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WORK TITLE: Crick, Crack, Crow!
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CITY: North Wales
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LAST VOLUME: SATA 204
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
EDUCATION:Concord University, B.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Graphic designer and writer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Janet Lord is a graphic designer who started her work in children’s books with the help of her sister, illustrator Julie Paschkis. Although Lord lives in Pennsylvania and Paschkis lives in Washington State, the two women have collaborated on the picture books Here Comes Grandma!, Albert the Fix-It Man, Where Is Catkin?, and Crick, Crack, Crow!. Reviewing Here Comes Grandma!, which follows a determined woman’s trip to visit her grandchild, Booklist contributor Jennifer Mattson dubbed the book “a lighthearted tale” featuring “vibrant, folk-art-style paintings.” DeAnn Tabuchi, writing in School Library Journal, recommended Lord and Paschkis’s picture book as a “charming” addition to storytime gatherings.
A helpful, overall-clad, elderly man who puts his tools and talents to use helping others in his multicultural neighbors is the focus of Albert the Fix-It Man, a story inspired by Lord and Paschkis’s own father, Albert. Albert spends his days fixing, repairing, and mending all the broken things that keep people’s days from going smoothly, When Albert’s own work as a handyman is cut short by a bad cold, all those he has helped show their appreciation in a great show of caring and support. In Booklist, Gillian Engberg praised Lord’s “rhythmic, simple text,” as “perfectly cadenced for reading aloud,” adding that it is balanced by Paschkis’s “cheerful” art. “Readers will appreciate the warm portrayal of neighbors taking care of one another,” concluded a Publishers Weekly critic, while in School Library Journal Teri Markson deemed Albert the Fix-It Man “a welcome dose of old-fashioned neighborliness.”
(open new)In Where Is Catkin?, Amy’s golden cat is in the backyard hunting anything it can find. The cat spots a number of small animals, including a bird, a cricket, a mouse, a snake and a frog. However, it does not manage to catch any of them as it slinks around the yard. The text offers onomatopoeic clues so readers can guess what the cat has moved on to hunting before they see the visual on the following page. The final pages give readers many opportunities to find the animals that the cat cannot see until it climbs a tree to get a better view. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that “the gorgeous red-and-yellow borders are a cumulative collection of the animals.” The same critic found the picture book to be “lovely.”
With Crick, Crack, Crow!, Crow causes all sorts of trouble and makes a ruckus on top of it all. Crow dive-bombs birds and interrupts their baths, hides shiny objects, and annoys a dog. The dog chases Crow for a while until Crow tires out. It almost gets hit by a car when not paying attention and later almost locked in the barn. A Kirkus Reviews contributor found it to be “a compelling, joyous, informative romp that captures the craftiness and effervescence of corvids.” In a review in Horn Book, Vicky Smith called it “clever, fun, and informative.”(close new)
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 1, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Here Comes Grandma!, p. 64; March 15, 2008, Gillian Engberg, review of Albert the Fix-It Man, p. 52.
Horn Book, May 1, 2008, Joanna Rudge Long, review of Albert the Fix-It Man, p. 297; September 1, 2024, Vicky Smith, review of Crick, Crack, Crow!, p. 51.
Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2008, review of Albert the Fix-It Man; January 15, 2010, review of Where Is Catkin?; June 1, 2024, review of Crick, Crack, Crow!.
Publishers Weekly, September 5, 2005, review of Hooray for Grandparents!, p. 65; March 31, 2008, review of Albert the Fix-It Man, p. 61.
School Library Journal, September 1, 2005, DeAnn Tabuchi, review of Here Comes Grandma!, p. 177; April 1, 2008, Teri Markson, review of Albert the Fix-It Man, p. 116.
ONLINE
Peachtree Press website, http://peachtree-online.com/ (August 30, 2009), “Janet Lord.”*
Janet Lord earned her BA in graphic arts and advertising from Concord University and now works as a graphic designer. She is the author of Where Is Catkin?, Albert the Fix-It Man, and Here Comes Grandma!, all illustrated by her sister Julie Paschkis. She lives in Pennsylvania.
Crick, Crack, Crow!
by Janet Lord; illus. by Julie Paschkis
Preschool, Primary Quinlin/Peachtree 32 pp. 8/24 9781682636299 $18.99 e-book ed. 9781682637418 $11.99
A mischievous crow spends his day getting into and out of trouble. He steals a button, bullies some songbirds, snatches a cat's kibble--and he's just getting started. Each double-page spread is devoted to one of Crow's antics; taken all together, his busy day demonstrates a broad array of documented crow behaviors. Lord's text rollicks along with the avian mischief, variations on the titular phrase acting as a refrain. In one scene Crow hops on a peanut-jar lid and slides down a barn's roof: "He steps onto the lid and pushes off the edge. / Crick, crack, WHOA! / Slippery as snow! / Crow rides his sled to the edge of the roof / and flutter-flaps to the ground. Nice ride!" Paschkis's ink and gouache paintings incorporate her signature folk art--like details, embellishing flowers' petals and birds' feathers with stylized designs not found in nature. But not Crow--rendered in an inky black with little-to-no individuation of feathers, his matte form draws the eye with its textural simplicity. Young listeners will notice that Crow's exploits lead him into ever greater danger, until he finds himself facing a massive hawk. Happily, one crow behavior is "mobbing" (the term is introduced in the back matter), and with the aid of his friends and family, Crow drives the hawk away before settling for the night. Clever, fun, and informative. VICKY SMITH
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
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Smith, Vicky. "Crick, Crack, Crow!" The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 100, no. 5, Sept.-Oct. 2024, pp. 51+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A809886535/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=590803b3. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Lord, Janet CRICK, CRACK, CROW! Margaret Quinlin Books/Peachtree (Children's None) $18.99 8, 6 ISBN: 9781682636299
A clever young crow loves to cause trouble.
Today, Crow leaves his nest primed to raise a ruckus. He steals and hides shiny objects, dive-bombs songbirds to disrupt their baths, and taunts a dog into playing chase: "Crick, crack, run! The chase has begun." Crow's trouble is all in good fun, though, until he tires of it and tips closer to danger--like when he flies in front of a car ("Crick, crack scoot. Honk, honk, toot!") or when he gets trapped in a dark barn: "Crick, crack, fear. What's in here?" The repetition of "Crick, crack" punctuates the scenes as the danger escalates, providing a soothing rhythm even when Crow must reckon with a menacing hawk: "Crick, crack, attack. Don't turn back." Crows, known for being problem-solvers and using their beaks as tools--behaviors that are on full display in the story--know how to have fun, but they also know when to band together, which they do in a dramatic conclusion. Lord's lyrical writing and pacing make for an edge-of-your-seat journey, while Paschkis' lively, folk-inspired illustrations bring humor and emotional resonance--and gorgeous endpapers suffused with crow silhouettes.
A compelling, joyous, informative romp that captures the craftiness and effervescence of corvids. (crow facts, scientific names, book recommendations for young and old readers, websites) (Informational picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Lord, Janet: CRICK, CRACK, CROW!" Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A795673947/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=726c19df. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Lord, Janet WHERE IS CATKIN? Peachtree (Children's) $$16.95 Feb. 1, 2010 ISBN: 978-1-56145-523-2
This third outing from the sisterly team of Lord and Paschkis is a visual feast for young readers. For Amy's golden cat, it is time to hunt. As he slinks through the pages, he sees the creatures that fill his backyard habitat--cricket, frog, mouse, snake and bird--but all elude capture. The author gives readers a chance to guess what animal that Catkin is stalking with onomatopoeic clues to accompany the visual ones. A turn of the page reveals the answer in the text and, for observant readers, in the picture. The last few pages are a seek-and-find dream for children, with Catkin searching all around and not finding the five animals. In frustration, he climbs a tree for a better view, which is where Amy finds him. Paschkis's black-backgrounded folk-art illustrations fill the pages with vibrant colors and simple, stylized shapes--the ideal backdrop for hiding the small creatures that Catkin hunts. The gorgeous red-and-yellow borders are a cumulative collection of the animals. Lovely. (Picture book. 2-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2010 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Lord, Janet: WHERE IS CATKIN?" Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2010, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A221151500/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8d0ee534. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.