SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: BUZZKILL
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.brennamaloneydc.com/
CITY: Washington
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME: SATA 337
Currently the editor of National Geographic Explorer magazine.
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Butler University, B.S., 1991; Michigan State University, M.A., 1993.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, editor, and educator. Washington Post, Graphics Editor, 1998-2009; National Geographic Explorer, managing editor, beginning 2009; National Quality Forum, writing coach, beginning 2015.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Brenna Maloney is a writer of children’s books based in Washington, DC. Previously, she worked as an editor for the Washington Post and National Geographic Explorer. Maloney has also served as a writing coach for the National Quality Forum.
In 2010, Maloney released her first book, Socks Appeal: Sixteen Fun & Funky Friends Sewn from Socks. She went on to publish other sewing books for kids, including Sociology: Sixteen New Sock Creatures and This Is Mouse: An Adventure in Sewing, which a writer in Publishers Weekly called “as charming as can be.” In the latter, Mouse and his animal friends appear in various unexpected places, including the North Pole, the jungle, and outer space. Interspersed in their story are patterns and instructions showing how to make the animals.
Playful animal star in some of the books that followed, including in Ready Rabbit Gets Ready!, Philomena’s New Glasses, and Good Dad Diego. In Ready Rabbit Gets Ready!, the young titular rabbit has trouble paying attention as he is trying to prepare to go to school. He breaks away from his routine to pretend he is in different fantastical scenarios. Lauren Strohecker, contributor to School Library Journal, described the book as “amusing.” “There’s something captivating about Ready Rabbit’s casual construction and wacky scenarios,” asserted a Kirkus Reviews critic. Three guinea pig sisters star in Philomena’s New Glasses. When the eldest, Philomena, gets a prescription for a pair of purple glasses, her two sisters do not want to be outdone. They find sunglasses to wear. Philomena’s sisters also copy her when she buys a purse and a dress. Finally, the sisters agree that they do not all have to have the same things. A writer in Kirkus Reviews called the book a “clever story of sibling rivalry.” Good Dad Diego features photographs of a pug by Chuck Kennedy. In each photo, Diego the pug plays a different role as a father, including a cop, a nurse, a handyman, and a housekeeper. A Kirkus Reviews contributor described the volume as “a look at the many hats fathers wear, best for dog lovers.”
Maloney has also published nonfiction works, including Buzzkill: Fighting Insect Extinction from the Ground Up. In this volume, she highlights several insect species, such as Madagascar hissing cockroaches, fire beetles, and grasshoppers. Maloney explains the role insects play in the ecosystem and how human behavior is threatening the existence of some species. A Kirkus Reviews critic described the book as “fresh, lively, funny, and very, very informative.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2014, review of Ready Rabbit Gets Ready!; May 15, 2017, review of Philomena’s New Glasses; April 1, 2019, review of Good Dad Diego; August 1, 2022, review of Buzzkill: Fighting Insect Extinction from the Ground Up.
Publishers Weekly, November 17, 2014, review of This Is Mouse: An Adventure in Sewing, p. 49; December 2, 2015, review of Ready Rabbit Gets Ready!, p. 38.
School Library Journal, January, 2015, Lauren Strohecker, review of Ready Rabbit Gets Ready!, p. 81.
ONLINE
Brenna Maloney website, http://www.brennamaloneydc.com (January 24, 2023).
Penguin Random House website, http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/ (October 3, 2018), biography of Brenna Maloney.
Brenna Maloney is a writer and editor with more than 20 years professional experience. A long-time editor for The Washington Post and National Geographic, Brenna lives and works in Washington, D.C.
QUOTED: "amusing."
MALONEY, Brenna. Ready Rabbit Gets Ready! photos by Chuck Kennedy. 32p. Viking. Feb. 2015. RTE $16.99. ISBN 9780670015498; ebk. $10.99. ISBN 9780698150652. LC 2014015656.
K-Gr 2--It's time for Ready Rabbit to get ready for school, but his imagination keeps getting the best of him. Momma calls to remind him to brush his teeth, eat his breakfast, and pack his school bag, but he'd rather build a spaceship, chase down bad guys in the Old West, or ride his imaginary motorcycle. Finally, "Ready Rabbit is ready for anything!" and he heads off to school. Maloney crafted her title character from a sock, and the artwork features him in posed photographs with various toys and accessories against a white background. This lends itself well to storytime crafts, and young readers are likely to find the pictures entertaining, particularly the photos of Ready Rabbit in his underwear, "going potty," and squirting toothpaste all over the floor. The photography may also appeal to fans of books like Rebecca Dudley's Hank Finds an Egg (Peter Pauper, 2013), though Ready Rabbit lacks the dreamy quality and detailed workmanship found in Hank. Children and families for whom morning routines are a struggle will especially appreciate the story, but while amusing, it is not an essential purchase.--Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elementary School, Abington School District, PA
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Strohecker, Lauren. "Maloney, Brenna. Ready Rabbit Gets Ready!" School Library Journal, vol. 61, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 81+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A443055323/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0bed53be. Accessed 18 Dec. 2022.
Ready Rabbit Gets Ready!
Brenna Maloney, photos by Chuck Kennedy. Viking, $16.99 ISBN 978-0670-01549-8
Maloney (Socks Appeal) brings her background with stuffed sock creations to children's books, introducing Ready Rabbit, a lollygagging school-age bunny sewn out of a striped sock, with inked facial expressions that leap from fiendish pleasure to chagrin and back again. Kennedy photographs him amid miniature toys and furniture, while crisp white backgrounds point up the chaos Ready Rabbit leaves in his wake. It's a school morning, and reality is calling ("Ready Rabbit! You'd better pick up your toys and get ready!"), but Ready Rabbit has other ideas. Many other ideas. It's easy to tell what kind of rabbit he is: "He knows he needs to get ready, but first he needs to build a spaceship." The Lego spaceship that Ready Rabbit builds, the backhoe he drives, the costumes he tries on, and the discovery he makes ("Rabbits don't wear clothes!") keep the laughter coming and the story hurtling along. (Don't ask about the toothpaste mess.) When Ready Rabbit finally makes it onto the school bus, readers will wish they could follow him to school. Perhaps Maloney will oblige. Ages 3-5.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Ready Rabbit Gets Ready!" Publishers Weekly, vol. 262, no. 49, 2 Dec. 2015, p. 38. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A436234069/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=55841319. Accessed 18 Dec. 2022.
QUOTED: "There's something captivating about Ready Rabbit's casual construction and wacky scenarios."
Maloney, Brenna READY RABBIT GETS READY! Viking (Children's Picture Books) $16.99 2, 5 ISBN: 978-0-670-01549-8
In this quirky story illustrated with photographs, a stuffed toy named Ready Rabbit invents wildly imaginative activities to delay getting ready for school.The oddly charming rabbit toy is fashioned from a gray-striped sock with the addition of a white fabric face with hand-drawn features. The bunny's face changes in each illustration, with expressions ranging from sweet to shocked to mischievous with just of hint of evil. Children's toys and dollhouse furniture and accessories are used in the illustrations to show Ready Rabbit building a spaceship, driving a stagecoach and blasting off in a rocket. Speech balloons with admonishments from his mother keep calling Ready Rabbit back to reality, but each time he zips off into another fanciful exploration. His adventures don't have a logical flow but instead capture the spontaneous creativity of a smart preschooler who would much rather engage in inventive play than get ready for school. An understated and wordless final page shows the smiling rabbit in his foil astronaut suit riding in a toy school bus, ready to face the day. The story seems oddly disjointed at first, but there's something captivating about Ready Rabbit's casual construction and wacky scenarios that give him a real personality. Kids might want to make stuffed rabbit toys of their own after meeting this beguiling bunny. (Picture book. 3-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Maloney, Brenna: READY RABBIT GETS READY!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2014. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A393254802/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=078b1261. Accessed 18 Dec. 2022.
QUOTED: "clever story of sibling rivalry."
Maloney, Brenna PHILOMENA'S NEW GLASSES Viking (Children's Fiction) $16.99 8, 15 ISBN: 978-0-42-528814-6
A guinea pig named Philomena requires prescription eyeglasses, setting off a competition with her sisters in the acquisition of fashionable accessories.Philomena, the eldest of a trio of guinea pig sisters, finds she can see clearly with her new purple glasses. Younger sisters Audrey and Nora Jane want to keep up in matters of style, so they acquire sunglasses of their own. When Philomena buys a silver handbag to store her glasses, her sisters follow suit, and then all three acquire dresses, which prove to be uncomfortable. The three sisters jointly decide they don't all need to wear the same items, with Philomena retaining her glasses and Audrey keeping her handbag to store lettuce for snacks. In a pitch-perfect conclusion, all rivalry is resolved--"until Nora Jane got a necklace." This clever story of sibling rivalry is succinctly related in just a few sentences that effectively capture the competitive nature of the sisterly bond, even among guinea pigs. Delightful photographic illustrations show real guinea pigs with all their tiny accessories, from pink sunglasses and tutus to a sparkling rhinestone necklace. The guinea pigs and text are set against clean, white backgrounds that make the accessories pop and the three guinea pigs stand out as distinct characters. An innovative and amusing story that will appeal to owners of guinea pigs, children with newly acquired glasses, and anyone with a sister. (Picture book. 3-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Maloney, Brenna: PHILOMENA'S NEW GLASSES." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A491934237/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=283b23be. Accessed 18 Dec. 2022.
