Books titles for a USAID literacy campaign in 2020. Kurtz also serves on the faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, which established the first M.F.A. program in the country to focus exclusively on writing for young readers.
“Having had the great honor and joy of working with David Steele in the 1990s, I am convinced that Jane’s newest book, ‘What Do They Do with All That Poo,’ would tickle Dave’s funny bone,” said the Rev. Emily Enders Odom, president of the PWG and chair of its award selection committee. “Her most recent book would also resonate with John Calvin, whose fixation with the accumulated animal droppings on Noah’s Ark was documented by William J. Bouwsma in his unique portrait of the 16th century reformer.”
In addition to Odom, the PWG’s award selection committee included the Rev. Jill Duffield, Charlottesville, Va., and the Rev. Matt Matthews, Champaign, Ill.
“My life as a writer began with passionate reading — in remote Ethiopia where my parents worked for the Presbyterian Church and where I saw Ethiopian kids getting their first shot at education — while I was first diving deeply into books, words, and stories,” said Kurtz upon being informed of her selection for the biennial award. “No one has more doubt and needs more faith than an artist, so my spiritual path and my writing path are closely entwined. I’m deeply honored to have this award from a community that welcomed my quirky self and gave me a robust life of the mind and imagination.”
Previous winners of the David Steele Distinguished Writer Award include Katherine Paterson, Fredrick Buechner, Ann Weems, Eugene H. Peterson, Gustav Niebuhr, Marj Carpenter, Gayraud Wilmore, Eva Stimson, Kathleen Norris, Bill Tammeus, Jack Rogers, John Buchanan, James Atwood, MaryAnn McKibben Dana, Kathy Bostrom, Doris Betts and Vic Jameson.
Worldwide Literacy Efforts: A Talk With Jane Kurtz and Ellenore Angelidis
DECEMBER 3, 2020 BY ELIZABETH BIRD
It’s not just authors and illustrators that get to talk about what they’re up to these days. Not long ago I was approached by the nonprofit Open Hearts Big Dreams. It was described to me this way:
American nonprofit Open Hearts Big Dreams works to increase literacy rates in Ethiopia—currently estimated at 51.77% for ages 15 and up. On October 9th the group will publish the 100th children’s book in their local language book project, Ready Set Go Books, which are distributed free of charge to schools and libraries throughout Ethiopia. The 100th book, Plow Nation by Worku Mulat, illustrated by Daniel Getahun, will initially be available digitally and print-on-demand around the world. By the end of next year, paperback copies will be donated to schools and libraries in Ethiopia so children can practice reading skills. In just 3 years, Open Hearts Big Dreams is halfway to their goal of publishing 200 uniquely Ethiopian stories for children.
I spoke with author Jane Kurtz and Ellenore Angelidis about the project:
Betsy Bird: Thank you so much for talking with me today. To begin, could you tell us a bit about the American nonprofit Open Hearts Big Dreams? Where did it come from? What was the impetus to start it? And why the specific focus on Ethiopia?
Ellenore Angelidis: I founded Open Hearts Big Dreams (OHBD) in 2016 as part of our on-going efforts to connect our youngest daughter, Leyla, to her birth country of Ethiopia. She joined our family as an infant and we started working on literacy focused efforts in Ethiopia when she was about 2 years old, including building a library in the town of her birth. She started getting actively involved in appeals and other supporting activities when she was three. She and I have co-authored one of the current Ready Set Go Books titles and have a few others on the way. Libraries were a huge outlet for me as a kid. We didn’t have a lot of extra funds growing up but I always felt rich when I could check out as many books as I was able carry home each week. My daughter shares my love of books and libraries and is proud she can help more kids in her birth country to get to experience the love of books. Here is short video about Leyla and my last trip to Ethiopia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-9cA3Ry50w
BB: How does Ready Set Go Books play a part in all of this? What is it and why is it a “local language book project”?
