Shelf-employed correctly identified our husband and wife team from last week.
34. The wife started out as a children’s book editor in New York City, but ended up moving to California where she has written over 60 books for young people. Many of her books are about animals. Recently she has taken up making jewelry. Can you name her?
Yes, the editor turned children’s book author is no other than Joanne Ryder.
I found out about Joanne Ryder when I was looking for a book about lizards. Lizards are common in Arizona, but not common in picture books. A friend of mine, who was originally from California, raved about this book her friend had written. Turns out it was Lizard in the Sun by Joanne Ryder.
If you are interested in her jewelry, Joanne has photographs on the Hammered and Stone website.
Here’s a lovely video trailer for her book, Panda Kindergarten.
Here are some of Joanne’s books:
35. The husband has a Chinese American background, and felt he never fit in to either culture as a child. He used his unique perspective to write a series of books about a Chinese family coming to the United States. Two books of the series are Newbery Honor books. Can you name him?
Laurence Michael Yep has also written a number of picture books, but he’s probably best known for his Golden Mountain Chronicles, of which Dragon’s Gate and Dragonwings are Newbery Honor books.
Don’t you like to see what the authors look and sound like? Here’s an interview with Laurence Yep.
Bet you can’t wait to read some of these: