SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: If Animals Celebrated Easter
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.annwhitfordpaul.net/
CITY: Los Angeles
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 381
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born February, 1, 1941, in Evanston, IL; daughter of George and Genevieve Whitford; married Ronald S. Paul (a surgeon), July 21, 1968; children: Henya Ann, Jonathon David, Alan Douglas, Finn.
EDUCATION:Attended Northwestern University; University of Wisconsin, Madison, B.A. (sociology), 1963; Columbia University School of Social Work, M.S.W. (with honors), 1965.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer; worked as a social worker in medical hospitals and adoption agencies, 1965-70.
AVOCATIONS:Quilting, knitting, cooking, reading, walking.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People.
AWARDS:New York Times Notable Children’s Book citation, and Notable Social Studies Book citation, both 1991, both for Eight Hands Round; Outstanding Science Trade Book citation, 1992, for Shadows Are About; Carl Sandburg Award for Children’s Literature, and New York Times Best Illustrated Books selection, both 1996, both for The Seasons Sewn; Best Under-Fives selection, Bank Street College of Education, 2003, for Little Monkey Says Good Night; Best Children’s Books of the Year selection, Bank Street College of Education, 2005, and state reader award nominations, all for Mañana, Iguana.
WRITINGS
Contributor to Poems for Grandmothers and Dog Poems, both edited by Myra Cohn Livingston; Snuffles and Snouts, edited by Laura Robb; Hannukkah Lights; Oh, No! Where Are My Pants?; and Hoofbeats, Claws & Rippled Fins, Wonderful Words, My America, America at War, and Home to Me, all edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Contributor to periodicals, including Cricket and Spider.
SIDELIGHTS
A popular writer for young children, Ann Whitford Paul creates picture books and early readers that feature engaging animal characters, rhyming texts, and colorful illustrations by a variety of talented artists. In a number of her picture books, such as Fiesta Fiasco and Tortuga in Trouble, Paul crafts entertaining texts from a rich-sounding mix of two languages, introducing English-speaking children to common Spanish words while treating children of both languages to her Southwestern adaptations of traditional folk tales.
Paul published her first book, Owl at Night, in 1985. The simple story focuses on two children and their family as they settle down to sleep just as an owl begins its activities in the night. Susan Hepler, in her review in School Library Journal, called Owl at Night “a cozy catalog of nighttime activity that would make a good addition to the bedtime story collection.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that Paul’s writing in the book contains “a gentle touch and a lyrical voice.”
Paul’s second book, Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet, is designed for children between ages eight and twelve. The book combines the alphabet-book format with twenty-six patchwork-quilt patterns, from A for anvil to Z for zigzag. Paul also presents the historical background, customs, and events that inspired each of the designs. Through it all, “a fine history lesson emerges,” noted Denise Wilms in her review of the work for Booklist, while a Kirkus Reviews critic praised Eight Hands Round as “a novel way to introduce patchwork’s economic, social, and artistic role while relating it to history.”
Like Eight Hands Round, The Seasons Sewn: A Year in Patchwork also features quilt patterns among the book’s illustrations. Paul selects six quilt patterns for each of the four seasons and includes a fanciful explanation as to how each pattern got its name. For the pattern called Rising Star, for example, she tells of two slaves who escape to freedom by navigating their way by the North Star. Each story is illustrated by Michael McCurdy with the appropriate pattern as well as a picture from the story told. Noel Perrin, writing in the New York Times Book Review, noted that Paul’s book is “so beautiful and so filled with real archetypal patterns that it could easily make quilt lovers, if not quilt makers, of us all,” and Booklist critic Carolyn Phelan called The Seasons Sewn “an attractive combination of craft and history.”
Another book for younger children, Shadows Are About, features a rhyming chronicle of the shadow explorations of a brother and sister. The book was praised for its “simple, lyrical text,” by Stephanie Loer in the Boston Globe, while Deborah Abbott, in her Booklist review, concluded that “shadows, which are about light and movement and new perspectives, take on a life of their own in this beautifully crafted picture book.”
