SATA

PERSONAL

Born August 7, 1959, in Canada; married; husband’s name Jeff; children: three.

ADDRESS

• Home - London, Ontario, Canada.

CAREER

Author. Babs ‘n’ Jas Designs, cofounder; works part-time at two different branches of the London Public Library, London, Ontario, Canada. Also presenter at schools.

Quilting.

The Writers’ Union of Canada.

Best Books for Kids and Teens selection, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, 2012, for Reaching.

WRITINGS

• “KIDS CAN DO IT” NONFICTION SERIES
• Sandwiches for Duke, illustrated by Lorna Bennett, Stoddart Kids (New York, NY), 2001
• Reaching, illustrated by Susan Mitchell, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2011
• Nothing Happens in This Book, illustrated by Vigg, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2018
• Prints, illustrated by Marilyn Mets, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992
• Dolls, illustrated by Marilyn Mets, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993
• Sewing, illustrated by Marilyn Mets, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993
• Beads, illustrated by Marilyn Mets, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994
• Christmas Crafts, illustrated by Marilyn Mets, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1994
• Corking, illustrated by Linda Hendry, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1995
• Making Fleece Crafts, illustrated by June Bradford, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000
• The Jumbo Book of Easy Crafts, illustrated by Caroline Price, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001
• Knitting, illustrated by Esperança Melo, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002
• Christmas Crafts from around the World, illustrated by June Bradford, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003
• Simply Sewing, illustrated by Jane Kurisu, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004
• Embroidery, illustrated by June Bradford, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), , Scholastic (New York, NY), 2004
• Hemp Jewelry, illustrated by June Bradford, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005
• (With others) The Jumbo Book of Needlecrafts, illustrated by Esperança Melo, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005
• Knotting, illustrated by Celeste Gagnon, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2006
• Quick Knits, illustrated by Esperança Melo, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2006
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Contributor to periodicals. Books have been translated into foreign languages. Author of a blog.

SIDELIGHTS

Growing up on a farm near London, Ontario, Canada, Judy Ann Sadler loved to read, write, and do crafts. She is the author of more than twenty craft books for children, teaching them everything from paper crafts and needle crafts to knitting, sewing, and embroidery. For example, in her book Knitting, Sadler presents eleven knitting projects, from a pom-pom scarf to slipper socks. The craft books feature full-color photos and simple instructions for children to follow. Sadler herself is a quilter and is cofounder with author Barbara Haworth-Attard of a quilt pattern company called Babs ‘n’ Jas Designs. She also speaks at libraries about crafts and has helped teach thousands of children how to craft. She also demonstrates craft projects on television.

Sadler is also the author of picture books, and more than a million copies of her books have been sold around the world. According to a Kirkus Reviews contributor, the “appeal” of Sadler’s picture book Nothing Happens in This Book “lies in the fact that the title tells a lie.” Illustrated by Vigg, the book begins by present blank shadowing pages that eventually turn into brighter pages. Still, someone from the dark exclaims: “This book looks boring doesn’t it?” The speaker lights a lantern revealing that he is a pointy nosed, little man wearing a bow tie. Barbara Spiri, writing in School Library Journal, noted that the narrator, who speaks directly to readers, entices the children “to follow him on the journey,” adding: “He makes them feel like they can help to solve the mystery of the missing story.”

At one point, the narrator peaks around the page and begins to find a series of items that appear to be lost, such as a striped ball, a red nose, a clown shoe, and a trumpet. At this point the book’s narrator recognizes that children may think the book is so boring that they will want to quit reading and exclaims: “Come on! Let’s keep going! Maybe something will happen in this book!” As the pages turn, all the items are matched up with circus performers in a parade. The final spread shows a circus parade showered by confetti and the concluding statement “Everything happens in this book!”

“Sadler keeps the pace at a quick march, building smoothly from quiet stillness to riotous fortissimo,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. John Peters, writing in Booklist, noted that the idea that wondering about whether or not anything happens “will draw readers into this brief metafictive mystery.”

BIOCRIT

PERIODICALS

• Booklist, December 15, 2003, Hazel Rochman, review of Christmas Crafts from around the World, p. 756; December 15, 2004, Carolyn Phelan, review of Simply Sewing, p. 748; March 15, 2005, Carolyn Phelan, review of Hemp Jewelry, p. 1292; April 1, 2018, John Peters, review of Nothing Happens in This Book, p. 84.

• Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2011, review of Reaching; March 1, 2018, review of Nothing Happens in This Book.

• Publishers Weekly, March 12, 2018, review of Nothing Happens in This Book, p. 56.

• Resource Links, April, 2004, Eva Wilson, review of Embroidery, p. 35; December, 2004, Gail Lennon, review of Simply Sewing, p. 29; June, 2005, Mavis Holder, review of Hemp Jewelry, p. 27, and Maria Forte, review of The Jumbo Book of Needlecrafts, p. 28; June, 2006, Karen McKinnon, review of Knotting, p. 20; February, 2007, Karen McKinnon, review of Quick Knits, p. 25.

• School Library Journal, November, 2002, Lynda Ritterman, review of Knitting, p. 148; December, 2002, Susannah Price, review of The Jumbo Book of Paper Crafts, p. 164; October, 2003, Susan Patron, review of Christmas Crafts from around the World, p. 67; October, 2003, review of Knitting, p. 52; August, 2004, Augusta R. Malvagno, review of Embroidery, p. 144; November, 2004, Augusta R. Malvagno, review of Simply Sewing, p. 172; May, 2005, Augusta R. Malvagno, review of Hemp Jewelry, and Elizabeth Stumpf, review of The Jumbo Book of Needlecrafts, both p. 158; December, 2006, Augusta R. Malvagno, review of Quick Knits, p. 168; May, 2018, Barbara Spiri, review of Nothing Happens in this Book, p. 72.

ONLINE

• Writers’ Union of Canada website, https://www.writersunion.ca/ (August 13, 2018), author member profile.*