说说我的看法高级模式
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When I was about three or four, I dreamed I could read. It was a recurring dream: turning page after page and reading all the words. But when I woke up, I could no longer read. Finally, in the first grade, in spite of the infamous red, blue and yellow Dick and Jane readers, I learned to read!
Books were a part of life in my family. My parents read bedtime stories to me and my brother every night. The table by my father's red armchair always held a stack of books with torn paper markers in various places. He read history, economics, novels, paperback mysteries with thrilling, lurid covers. He also read Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Pogo comic books which he bought as soon as they hit the newsstand and which he allowed us to read only after he was finished.
My brother and I were given books on birthdays, at Christmas, when we were sick . . . I saved them all, eventually shelved them alphabetically, catalogued them, loaned them to my friends and charged fines when they were overdue. Much of my early childhood was spent slouched in an armchair or up in a tree house with my nose in a book . . . A good early education for a writer!
My parents didn't buy a television until I was eleven or twelve. We were allowed to watch an hour and a half a week, so we selected our shows carefully. I discovered, thanks to my father's enthusiasms: Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello, the Marx brothers, Jackie Gleason and Art Carney, and British films, like the Lavender Hill Mob - all wonderful slapstick humor. In retrospect, I'm sure these shows have had some influence on my picture books.
I wasn't much interested in writing until I had a dynamic and demanding English teacher in the eighth grade and another in high school. I wrote many stories for our high school magazine and planned to major in English in college. But freshman English was so tedious, that I lost all enthusiasm for that idea. Instead, I took art history and some drawing and design courses-a pre-architecture major intended to lead to three years of graduate work in architecture. But, my senior year, I discovered photography!
My first years out of college, in Philadelphia, in the late 1960s, I photographed buildings for architects, and did photo essays for small magazines on urban life: skid row, Chinatown, inner city schools, political demonstrations . . . . While I was photographing, I was also looking at children's picture books in bookstores and at the library. I read picture books to any neighborhood child who wanted to listen. I started experimenting with my own stories, illustrating them with photographs or drawings. And, during that same time, I met and married my husband, Ahren.
By the mid seventies, Ahren and I were living in Berkeley, California with a child of our own, Heather. She and I went to the library once or twice a week and borrowed piles of books to read at bedtime, nap time, and times in between. I decided, once again that I was going to try writing and illustrating picture books. I started with an alphabet book, thinking it would take a few weeks. Two years later, I reached Z , having taught myself something about illustration and about the complexities of writing a "simple little picture book."
Unfortunately, no one wanted to publish my alphabet book. But I got encouragement from editors who told me to write and illustrate a story and then come back to see them. So, while earning my living as a photographer and graphic designer, I continued to experiment with picture books. One job I had was to design and illustrate a poster about animal camouflage for a science museum. The poster gave me the idea for what became my first published book, Henry and the Red Stripes.
In 1981, I sold my first two books and we moved to Vermont. Many years and many books later, picture books are still an exciting challenge. I have file folders filled with ideas for new stories: clippings from newspapers, stories heard on the radio, family stories, childhood memories, conversations overheard, nursery rhymes, all waiting for me to find their beginnings, middles, and ends and to bring them alive in the space of a thirty-two page picture book.
Desperate Dog Writes Again
Grade level: 3-5
Emma loves her human, George, but he can be so difficult! This time he has a visitor, who won't let go of his hand. Worse, she's brought along her dog, Hankie, and they've taken over Emma's spot next to George on the couch. What's a desperate dog to do? Emma hurries off to the library to write to her favorite canine columnist for advice. But this may be one problem that even Dear Queenie can't solve. Will Emma's happy home ever be the same again? Drawn in an accessible comic-book style, this story is just right for children who are adjusting to a new member of the family, and will strike a chord with dog lovers of all stripes. Emma loves her human, George, but he can be so difficult! This time he has a visitor, who won't let go of his hand. Worse, she's brought along her dog, Hankie, and they've taken over Emma's spot next to George on the couch. What's a desperate dog to do? Emma hurries off to the library to write to her favorite canine columnist for advice. But this may be one problem that even Dear Queenie can't solve. Will Emma's happy home ever be the same again? Drawn in an accessible comic-book style, this story is just right for children who are adjusting to a new member of the family, and will strike a chord with dog lovers of all stripes.