For her collection All by Herself: Fourteen Girls Who Made a Difference: Poems, Paul presents verses about real-life American girls who have done something heroic for others. Ida Lewis, for example, saved a crew whose boat was sinking, while Kate Shelley rescued two men injured in a train wreck. “Paul keeps the flow lively,” according to a Publishers Weekly contributor, “by employing a range of poetic styles.” Phelan described the poems as “plain, forthright, and sometimes dramatic,” while a Kirkus Reviews critic concluded that All by Herself “honors both quiet and noisy acts of heroism.”
In Little Monkey Says Good Night, an impish circus monkey delays bedtime by telling its father that it first has to say good night to everyone. Jumping and swinging all around the big top, with its father chasing him, the monkey says good night to all the circus performers. It even jumps into its mother’s arms while Mother Monkey is swinging on a trapeze. Finally, the curtain comes down on the little monkey’s bedtime hijinks: Mother gracefully drops it into Father’s arms to be put to bed, and the audience applauds. “The only drawback is that when listeners reach the end they’ll ask to start again,” noted a critic for Kirkus Reviews, and in Publishers Weekly a critic concluded, “As lively as Barnum and Bailey, Little Monkey’s circus adventure is just plain fun.”
Like Little Monkey Says Good Night, If Animals Kissed Good Night features engaging watercolor illustrations by David Walker. In the book, Paul focuses her rhyme on a diverse selection of animal parents and children as they prepare for sleep, from walruses to sloths, and penguins to elephants. The book’s “charming, fanciful” vignettes are paired with “a rhyme that seems crafted for reading aloud,” noted Booklist contributor Abby Nolan, while Walker’s “rounded, stuffed toy-like” animals “radiate unconditional love,” according to a Publishers Weekly writer.
In an interview with Linda Ashman, contributor to the Picture Book Builders website, Paul stated, “ If Animals Kissed Good Night was inspired by a game my son Alan and I used to play on the days we visited the zoo (which was so near we could go several times a week.) After story time and before I tucked him into bed, we used to pretend we were some of the animals we’d seen and kiss like they might—we would make our arms into elephant’s trunks and kiss, get down on the rug and squirm like snakes, and try to stretch our necks as tall as giraffes and kiss, etc.”
In If Animals Said I Love You, the next book in the “If Animals” series, Paul and Walker again focus on imaginative ways in which animals could show affection for one another. Among the animals included in this volume are impalas, gorillas, whales, spiders, secretary birds, alligators, cheetahs, lions, ostriches, and boa constrictors. The gorilla parent and baby are included in the book multiple times and are the last pair of animals shown as it ends. The volume features parent-child pairings, as well as siblings, friends, and cousins. A Kirkus Reviews writer commented, “Surely adult and child pairs reading this together will find ways to mimic the animals’ ways of expressing their love.”
If Animals Celebrated Christmas presents a wide variety of animals preparing for or engaging in holiday activities. The first animal in the book is a koala, who counts how many days remain before Christmas. Jingle bells appear in a spread featuring a young onyx, while creating handmade gifts excited a hedgehog in another. The koala returns to bake a cake shaped like Santa with his Papa. Frogs observe while cranes sing Christmas carols, and crab create a tree made from seashells. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews noted, “Words curve around the gentle action in rhyming text.” The same contributor described the volume as “a sweet, cozy book to share with young children as Christmas approaches.”
In the next installment in the “If Animals” series, If Animals Went to School, Paul and Walker imagine creatures in a classroom setting. Animals featured in this volume include a fox, a goat, a mouse, a bear, a lemming, an elephant, and a beaver. In an assessment of the volume in Kirkus Reviews, a critic suggested, “The rhythm and rhyme are inconsistent.” The same critic concluded, “Lacking the perfect pairings of animal and behavior, this one just doesn’t stand out.”
[OPEN NEW]
Paul continued to write picture books based on holidays for the “If Animals” series, including If Animals Trick-or-Treated and If Animals Celebrated Easter. The latter imagines an animal springtime celebration, as different animal families gather together to dye eggs and make Easter baskets. Other celebrations include a parade and an egg hunt. Paul’s rhymes fit with Walker’s comforting illustrations. A writer in Kirkus Reviews praised the book as a “sweet Easter primer for the youngest of snuggle bunnies.” They appreciated how the “rhymes bounce softly along” and how the “text placement curves in waves.”
[CLOSE NEW]
Animals take center stage in many of Paul’s stories. Hop! Hop! Hop! finds Little Rabbit struggling to keep up with Big Rabbit, while in Snail’s Good Night a slow-moving snail’s desire to wish each of his friends good night turns into an early good-morning. Lisa S. Schindler noted in School Library Journal that Paul’s gentle story in Hop! Hop! Hop! will encourage “fledgling readers,” while its “positive message about believing in one’s self and succeeding on one’s own terms will be appreciated.”
Paul’s picture-book collaborations with artist Ethan Long include Mañana, Iguana, Fiesta Fiasco, Count on Culebra: Go from 1 to 10 in Spanish, and Tortuga in Trouble. In Mañana, Iguana an iguana plans a party for friends, but when she asks for help in preparing the meal, Culebra (a snake), Conejo (a rabbit), and Tortuga (a turtle) avoid doing work. Iguana makes the invitations, cooks the food, and prepares a piñata, all by herself. On the day of the party, when they are not invited, her three lazy friends realize their mistake; while Iguana is napping at party’s end, they clean up the mess and thereby repair the friendship. Mary Elam, writing in School Library Journal, noted the “appeal” of Mañana, Iguana, while a Kirkus Reviews critic judged the book to be “a clever dual-language update of The Little Red Hen.”
Iguana and friends return in Fiesta Fiasco, as well as in the concept book Count on Culebra. In Fiesta Fiasco the fast rabbit Conejo finds a way to get his friends to buy presents for Culebra that would be much more suited to … a fast rabbit! Noting Long’s incorporation of “witty details” in his “vibrant” pencil and gouache cartoons for Fiesta Fiasco, Booklist critic Shelle Rosenfeld called Paul’s bilingual picture book “a fun story with a message,” while in School Library Journal, Jane Marino wrote that the book treats readers to “an ending that is sure to elicit giggles.” A play on the story of Little Red Riding Hood, Tortuga in Trouble finds Tortuga carrying a meal of tamales to his aunt, followed by hungry friends Culebra, Iguana, and Conejo. When hungry Coyote makes an appearance, the three friends find a way to save their slow-moving friend. In Horn Book, Joanna Rudge Long praised Long’s “endearingly expressive” cartoons as “a fine complement to a tale that’s sure to enliven storytimes,” and Catherine Callegari recommended Tortuga in Trouble as a “fresh look on an old classic [that] is sure to be a hit with children.”
Featuring artwork by Kurt Cyrus, Word Builder finds an industrious young boy busy creating a book by crafting letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs, all by using traditional construction tools. In Publishers Weekly a critic cited the “ginormous-scaled, blocky images” Cyrus renders “with loving detail” to bring to life Paul’s free-verse story in Word Builder. The “direct language and terrific artwork” combines to “show children how literal and figurative construction works,” added Booklist critic Ilene Cooper, and a Kirkus Reviews writer dubbed Word Builder a “visually dazzling effort” that will engage “abstract thinkers.”
In 2021 Paul teamed up with illustrator Jay Fleck to produce Who Loves Little Lemur? Told primarily in rhyming couplets, the story follows Little Lemur and his family. Set in the rain forest, the story educates and entertains readers with facts about lemurs. Readers observe Little Lemur as he is snuggled, fed, groomed, and playing with his cousins. Sometimes he even gets into a bit of trouble. In Kirkus Reviews a contributor concluded that Who Loves Little Lemur? is “an action-packed introduction to a young lemur and his family that might not be very different from readers’ own.” In an interview with Christine Van Zandt on the Kite Tales website, Paul stated, “I feel blessed to have found a career I love and that I can do anytime, anywhere, even during these unsettling times, so I’ll keep on plugging away. If I don’t work at writing every day, I lose energy and feel depressed. Just completing a short poem, refining a sentence, or finding the perfect word, restores my energy and lifts my spirits.”
Paul once told SATA: “As the oldest of five children, I lived a normal, happy and uneventful life in the Midwest. Although I once entertained the idea of being a writer, it was quickly repressed in the seventh grade when a neighbor girl stole my diary and read all the nasty things I’d written about her! It put a big damper on our friendship and watching the hurt and angry expression on my first reader’s face discouraged my writing ambition. In addition, no matter how hard I tried in school, I never got above a B on any creative writing assignment—final proof that I was not cut out to write. I turned my sights to a more attainable goal and graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in sociology and then attended Columbia University School of Social Work, where I received an M.S.W.
