Review
About Jenny’s Birthday Book “Jenny celebrates her birthday with a picnic in the park. All her friends are invited, and after the picnic supper they dance the sailor’s hornpipe. The illustrations have the same gaiety and charm that have appealed to so many young children in the past.” —
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s BooksPraise for Esther Averill and the Jenny series:“Averill colors her stories with abundant flights of clever fancy... But the nonchalance with which she delivers these makes them as real as her grounding details...Children will find Jenny's lessons about emotions and behavior helpful and reassuring.” —Christina Schwarz, The Atlantic Monthly, 2003
“The grace and charm of these little books are not only for children. In wording, illustration, and design they offer to
people of all ages a short interview of pure delight.”
—
The Saturday Review“There is a realness about Jenny, as well as a demure charm, that gives these annals of her doings a distinction lacking in many a more pretentious effort.” —
The New Yorker“In Jenny readers meet the perfect friend—an honest, fun-loving, and loyal playfellow and comrade-in-arms. How good to have Jenny back in print...” —Leonard S. Marcus, author of
Storied City: A Children’s Book Walking Tour Guide to New York City
About the Author
Esther Averill (1902–1992) began her career as a storyteller drawing cartoons for her local newspaper. After graduating from Vassar College in 1923, she moved first to New York City and then to Paris, where she founded her own publishing company. The Domino Press introduced American readers to artists from all over the world. In 1941, Esther Averill returned to the United States and found a job in the New York Public Library while continuing her work as a publisher. She wrote her first book about the red-scarfed, mild-mannered cat Jenny Linsky in 1944, modeling its heroine on her own shy cat. Esther Averill would eventually write twelve more tales about Miss Linsky and her friends including the
I Can Read Book, The Fire Cat, each of which was eagerly awaited by children all over the United States (and their parents, too).