QUOTED: "fresh, lively, funny, and very, very informative."
Maloney, Brenna BUZZKILL Henry Holt (Children's None) $19.99 10, 11 ISBN: 978-1-250-80103-6
Insects: the why, what, where, and how.
Nearly every page of this volume has a fabulous fact or story to relate. The tone is informatively jocular, with a waggishness sure to appeal to middle-grade readers but content sophisticated enough to intrigue and educate teens. In addition to relaying scientific information on fascinating insect behavior (fire beetles lay their eggs in the midst of forest fires) and physiology (a cockroach can live without its head for 168 hours), the author relays her own insect adventures. She gleefully embarks on an experiment to observe Madagascar hissing cockroaches--a bit of curiosity that gets out of hand--and shares her phobia of grasshoppers, thereby tacitly giving readers permission to be skeeved out by insects while still being interested in them. As entertaining as these stories are, scientific research is the foundation of this superb book. It explores insects' vital role as pollinators, describes their potential as human food, hilariously relates their important role in decomposing dead things, and much more. The examination of the human-caused sixth extinction (as well as a bit about the previous five) and what that means for insects and people strikes a more somber note. Occasional sprinkles of appealing, anthropomorphic, black-and-white insect illustrations add fun visual interest and will encourage readers to look up photos to receive the full effect.
Fresh, lively, funny, and very, very informative. (reading list, works cited, index) (Nonfiction. 10-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Maloney, Brenna: BUZZKILL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A711906375/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=07458d5b. Accessed 18 Dec. 2022.
QUOTED: "a look at the many hats fathers wear, best for dog lovers."
Maloney, Brenna GOOD DAD DIEGO Viking (Children's Fiction) $17.99 4, 9 ISBN: 978-0-451-48126-9
Diego has "one of the toughest jobs in the world": dad.
Diego is one photogenic pug, posed against white backgrounds with a few props while wearing hats signifying different jobs. In a photo of Diego in a police cap, a knocked-over plant and police-line tape on the verso, the text reads: "Sometimes, he has to be ‘The Law.' / ‘Stop digging up the plants!' / ‘No pooping on the floor!' / ‘Don't eat cat barf.' " Other jobs Diego fulfills include cook, nurse, and fix-it guy. But most of all, Diego wants to be a good dad, cleaning the dishes, doing the laundry, mopping, and acting as a role model. A large part of the humor in this book is the juxtaposition of the text with the photos of Diego's wrinkly face. Diego sets an example by always wearing his winter hat in the cold: "I look like an elf." Yes, a grumpy, rather chagrined one. While Diego lacks the sophistication of William Wegman's Weimaraners, he perfectly embodies the feelings of dads everywhere as, after being "Dad"ed for the 12th time, Diego, front legs splayed and chin on the floor, responds, "That's me." Maloney and Kennedy miss an opportunity to show fatherhood in action, though: Diego never interacts with his pup, who's only shown on one spread, albeit five times--or perhaps that's five puppies, each shown once.
A look at the many hats fathers wear, best for dog lovers. (Picture book. 3-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Maloney, Brenna: GOOD DAD DIEGO." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A580520768/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=dd30c3ca. Accessed 18 Dec. 2022.
QUOTED: "as charming as can be."
This is Mouse: An Adventure in Sewing
Brenna Maloney. C&T/Funstitch, $21.95 paper (112p) ISBN 978-1-60705-977-6
With two previous sewing books (iSocks Appeal and Sock It to Me!) under her belt, Maloney is well-positioned to create a worthwhile book on sewing for kids. Her effort is as charming as can be, combining clear instructions and adorable patterns with a series of stories about the titular protagonist. The book begins with a winning and short over-view of sewing skills: "My editors tell me that it's very important that I teach you the proper words for things," she writes. Then readers will learn how to make Mouse as well as a cast of other characters (snakes, penguins, aliens) who appear in a jungle, at the North Pole, and in space. While the instructions are shown in step-by-step photos, the projects still might require an adult's help. Maloney has cleverly designed projects that can be hand or machine-sewn, and that appear to be accessible to beginners. She notes at the beginning that the editors have allowed her to "write the books I always wanted to read." She's not alone; many other young sewists will want to read this one, too. Photographs, pattern pullouts. (Dec.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"This is Mouse: An Adventure in Sewing." Publishers Weekly, vol. 261, no. 46, 17 Nov. 2014, p. 49. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A391719375/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=47f314be. Accessed 18 Dec. 2022.