“It was not until I was thirty-five years old and had just given birth to the third of my four children that I began to think about writing books. The inspiration came from my children. As you can imagine, life was chaotic in our crowded house—someone always needed a diaper changed, or a drink of apple juice, or a tear to be dried—except for that time when darkness wrapped around our house. Then I would sit with each child in a rocking chair, or in bed under the covers. Without noise and distractions, we read a book together.
“I loved the peace and closeness of those bedtime readings so much, I decided I would try to write books that other adults and children could share together.
“I prefer writing picture books because of their brevity (which doesn’t necessarily make them easier to write!) and their musical, poetic language. Inspiration comes from my children and things they did when they were young. Now that my children are grown and out of the house, I’m fortunate enough to be able to write every day—weekends included. If I don’t write, watch out! I get cranky and anxious.
“It took me five years of submitting eighteen different stories a total of 180 times before I made my first sale. That number isn’t meant to be discouraging, but encouraging. Persistence is the name of the game. Those who give up will never succeed. Those who keep trying will either succeed, or at the very least, have a wonderful journey along the way.
“My advice to people who are thinking about writing for children is to first of all, get to know yourself and what interests you. Secondly, read lots and lots of picture books, especially those published in the last ten years. Picture books have a form. It behooves you to learn that form before you experiment with ways to break it. And third—write, write, write and write some more. Fourth, don’t be shy about seeking knowledge from others. And last and most important of all, enjoy the process!”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Seasons Sewn: A Year in Patchwork, p. 1358; November 17, 1999, Carolyn Phelan, review of All by Herself: Fourteen Girls Who Made a Difference: Poems; March 15, 2003, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Little Monkey Says Good Night, p. 1333; November 1, 2004, Connie Fletcher, review of Mañana, Iguana, p. 493; May 15, 2007, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Fiesta Fiasco, p. 51; February 15, 2008, Linda Perkins, review of Count on Culebra: Go from 1 to 10 in Spanish, p. 84; March 1, 2008, Carolyn Phelan, review of Snail’s Good Night, p. 74; June 1, 2008, Abby Nolan, review of If Animals Kissed Good Night, p. 88; January 1, 2009, Ilene Cooper, review of Word Builder, p. 96; May 1, 2009, Ilene Cooper, review of Tortuga in Trouble, p. 88.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, May 1, 2003, review of Little Monkey Says Good Night.
Horn Book, March-April, 2009, Joanna Rudge-Long, review of Tortuga in Trouble, p. 184.
Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 1999, review of All by Herself; February 19, 2003, review of Little Monkey Says Good Night; September 15, 2004, review of Mañana, Iguana, p. 917; April 1, 2007, review of Fiesta Fiasco; January 1, 2008, review of Snail’s Good Night; February 15, 2008, review of Count on Culebra; April 1, 2008, review of If Animals Kissed Good Night; January 15, 2009, review of Word Builder; August 15, 2017, review of If Animals Said I Love You; September 1, 2018, review of If Animals Celebrated Christmas; June 1, 2019, review of If Animals Went to School; August 1, 2020, review of If Animals Gave Thanks; August 1, 2021, review of Who Loves Little Lemur?; May 15, 2022, review of If Animals Trick-or-Treated; November 15, 2024, review of If Animals Celebrated Easter.
New York Times Book Review, November 10, 1996, Noel Perrin, review of The Seasons Sewn.
Publishers Weekly, April 22, 1996, review of The Seasons Sewn, p. 71; December 13, 1999, review of All by Herself, p. 82; February 7, 2000, review of The Seasons Sewn, p. 87; March 24, 2003, review of Little Monkey Says Good Night, p. 74; August 30, 2004, review of Mañana, Iguana, p. 54; March 17, 2008, review of Count on Culebra, p. 69; March 24, 2008, review of If Animals Kissed Good Night, p. 69; January 26, 2009, review of Word Builder, p. 118.