The Five Dog Night
Grade level: K-4
"Old folks and dogs comprise the cast of this fresh and comical tale that shows there's more than one way to beat frigid wearher...Christelow's freewheeling watercolors evoke Ezra, Betty and the doggy crew in broadly characterized relief, with pen-and-ink details adding humorous punch." ALA Booklist
Five Little Monkeys Bake a Birthday Cake
Grade level: Pre-S to 1
"The five little monkeys are back, and this time eager to bake a cake for their mother's birthday...Christelow's cartoon figures are as exuberant as ever . . ." School Library Journal
Five Little Monkeys Go Shopping
Grade level: Pre-S to 1
"The day before school starts, Mama takes her five little monkeys shopping for clothes. "Stay right here," she says, "AND DON'T GO WANDERING OFF!"
But do those silly little monkeys listen to Mama? Of course not! Soon there are only three little monkeys...and then there are seven...then three again...and then..oh, no! Fourteen little monkeys! How can that be? Will Mama ever have her five little monkeys togethers again?" Publisher
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Grade level: Pre-S to 1
"Exuberant picture book rendition of the popular nursery rhyme..." ALA Booklist
Five Little Monkeys Play Hide-and-Seek
Grade level: Pre-S to 1
"Those naughty monkeys are back, and this time they're tormenting their baby-sitter. Mama's instructions are clear: "Lulu's the sitter./You'd better be good./No tricks! No silliness!/Is that understood?" They promise to behave and invite Lulu to be "it" for a game of hide-and-seek..." School Library Journal
Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree
Grade level
re-S to 1
"A gleeful rendition of a happy, familiar rhyme doublis as a simple, counting that teaches numbers one through five..." ALA Booklist
Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car
Grade level: Pre-S to 1
"The monkeys' old family car becomes too much trouble for Mama and is put up for sale. The five little ones take it upon themselves to spruce it up, but despite their good intentions, the vehicle ends up in a swamp. Some crocodiles come to the rescue and decide to buy the wreck and the monkey family drives off in a snazzy red convertible. The pencil-and-watercolor illustrations highlight the industrious little monkeys and their expressive faces as the mishap unfolds." School Library Journal
Five Little Monkeys With Nothing To Do
Grade level: Pre-S to 1
"When five bored little monkeys complain of nothing to do, their mother gladly enlists their help in getting ready for Grandma's visit...This book can be engoyed one-on-one pr story hour, and all who read it will gain more appreciation for whoever does the cleaning at home." School Library Journal
Letters From A Desperate Dog
Grade level: 3-5
Poor Emma is a pup with a problem. Her human, George, constantly misunderstands her. No matter how hard she tries to please him, it's just "Bad! Bad! Bad!" all day long. Tired of feeling unappreciated, Emma finally writes to "Dear Queenie," who, like any good canine advice columnist, suggests that Emma get off the couch and make herself useful--perhaps even find a career.
Not Until Christmas, Walter!
Grade level: K-3
"A lively picture book that stars Walter, the family dog, and his young mistress, Louise, in a series of holiday misadventures. With humor and warmth, Christelow expresses the family's cozy relationships and preholiday excitement. The watercolor and pen-and-ink cartoons are filled with appealing characters especially Louise, an intrepid young lady, hands on hips and garbed in a blue, polka-dot bathrobe and yellow boots, who stands angrily in front of the doghouse containing a chagrined Walter. Don't wait for Christmas to share this entertaining romp one-on-one or in a family read-aloud." School Library Journal