Jane Kurtz: When I came up with the idea for what became Ready Set Go Books, it was pretty simple. From decades of paying attention to what was happening with literacy in Ethiopia, I knew that Ethiopians were starting to self-publish children’s books (self-publish because there was barely any infrastructure of publishing). But I wasn’t seeing a type of book I’d written for two U.S. publishers—easy readers that provide a bridge to fluent and confident reading. I thought it would be a cool thing to provide some models of that type of book, and I was pretty sure creating a few books would inspire Ethiopian authors and illustrators. I didn’t have a vision that the project could become anything major until Ellenore and OHBD took over production of the books. Here is a short video about the books from a couple years back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDJCBPCxJy4&t=3s
The Ready Set Go books are bilingual and feature English and one of three common Ethiopian languages: Amharic, Tigrinya, and Afaan Oromo. My commitment to local language books came from decades of listening and observation. Dedicated volunteers had shipped hundreds of thousands of beautiful books in English for children’s libraries in Ethiopia, but I saw kids lined up at the tiny shelves of local language books. My brother—a longtime teacher of English language learners—helped me understand why. If you were someone who managed to decode the puzzle of little black marks and correctly sounded out a word but didn’t know the meaning of that word, how far would you get as a reader? I started reading the research. This quote from World Vision, sums up what studies show: “Children who benefit from mother tongue instruction and learning also perform better in their second language.” Of course, fans of picture books know that illustration is a kind of language. I began to see that producing books with colorful, appealing pictures was also a crucial part of what we were trying to do.
BB: Are these books being made available in America at all?
EA: Ready Set Go Books are available for sale via Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Ready-Set-Go-Books/e/B07G171G1M and select titles are available online from Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and other online retailers. Some brick and mortar bookstores carry them, too. All books and languages are also available in Seattle Public Libraries and select titles are available in libraries in Colorado, California, and Minnesota. https://openheartsbigdreams.org/what-we-do/community/ Bookstores, libraries, and schools wishing to buy books at a discount may buy direct from Open Hearts Big Dreams. https://openheartsbigdreams.org/website/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/OHBD-Books-Database-Listing_10.4.20.pdf
BB: Who are the authors and illustrators of these books? Are any written by Ethiopian creators themselves?
JK: In the beginning, my sister and I volunteered to write many of the books, talking to Ethiopian friends and using what we know (our parents worked in Ethiopia for 23 years including most of our childhoods), including Ethiopian proverbs and traditions and animals. Volunteer illustrators came from wherever we could find them, including students in U.S. classrooms working with talented teachers. Now, most of the illustration comes either from Ethiopian professional artists or a group of older adults who are taking watercolor classes in Vancouver, Washington. Ethiopian authors are increasingly doing the writing, too. Even with the books written by non-Ethiopians, our robust translation and review process ensures lots of conversations about cultural and language nuance, lots of laughter and teamwork and (for me) humble listening and learning.
BB: How far have you come since the beginning of the program and where do you plan to go from here?
EA: In less three years, we have created and published over 100 unique titles in three different Ethiopian languages (approaching 300 books total), which is half way to our goal of creating and publishing 200 unique titles – the size of a small library. Since late 2017, more than 110,000 Ready Set Go Books have been distributed free of charge to hundreds of schools and libraries in Ethiopia. Open Hearts Big Dreams partners with Ethiopia Reads and other NGOs in Ethiopia, the US, and the UK to get the books into children’s hands and to train librarians on the most effective way to share them. Ethiopia Reads is currently working to print and distribute another 60,000 copies of our books in multiple languages. A big goal is to find some larger funders to underwrite more printing for the huge potential impact (Ethiopia has a million first graders, for example).
JK: We are committed to involving more and more creative Ethiopians in the process. For example, I teach in the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. An alum of that program is now volunteering to coach several of the new Ethiopian writers who want to contribute texts. We are quite rapidly expanding our pool of Ethiopian illustrators. Our best recruiting tool is the books themselves. People see them and ask how to get involved.
BB: How has the current pandemic affected Open Hearts Big Dreams?
EA: The biggest challenge for us is that most of our fundraising has an in-person component – community dinners, larger gala style fundraisers, and book fairs — which we can’t do now. We are experimenting with on-line only efforts and also working on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo79vI6k2qENVbTekkWrBsg to support parents at home who can’t easily get to a library now.
BB: What is the one takeaway you’d like people to get from this project?
Jane & Ellenore: We want to see our books in all US school and public libraries so kids with ties to East Africa get to celebrate their culture and see themselves in books, so African-American kids get the chance to learn about a fascinating ancient African country that was never colonized, and so kids from all backgrounds get to learn about amazingly diverse Ethiopia, the birthplace of all humanity. We know how critical diversity and inclusion is to ensuring all kids reach their potential; we believe our books can play a role in supporting these important efforts. And the beauty is, in doing do, our literacy work in Ethiopia will get the vital funding it needs, too.
Thanks so much!
QUOTE: "Author Jane Kurtz wows again with another read-out-loud tale perfect for youngsters. Her infectious rhymes and zippy rhythm propel the story with wit as quick as those runaway chickens. Kurtz’s vivacious vocabulary adds to the fun, and her repeated phrasing will have kids vocally joining the chase. John Joseph’s colorful, comedic drawings feature a diverse cast of city residents of different races, religions, ethnicities, and abilities."
July 26 – Celebrating All or Nothing Day with Jane Kurtz
celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-Jane-Kurtz-headshot
Jane Kurtz is an award-winning children’s book author, speaker, educator. She is also on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Children’s and YA Literature. She is a co-founder of the nonprofit Ethiopia Reads, an organization that brings books and literacy to the children in Ethiopia, where Jane grew up. She also heads the creative team of Ready Set Go Books, a project of Open Hearts Big Dreams to create fun, colorful, local language books for people in Ethiopia. She is the author of many books for children, including River Friendly River Wild, winner of the SCBWI Golden Kite award for picture book text, and What Do They Do With All That Poo?, a finalist to the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Excellence in Science Books list; it has also been named to several state reading lists, voted on by children.
You can connect with Jane Kurtz on Her website | Instagram | Twitter
Hi Jane! I’m so glad you could join me to celebrate All or Nothing Day, which encourages people to seize the day—whatever comes—and make the best of it, even if that means overcome fears or obstacles to accomplish something they’ve always wanted to do. The stars of your latest book, Chickens on the Loose, certainly embrace this philosophy and stop at nothing to enjoy a bit of freedom!
I love your and John Joseph’s book not only because it’s funny and action-packed but because my family had our own “chickens on the loose” experience last year when two chickens mysterious ly showed up in our yard—right outside our cat’s favorite window. Needless to say, he was delighted with all the activity. They hung around for a bit and then wandered away. We’re not entirely sure how they got to our yard or where they came from, but they’ve never been back. It definitely made for a fun memory!
Since you’ve published more than forty books for children in a variety of genres – including many award winners – I’m sure readers would like to know how you get the ideas for your books. How do you know when an idea “will stick?”
When I was a young writer, I only remember hearing that books come from a writer’s imagination. I still think that a writer has to have a way of imagining scenes in vivid detail, but often the ideas that first spark a book (or a scene) come from staying curious and paying attention to life as it happens right around me. With my new picture book, Chickens On The Loose, for example, the idea sparks came from my neighbor’s chickens running around my backyard in Portland, Oregon—and from the many notices I was reading on my “Next Door” neighbor site pleading for help with escaped chickens. My mind drifted to where the chickens would go in my urban neighborhood. It’s hard for me to craft a draft from a mere spark of an idea, though. One thing that makes an idea stick is when it comes paired with a lively voice. “Chickens on the loose. Chickens on the lam, zipping from the yard as quickly as they can.” Where did those words come from?
I suppose they came from my imagination.
Later, when I was working with an editor to refine the story arc, I was having trouble imagining what plot move would allow the chickens to shake off the people who were following and slowly make their own way back home. I was walking in my neighborhood park when I saw a dog walker with too many dogs on too many leashes and a desperate look on her face that said the situation might be out of control any minute. Suddenly, in my mind, I saw the chickens and crowd running around a corner, tangling with all those leashes…humans landing “splat” with chickens flapping onward.
Just like a cook experiments, tries something, adds, tastes, steps back, considers…I sometimes instantly and sometimes slowly know that I’ve come up with a sticky idea for a book or a scene depending on the sensation it leaves in my reader’s mind. The whole thing takes curiosity, patience, and anything that keeps discouragement at bay.
Thanks so much for sharing your creative process with us! I hope you’re having a wonderful—and idea-filled—summer!