School Library Journal, January, 2000, Margaret Bush, review of All by Herself, p. 152; March, 2000, Diane Janoff, review of Silly Sadie, Silly Samuel, p. 211; July, 2003, Marianne Saccardi, review of Little Monkey Says Good Night, p. 104; September, 2004, Mary Elam, review of Mañana, Iguana, p. 176; August, 2005, Lisa S. Schindler, review of Hop! Hop! Hop!, p. 104; May, 2007, Linda M. Kenton, review of Fiesta Fiasco, p. 106; February, 2008, Kelly Roth, review of Snail’s Good Night, p. 94; June, 2008, Jane Marino, review of If Animals Kissed Good Night, p. 113; July, 2008, Marian Drabkin, review of Count on Culebra, p. 79; February, 2009, Catherine Callegari, review of Tortuga in Trouble, p. 82.
ONLINE
Ann Whitford Paul website, http://www.annwhitfordpaul.com (May 24, 2025).
Childrenslit.com, http://www.childrenslit.com/ (December 20, 2009), “Ann Whitford Paul.”
Kite Tales, https://scbwikitetales.wordpress.com/ (December 2, 2020), Christine Van Zandt, author interview.
Macmillan website, https://us.macmillan.com/ (July 30, 2019).
Picture Book Builders, https://picturebookbuilders.com/ (November 14, 2017), Linda Ashman, author interview.
Provato Events website, https://provatoevents.wordpress.com/ (May 23, 2017), author interview.
VoyageLA, https://voyagela.com/ (January 25, 2023), author interview.
It seems like I’ve always been reading. Even before my first birthday, I loved turning the pages of a book. This was likely an early sign that I’d be passionate about the written language and might have some interest in becoming a children’s book author.
My reading in elementary school sometimes got me into trouble. I often preferred finishing a book, more than doing my homework. If I thought about being a writer as a child. That dream was quickly squashed, because I had terrible handwriting as you can see here in the first story I ever wrote. I never got good grades on my stories, so I assumed I didn’t have the talent to be a writer.
Being discouraged about writing, did not stop me from reading.
But I didn’t think about being a children’s book author in middle school or high school or when I studied sociology at Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin, and earned a master’s degree in social work at Columbia university. I worked as a social worker until my children were born. I was still reading books, only now to my children. We had three sons and one daughter, so our house was always crazy busy and noisy. One child needed a peanut butter sandwich, another asked for help with spelling words, another longed for comfort for a skinned knee and another couldn’t turn on the bathtub water, often all at the same time!
An early story by the budding children's book author
The only quiet moments came after supper when darkness wrapped, like a comforting quilt around our house and everyone headed for bed. Then we would sit so close our skins touched and read together. Those peaceful, cozy times inspired me to write books that other adults and children could share.
Deciding to be a children’s book author and becoming one is not something one accomplishes over night. It takes many years of learning one’s craft, writing and rewriting and lots more reading. I belong to three different book clubs that each meet once a month. That’s a lot of books!
When I’m not reading, or writing books, I can most often be found outside taking a long walk or inside cooking in the kitchen. Or you might find me quilting, or knitting, or putting together a puzzle. Other things I love to do include watching a spider spin her web, or a snail paint its trail, or a hummingbird hover over a blossom. I especially love to sit quietly and listen to my cat’s soft, rumbling purr.
For a bit of Whitford family history, you might be interested in this episode of WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? While my brother Brad was the focus of the episode, I appear with him in the beginning of the show and you can learn about some of my ancestors.
MY FAVORITE THINGS
Dessert—chocolate cake
Food—pasta and home-made potato chips
Color—maroon
Cats—My pet Mr. Darcy, so smart he blogs about writing.
Dog—My pet Molly who loves to huddle here under my desk while I’m writing.
Song—I Whistle a Happy Song from THE KING AND I even though I can’t whistle I love to sing this song (not anywhere on tune) whenever I feel afraid.
Adult book—Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (A very romantic story without any kissing.)
Kid’s book—The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, drawings by Robert Lawson because it reminds me to be true to myself.
Bird—bright red cardinal, because I rarely get to see one where I live in southern California
Movie—La La Land (A lot of it was filmed near where I live.)
TV Show—The West Wing (Great writing and my brother, Bradley Whitford, acted in it.) Here we are together, both much younger.
