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Doreen Cronin
Even though Doreen is an attorney, she hasn't practiced lately. For many years she was both writing books and practicing law, because she had student loans to pay off. She actually wrote Diary of a Worm while in law school (two of her brothers are Secret Service agents, so that gave her lots of fodder for the book). A happy coincidence changed her life after her book Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type won a Caldecott Honor. She found that she couldn't do school visits, conferences and the like and keep her full time job as an attorney. So she took the plunge, which she describes as a "leap of faith and decided to go for it." As far as she is concerned, there couldn't be anything better than visiting schools and speaking at children's literature conferences and making it a full time job. After her manuscript for Click, Clack, Moo was accepted by an imprint of one of the larger houses and Betsy Lewin was selected to do the illustrations, Doreen learned that the imprint was closing down and releasing the rights. It was quite a disappointment--she was worried about the advance, and concerned that the book (which was a tribute to her dad) wouldn't make it into print. A well-known agent tracked her down and said that she would find a home for it. Years later, it went to Simon & Schuster. Now, teachers tell Doreen that they use the book all the time--it is a great way to teach kids about socialistic labor negotiation, the power of literacy and the impact of teamwork. She also related a story from a woman that she met in Hicklebee's book store. Click, Clack, Moo got a young boy who wouldn't read turned on to reading. It was an amazing and particularly satisfying thing to hear--having an impact on one child and perhaps influencing the course of his life. Doreen confesses that she had none of this in mind when she wrote the story. When she wrote Click, Clack, Moo she was not really visualizing the story. However, for the second book, Giggle, Giggle, Quack, she knew that she had these very special characters and she changed the ending based on the way that Duck's character had developed. For Giggle, Giggle, Quack , she and Betsy worked interactively which is not typical in the children's publishing world. Doreen commented that Betsy was tremendously helpful and during a six day book tour took Doreen "under her wing." The genesis of her most recent book, Dairy of a Worm , was based on a series of fleeting ideas. Doreen is not a country dweller--she lives in Manhattan. She struggled with the text until she concluded that the story should be written as a journal. Harry Bliss, who had illustrated covers for the New Yorker magazine, has made the story even funnier with his offbeat illustrations. Kids love its irreverence. They also pick up on the message of the importance of a very little creature who in reality is vital to the earth's well being. Doreen hopes that one of the messages that comes across to kids is the reassurance that what they are doing is important; no matter how small and insignificant one might feel. "Kids live in an adult world, but they do have a place and importance." Look for more collaboration between these two--A Diary of a Spider, which is underway, and possibly Doreen's latest entitled The Diary of a Fly . She noted in her remarks about the latter that these small and sometimes pesky creatures are some of the most sophisticated fliers on the planet; and even the military spends resources studying them. As to some of the basic biographical facts, Doreen was born in Queens, New York, but grew up on Long Island. Later she went to Penn State where she majored in journalism. Her years after graduation were spent in publishing, and then she decided to go to law school. He father was a cop and she always wanted to be a DA--a slightly different arm of law enforcement. Even though she wanted to go to school fulltime, she had to work since she needed a way to pay all the bills. Another fringe benefit of attending law school was her marriage to a fellow student. She met her husband at St. John's School of Law in Queens, and he is still a practicing attorney. Doreen does not work on just one
project at a time--she likes to have multiple projects underway and tries
to write every day. Sometimes she is jotting down an idea, or writing a
chapter and sometimes she is in a brainstorming mode. One of her
publishers, HarperCollins, has really gotten behind her latest book and
sent her on author tours and developed a promotion piece. One of the
things Doreen likes to foster as she travels and speaks to kids, and also
in her work, is the need to be carefree and enjoy life and especially to
laugh. A sense of humor needs to be fostered to get through the ups and
downs of life.
Reviews Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type Awards, Honors, Prizes: ISBN: 0-689-83213-3 Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type ISBN: 0-78820-764-4 Diary of a Worm Awards, Honors, Prizes: ISBN: 0-06-000150-X ISBN: 0-06-000151-8 Giggle, Giggle, Quack Awards, Honors, Prizes: ISBN: 0-689-84506-5 added 7/30/04
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ReviewCows that type? Impossible!"
That's what Farmer Brown thinks when he first hears the "click, clack"
from the barn, but then he reads the note the cows write him. All they
want is electric blankets for the cold barn. When he refuses, they go on
strike. What's worse for the farmer is that the strike spreads to the cold
hens as well. Duck finally negotiates a compromise. Unfortunately for
Farmer Brown, the ducks have learned from all this, leaving us with a
smile at the ending. This broadly humorous nonsense finds an appropriately
bold, almost slapdash visual counterpart in Lewin's illustrations. Thick,
brushed black lines define the characters and farm environment, while
washes of color help emphasize gestures and evoke emotions, as when the
red door symbolizes the farmer's rage. Great slapstick also suggests
thoughts on animal rights. 2000, Simon & Schuster, Ages 5 to 8,
$15.00. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's
Literature)
Diary of a Worm has LOTS of dirt, but mainly it's got a delightful sense of humor. Again, written in diary form (and if your children ask how a worm can hold a pencil, the cover illustration addresses that wonderfully) we learn three things that worms (or this worm at least) should always remember: "1. The earth gives us everything we need. 2. When we dig tunnels, we help take care of the earth. 3. Never bother Daddy when he's eating the newspaper." This is the book that gives us our "near death" experience as we see what the underside of a shoe looks like to a worm when it has slithered onto a hopscotch game. One of my favorite parts is the school dance. "Last night I went to the school dance. You put your head in. You put your head out. You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself about. That's all we could do." The illustration shows these semi-disgusted worm faces looking at each other realizing maybe that the Hokey Pokey was not the best choice of dances for worms to do. Our little worm lists reasons he likes and dislikes being a worm. No cavities because he has no teeth (that's good), can't chew gum (that's bad). The end papers of the book have photos from his photo album including the family vacation on Compost Island. 2003, HarperCollins, $15.99 and $16.89, Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Sharon Levin (Children's Literature)
When Farmer Brown
sets out on vacation, he leaves his brother Bob in charge of his farm with
the parting words, "I wrote everything down for you. Just follow my
instructions and everything will be fine. But keep an eye on Duck. He's
trouble." As Farmer Brown's car heads down the lane, Duck, with a gleam in
his eye, spies a pencil in the dirt. The first note that Bob reads informs
him "Tuesday night is pizza night (not the frozen kind!)." Furthermore,
"The hens prefer anchovies." Meanwhile, as Duck and the hens observe Bob
through an open window, they let loose a "Giggle, giggle, cluck." Bob
knows how to follow instructions, and "Twenty-nine minutes later there was
hot pizza in the barn." As the week progresses, Bob diligently obeys the
penciled notes he finds about the house, giving the pigs a bubble bath and
drying them off with the monogrammed "good towels" ("Giggle, giggle,
oink"), and popping corn as the cows settle themselves in the living room
for movie night ("Giggle, giggle, moo"). Only a routine telephone call
from the vacationing Farmer Brown puts an end to the animals' week of high
living. The expressions on the animals' faces as Duck successfully pulls
the wool over Bob's eyes - a hen smothers a giggle beneath her wing, while
two cows share a smirk of delight -- invite children to share the joke in
this amusing tale of good-natured trickery. CCBC categories: Picture Books
For Older Children; Picture Books For Younger Children. 2002, Simon &
Schuster, 32 pages, $15.95. Ages 4-7. CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book
Center Choices, 2003)