Review
Chickens on the Loose
By Jane Kurtz | Illustrated by John Joseph
Reviewed by Dorothy Levine
Oh no! The backyard gate is open and there are “chickens breaking loose. / Chickens on the lam. / Zipping from the yard, / as quickly as they can.” It’s a wild chicken chase, with humans trailing behind, trying and failing to stop the loose chickens. The chickens zoom and do not stop; they peek in windows, take items from shops. They do some yoga at a local studio, before grabbing some snacks at an outdoor food court fest. What a crazy, hilarious, chicken-filled mess!
An ever-growing crowd of people race behind, trying to stop them in their tracks. Throughout the story, each new member of the crowd yells, “STOP!” but the chickens pay no heed. When the chickens reach the local pet store, “‘STOP!’ shouts everybody. But the chickens will not stop. / ‘No way!” they say, “We will not stay.” It sounds like BOC BOC BOC.” What will bring these chickens home? Find out in the madcap ending that will have kids wanting the hear the story all over again.
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Image copyright John Joseph, 2021, text copyright Jane Kurtz, 2021. Courtesy of West Margin Press.
Author Jane Kurtz wows again with another read-out-loud tale perfect for youngsters. Her infectious rhymes and zippy rhythm propel the story with wit as quick as those runaway chickens. Kurtz’s vivacious vocabulary adds to the fun, and her repeated phrasing will have kids vocally joining the chase.
John Joseph’s colorful, comedic drawings feature a diverse cast of city residents of different races, religions, ethnicities, and abilities. The girl whose chickens got loose in the first place leads the crowd down the streets from page to page. Joseph illustrates the neighborhood with colorful storefronts, homes, bustling crowds, and the silliest of chickens. The exaggerated body language and expressiveness of the humans and chickens tell a story in themselves, adding a great deal of humor to the story.
Ages 4 – 8
West Margin Press, 2021 | ISBN 978-1513267241
QUOTE: "As in many picture books about mischievous chickens, the joy lies in the thrilling pandemonium the birds create," noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor, who also concluded: "Fun but lightweight, this title adds little to the canon of chicken kid-lit."
Kurtz, Jane CHICKENS ON THE LOOSE West Margin Press (Children's None) $17.99 5, 11 ISBN: 978-1-5132-6724-1
Urban backyard chickens go on a madcap tour of the city in this rhyming romp.
When a flock of hens and one little chick escape from their backyard coop, they make the most of their chaotic dash around a vibrant city. Pursued by an ever growing crowd of frantic humans, the chickens sneak into shops, abscond with food-cart delights, and add some painted poultry touches to a wall mural. As in many picture books about mischievous chickens, the joy lies in the thrilling pandemonium the birds create from Page 1. This promising start leads to a satisfying “SPLAAAT!!!” at the climax of the chase. Unfortunately, the following pages fail to resolve the story clearly, as the humans inexplicably disappear and the chickens magically end up back in their coop. The rhyming text has stop-and-go pacing that mimics the chickens’ running and the humans’ attempts to stop them. A word here or there seems a bit forced into the rhyme scheme, but overall the narrative bounces off the tongue. The marker-bright illustrations are frenetic and filled with humorous details. Human characters have a wide range of skin tones, hair colors and textures, and attire. Backmatter includes information about urban chicken keeping and a few chicken facts. This information is interesting but also a bit incongruous as the chickens in the book are so anthropomorphized.
Fun but lightweight, this title adds little to the canon of chicken kid-lit. (Picture book. 3-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Kurtz, Jane: CHICKENS ON THE LOOSE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A658194543/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6bebd5a3. Accessed 12 Aug. 2021.
QUOTE: "Anna is lively and thoughtful, and her parents are sympathetic and credible," and that the book is "distinguished by its comfortable treatment of God and faith, as Anna struggles to understand the unfairness and unpredictability of disasters."