Ann and Bradley
Holiday—I have two—Christmas and Thanksgiving because they both mean getting together with the people I love best—family. Check out my book, “TWAS THE LATE NIGHT OF CHRISTMAS.”
local storiesJanuary 25, 2023Check Out Ann Paul’s Story
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Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann Paul.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a picture book writer and was inspired to create stories by my four children. I thought they were short and would therefore be easy Ha! I took numerous classes through UCLA Extension and also joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators which is based in Los Angeles, and attended many conferences and workshops. Still, I guess I’m a slow learner as it took me five years to sell my first book and four years to sell my second book. I’ve published rhymed and prose texts, fiction and nonfiction, early readers, a collection of poetry and a textbook for adults on how to write picture books.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not smooth at all! One day I received one dozen rejections for a proposal for a cookbook parents and children could do together. I remember spreading them out on my bed and thinking, “If I can survive this, I can survive anything.” It actually inspired me to take more classes and to work harder. Writing requires a tough skin when you take a story to your critique group and realize you have more work ahead of you. It hurts when a reviewer doesn’t love your book and is especially painful when a book of yours goes out of print. OUCH!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
IF ANIMALS TRICK OR TREATED
Illustrated by David Walker F S & G
WHO LOVES LITTLE LEMUR
Illustrated by Jay Fleck F S & G
IF ANIMALS TRIED TO BE KIND
Illustrated by David Walker F S & G
IF ANIMALS GAVE THANKS
Illustrated by David Walker F S & G
IF ANAIMALS CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS
Illustrated by David Walker F S & G
IF ANIMALS WENT TO SCHOOL
Illustrated by David Walker F S & G
IF ANIMALS SAID I LOVE YOU
Illustrated by David Walker F S & G
‘TWAS THE LATE NIGHT OF CHRISTMAS
Illustrated by Nancy Hayashi eFrog Press
WRITING PICTURE BOOKS—A HANDS ON GUIDE FROM STORY CREATION TO PUBLICATION
Writer’s Digest Books
WORD BUILDER
Illustrated by Kurt Cyrus Simon & Schuster
TORTUGA IN TROUBLE
Illustrated by Ethan Long Holiday House
IF ANIMALS KISSED GOOD NIGHT
SNAIL’S GOOD NIGHT
Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger Holiday House
COUNT ON CULEBRA
Illustrated by Ethan Long Holiday House
FIESTA FIASCO
Illustrated by Ethan Long Holiday House
HOP! HOP! HOP!
Illustrated by Jan Gerardi Random House
MAÑANA, IGUANA
Illustrated by Ethan Long Holiday House
LITTLE MONKEY SAYS GOOD NIGHT
ALL BY HERSELF
Illustrated by Michael Steirnagle Harcourt, Inc.
THE SEASONS SEWN—A Year in Patchwork
Illustrated by Michael McCurdy Harcourt, Inc.
SILLY SADIE, SILLY SAMUEL
Illustrated by Sylvie Wickstrom Simon & Schuster, Inc.
EVERYTHING TO SPEND THE NIGHT
Illustrated by Maggie Smith DKInk, Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc.
HELLO TOES! HELLO FEET!
Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott DKInk, Dorling Kindersley, Inc.
SHADOWS ARE ABOUT
Illustrated by Mark Graham Scholastic Inc.
EIGHT HANDS ROUND—A Patchwork Alphabet
Illustrated by Jeanette Winter HarperCollins Publishers
OWL AT NIGHT
Illustrated by Catherine Stock G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Plus numerous poems in anthologies
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Each of the illustrators who bring my words to life, my editors who help me make my writing the best it can be, the book designers, the copywriters and my agents who find the perfect home for my manuscripts. And a special shout-out to the teachers and librarians, the parents and grandparents, the relatives and friends who share my books with children.
Contact Info:
Website: annwhitfordpaul.com
Facebook: Ann Whitford Paul or Books by Ann Whitford Paul
Twitter: @annwhitfordpaul
Paul, Ann Whitford IF ANIMALS GAVE THANKS Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Children's None) $17.99 9, 1 ISBN: 978-0-374-31341-8
As summer turns to fall, adorable forest animals count their blessings in Paul and Walker’s newest addition to the If Animals… series.
