Yes, it’s important for children to know that they have the security of being loved and accepted in their homes, and that there comes some responsibility with being a member of a family. I’m also quite torn about the themes of the book. I think if the style was more consistent, with all objects being more stylised, the illustrations would probably work better for a modern audience. They are sort of an odd mix of stylised people, and accurate and detailed objects. I do wonder about the illustrations though. I think the humour, rhythm and rhyme of the book still work today. I also remember being extremely disappointed when Jennifer gave up her life of scruffiness and turned into the neat little girl her mother wanted her to – the first half of the book was always my favourite! And who could resist those endpapers?! And I can still remember the first page verbatim (as can both parents!), even though I have read this book only five or six times in the last 30 years. The story is told with rhythm and rhyme, which is why it makes such a great read-aloud. There is also a humour in the illustrations that matches that of the text. Jennifer lived in squalor and was quite happy to do that even after she had been told off by her mother – who doesn’t love a rebel? I also loved the illustrations, despite never having been a fan of the colour pink I liked the bright colours, the chaos of Jennifer’s bedroom, and finding where the cat was hidden amongst her mess. It’s physical condition today shows that it was obviously in the “high rotate” pile despite being mended several times, the pages are no longer attached to the cover.įrom memory, the main reason I loved this book was that Jennifer, the protagonist, was not your stereotypical, neat little girl (probably why George was my favourite character in the Famous Five too!). I loved this book as a child, especially if one of my parents was reading it to me. When she’s not writing or teaching, Liz travels, reads, practices yoga and makes her way through the woods with her dog.Smaridge, N. Liz is proud to serve on the faculty (and as current faculty co-chair) for the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She thinks she’s the luckiest author alive in this regard. And she’s worked with many supremely gifted illustrators, including Glasser, Frazee, and Cordell, of course, but also Arthur Howard, Vanessa Brantley Newton, Stephanie Graegin, Ashley Wolff, Hadley Hooper, Chris Raschka, Lee White, Frann Preston Gannon, Olivier Tallec, Simone Shin, Kevan Atteberry, Diana Sudyka, Sean Qualls, and more. Liz and her pal Audrey Vernick have joyfully co-authored several books, including the hilarious Bob, Not Bob, illustrated by Matthew Cordell. Her next book, All the World, illustrated by Marla Frazee, won a Caldecott Honor and numerous other accolades. Her first book was A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser, and published in 2004. She has two daughters, and it was reading with them that inspired her to write for kids. Liz wrote an exceptional autobiography in 2 nd grade, earned degrees in journalism and English, edited a poetry journal, taught at a community college, created corporate marketing communications, and waited tables at a whole bunch of restaurants before landing happily in the world of children’s literature. Her favorite picture books included Patrick Will Grow by Gladys Baker Bond, The Big Tidy Up by Norah Smaridge, Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, and Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey ( ku-plink, ku-plank, ku-plunk). Growing up, she read all the Judy Blume and Nancy Drew books, plus everything her grandfather got in his book-of-the-month club. Liz Garton Scanlon grew up in a tiny little town in the mountains of Colorado, was a teenager in a tiny little town on a lake in Wisconsin, and has lived most of her adult life on the edge of the hill country in Austin, Texas.
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