Anna Was Here
Jane Kurtz. Greenwillow, $16.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-056493-3
Culture shock hits hard when nine-year-old Anna Nickel has to leave her beloved Colorado home for Oakwood, Kans., where her minister father--whose family roots are there--is called to help the church community get "over a hump." "Gold Ribbon Safety Citizen" of the fourth grade, Anna prides herself on being prepared for Colorado emergencies like bears and wildfires, but her Safety Tips notebook holds no advice for the dangers of Oakwood, such as feuding relatives (including an especially hostile cousin) and rattlesnakes. Anna is lively and thoughtful, and her parents are sympathetic and credible, but her many relatives and church members are a little hard to keep straight. Liberally sprinkled with lists of tips for disasters ranging from earthquakes and floods to clouds and bees, Kurtz's (The Feverbird's Claw) book is distinguished by its comfortable treatment of God and faith, as Anna struggles to understand the unfairness and unpredictability of disasters--natural and otherwise--as well as of human beings: "What about all the people of Pompeii baking bread until fwoomp? Volcanic ash covered them." An appealing mix of humor and substance. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 PWxyz, LLC
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"Anna Was Here." Publishers Weekly, vol. 260, no. 29, 22 July 2013, p. 69. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A338037648/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=45d9f5d9. Accessed 12 Aug. 2021.
QUOTE: "An appealing mix of humor and substance." Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews critic termed the novel an "amusing and richly rewarding tale that features a very likable, one-of-kind protagonist."
Kurtz, Jane ANNA WAS HERE Greenwillow/HarperCollins (Children's Fiction) $16.99 8, 27 ISBN: 978-0-06-056493-3
Anna, almost 10, is a worrier, so her family's temporary move from Colorado to her father's hometown in Kansas seems fraught with peril to her. Founder of her own Safety Club (with just two remaining members), which is tasked with identifying potential dangers (including escape from a pyramid) and creating appropriate safety rules, Anna is nearly always prepared for any eventuality. But when her father, a minister, receives a call to straighten out a church in Oakwood, Kan., where many of the residents are his relatives, she's unprepared and decides the best way to handle things is to "stay folded up" and studiously avoid getting settled in the new town. She manages to keep from starting school, doesn't get too friendly with her large extended family, tries to keep her cat inside and skips out on Sunday school. However, her growing attachment to that family--and a tornado sweeping through town--gives her an opportunity to see things differently. Anna's internal voice is pitch-perfect, and her pithy safety rules and ability to connect the dots between religion and life are often hilarious. She imagines an encounter with a troublesome neighbor: "I was standing there frizzy with light, shouting, 'I'm not just a girl, you know. The angel Gabriel is basically my best friend.' " An amusing and richly rewarding tale that features a very likable, one-of-kind protagonist. (Fiction. 9-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Kurtz, Jane: ANNA WAS HERE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2013. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A336585855/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0367011b. Accessed 12 Aug. 2021.
QUOTE: "host of quirky and appealing supporting characters rounds out this engaging, empathic story."
Planet Jupiter
Jane Kurtz. Greenwillow, $16.99 (288p)
ISBN 978-0-06-056486-5
Fifth-grader Jupiter identifies with her "rolling stone" father, who left three years earlier and sends occasional postcards, and with the planet for which she was named; she longs for a wide orbit in which to travel and have adventures. In a playful yet introspective narrative, Jupiter shares her frustration at being stuck on an Oregon farm when she'd rather be living an itinerant life, busking for tourists with her cellist mother and her older brother, Orion. The unexpected arrival of seven-year-old Edom, the adopted Ethiopian daughter of Jupiter's ailing aunt Amy, spurs Jupiter's mother to move everyone from Rainbow Farm to a vacant house in Portland; there, Jupiter and Edom secretly plot to get Edom back to her mother in California. Through themes of gardening and foraging, Kurtz (Anna Was Here) subtly conveys the girls' underlying fears of abandonment, as well as the idiosyncratic but determined efforts of Jupiter's mother and her friend Topher to provide a "forever family" for the children. A host of quirky and appealing supporting characters rounds out this engaging, empathic story. Ages 8-12. Agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. (May)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Planet Jupiter." Publishers Weekly, vol. 264, no. 9, 27 Feb. 2017, p. 100. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A485671270/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=15d6ff1e. Accessed 12 Aug. 2021.
QUOTE: "vivid characters and fascinating urban village they inhabit... [in this] solid middle-grade family story."