Rabbit and Squirrel are each thankful for things that keep them warm—Rabbit for his thick fur and Squirrel for her puffy tail. Crow’s thankful for the “great bowl of sky,” and “Raccoon would chir-chirrrrr / thanks for her cub / and nuz-nuzzle him / and rub rubbi-rub.” Frog’s grateful for her “bug-catching tongue and her lily-pad boat”; Beaver, for his oarlike tail. A bit oddly, Coyote howls “thanks for the / bright, sunny day.” Bear makes appearances throughout the pages, collecting clover, then honey, a basket of blueberries, and a fish. Turtle and Skunk round out the thankful friends who all gather round Bear’s laden table. After their feast, they lounge in the grass together, their contented looks saying everything. Paul’s rhyming verses here emphasize some of the sounds forest animals make, the typeset changing color and alignment to suit, and no doubt young listeners and their enthusiastic adults will enjoy voicing them. Walker’s cuddly creatures are like stuffed animals come to life, all gentle smiles and dot eyes. The softly colored palette and rounded edges in the illustrations further add to the sweet mood.
A nature-themed lead-in to Thanksgiving and, for the science-minded, a beginning lesson in adaptations. (Picture book. 2-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Paul, Ann Whitford: IF ANIMALS GAVE THANKS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A630892190/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=12b1dadd. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Paul, Ann Whitford IF ANIMALS TRICK-OR-TREATED Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Children's None) $18.99 7, 19 ISBN: 978-0-374-38852-2
We've seen how Paul and Walker's adorable animals celebrate Thanksgiving; what about Halloween?
All the Halloween check boxes are ticked for the littlest listeners, and Paul zooms in on Mama and little Owlet at they complete each one: carving pumpkins, decorating, donning costumes, and trick-or-treating. Interspersed among these, other animals join in on the festivities. Bat adds fangs to her pumpkin, and "Hatchling would beg Papa Crocodile / to carve his pumpkin a sneee-eery smile." (Cleverly, their pumpkin croc features an oblong pumpkin carved sideways with successively smaller pumpkins for the body.) Bushes and trees get festooned with spiderwebs and orange-and-black steamers, and, somewhat disturbingly, "Vulture chicks would scat-scatter fresh skeleton bones / close to a cluster of old tombstones." Costumes include the traditional (superhero, mummy, witch) as well as some creative twists (Zebra Foal wears "a costume of spots" that resembles a giraffe's hide; Little Leopard dons a striped costume). Treats match the giver: Parrot gives seeds, Armadillo passes out chocolate ants, and Raccoon offers "garbage-fudge squares." Page turns and line breaks sometimes interrupt the rhythm of the verses, though the rhymes are pretty spot-on. Walker's scenes start during the day and gradually fade to night, when the illustrations almost seem to glow, gentle stars in the sky shining down, and the shared book at the close is the ideal end to a busy day.(This book was reviewed digitally.)
A cute introduction to Halloween for youngsters. (Picture book. 3-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Paul, Ann Whitford: IF ANIMALS TRICK-OR-TREATED." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A703413969/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f8e59c9e. Accessed 4 May 2025.
Paul, Ann Whitford IF ANIMALS CELEBRATED EASTER Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Children's None) $18.99 1, 7 ISBN: 9780374390587
Young farmyard friends busily prepare for a springtime celebration.
After collaborating on tales devoted to animals observing Halloween and Christmas, Paul and Walker turn their attention to Easter. The farm families gather, weaving baskets and dyeing eggs. Kitten and Cat interlace fabric strips for their basket (Kitten paws energetically at the dangling ribbons), while Goat and Kid fittingly make theirs out of paper and cans that they have munched into shape. Hen, of course, provides the eggs, which are intricately decorated by Lamb, using a feather. Mouse Pup uses its tail to dip an egg into a jar filled with dye, while spotted Calf prefers to splatter his eggs with paint, creating a splotchy pattern that matches his coat. The farm hums with the awakening of spring, set against pastel green hills and soft golden hay. Who hides the eggs after everyone's gone to sleep? Rabbit, naturally, on "hippity-hop-hopping legs." Onomatopoetic action words are bolded throughout, while the text placement curves in waves, matching the plump roundness of the animal tots. The rhymes bounce softly along, just like Rabbit cautiously bounding with her wagonful of eggs to hide. Jelly beans and chocolate treats (which Piglet loves to "snuff-snuffle-snort") are also included in this barnyard portrayal of holiday traditions.
A sweet Easter primer for the youngest of snuggle bunnies.(Picture book. 3-6)
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Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Paul, Ann Whitford: IF ANIMALS CELEBRATED EASTER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A815560545/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b548cea4. Accessed 4 May 2025.