Kurtz, Jane PLANET JUPITER Greenwillow (Children's Fiction) $16.99 5, 2 ISBN: 978-0-06-056486-5
After months on an Oregon farm, Jupiter, an 11-year-old white girl, can't wait to resume her musician family's nomadic journey--until she learns that Edom, 7, an adopted cousin from Ethiopia, will be taking her brother's place and their destination is not the open road but a house in Portland. Jupiter's father left the family three years ago, but the mythology he fostered lives on: pursuit of adventure and the unknown trump the quotidian grind of school and work. They've lived by busking (Mom's a cellist), gleaning, and trading skills for food and shelter. When these haven't sufficed, Mom's loyal friend Topher's been there to bail them out. This time, Jupiter believes, he's bailed on them. She's stuck in Portland with Mom and Edom, while Aunt Amy undergoes cancer treatment in San Francisco. Edom's got her own issues: she never seems to sleep and, Jupiter feels, could learn a thing or two about sharing. United in their determination to leave Portland, the two hatch plans to earn money for bus tickets even as, despite themselves, they put down tentative roots, in more ways than one, in a lively, diverse neighborhood whose financially challenged yet generous denizens depend on tolerance and creativity. Occasionally, urban-foraging details and sustainable-living advocacy verge on the didactic, but the vivid characters and fascinating urban village they inhabit more than compensate, holding readers' interest throughout. A solid middle-grade family story. (Fiction. 10-13)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Kurtz, Jane: PLANET JUPITER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A485105178/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4b8ab1f4. Accessed 12 Aug. 2021.
QUOTE: "There's quite a lot here to digest. In a mix of rhymed general statements and, in smaller type, pithy prose explanations, Kurtz drops nuggets of information."
What Do They Do with All That Poo?
By Jane Kurtz. Illus. by Allison Black.
June 2018. 40p. Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane, $17.99 (9781481479868); e-book, $17.99 (9781481479875). 591.5. K-Gr. 2.
There's quite a lot here to digest. In a mix of rhymed general statements and, in smaller type, pithy prose explanations, Kurtz drops nuggets of information about what poop is, how the excrement of a dozen types of zoo animals differs in shape and composition, what said animals do with their poop in nature, and the many ways zoos (and gardeners) study and recycle all those tons of "zoo-doo." She closes with the provocative observation that more intelligent and socialized primates tend to fling their poop with more accuracy than their duller cohorts--as, perhaps, "a form of communication and self-expression." Reflecting what young readers will be doing by this point, Black illustrates the author's final sally with a troop of heartily laughing monkeys. In fact, all the creatures in these brightly colored cartoon illustrations, even the earthworms, are smiling. So are most of the notably diverse cast of human workers (a few pooper-scoopers look understandably beleaguered), as befits both the topic and the tone of this fresh scoop on poop.--John Peters
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
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Peters, John. "What Do They Do with All That Poo?" Booklist, vol. 114, no. 16, 15 Apr. 2018, p. 45. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A537268148/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=487e5759. Accessed 12 Aug. 2021.
QUOTE: "scatological success."
Kurtz, Jane WHAT DO THEY DO WITH ALL THAT POO? Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster (Children's Informational) $17.99 6, 19 ISBN: 978-1-4814-7986-8
Countless zoo books line the shelves, but how often does one discuss animal manure--and how a zoo discards it?
Employing the page turn to great effect from the very start, Kurtz is bound to get youngsters' attention: "At zoo after zoo / the animals chew. / And then ... // they poo!" Quick rhymes in boldface type across the top make simple statements about each animal's toilet habits. "Sloths creep down from trees to poop, / but only once a week. / A penguin shoots its poo out / in a fishy-smelling streak." Smaller text below offers more in-depth facts: "Why do sloths spend so much energy leaving the protection of trees to poop on the ground? It's a mystery scientists are trying to solve." Black's wide-eyed, expressive animals have personality, but they never cross over to cartoony garishness. After exploring 12 different zoo dwellers, Kurtz then turns her focus to the large amount of poo that accumulates at a zoo every day. What do they do with it? Much is trucked to landfills, but zoos also study it in labs to help understand their animals better. Plus, there are compost options and even elephant-poo paper! A slapdash ending is the only misstep, but the atypical subject matter will surely shine.
A scatological success. (Informational picture book. 3-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Kurtz, Jane: WHAT DO THEY DO WITH ALL THAT POO?" Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A534375063/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d01db7f3. Accessed 12 Aug. 2021.