If You Give an Author a Pencil (Meet the Author) [Hardcover]

Laura Joffe Numeroff (Author), Sherry Shahan (Photographer)

Book Description

Series: Meet the Author

Author Laura Numeroff, whose first book, "Amy for Short," grew out of a college assignment, recounts her life and describes how her daily activities and creative process are interwoven.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Richard C Owen Pub (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572745959
• ISBN-13: 978-1572745957
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Numeroff grew up in Brooklyn, with her mother, father and two older sisters. Her house was filled with books, art, music and folk dancing.

She attended Pratt Institute and graduated with a degree in communications and a contract for her first children's book, AMY FOR SHORT, published in 1975 by Macmillan.

A New York Times best-selling children's book author, Laura is best known for the series based on her book IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE. First printed in 1985, "Mouse" is in its 40th printing. The fourth book in the series, IF YOU TAKE A MOUSE TO THE MOVIES was on the New York Times Children's Best Seller list for five months- nine weeks at number one.

Publisher's Weekly listed IF YOU TAKE A MOUSE TO THE MOVIES as the number two book for children in 2000 (Harry Potter was number one) and at one point, Laura had three books on the New York Times Bestseller List in the same week.

In 2000, IF YOU GIVE A PIG A PANCAKE was featured on the Oprah show three times, and was recommended by Oprah's first kids' book club, as well as being noted as Oprah's favorite children's book of the year on her Christmas show. "PIG" was also on Publisher's Weekly Bestseller List for over a year. In addition, the series has sold over 4.5 million copies, been printed in fourteen languages, and won the prestigious Quill Award in the picture book category.

Some of Laura's other books currently in print are: WHAT MOMMIES DO BEST/WHAT DADDIES DO BEST, DOGS DON'T WEAR GLASSES, THE CHICKEN SISTERS, WHY A DISGUISE? The first two books in Laura's JELLYBEANS book series made the New York Times Best Seller List.

Hillary Clinton, President Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush have all read Laura's books to kids. First Lady Michelle Obama, her mother, her daughters, Malia and Sasha read Laura's book at the 2010 Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn. Laura was one of ten children's authors invited to a literacy day in Washington during the Bush administration in 2001. She has also visited over 100 elementary schools and has been a speaker at teacher conferences around the country.

Laura donates book sales to FIRST BOOK, a non-profit organization that provides brand new books to children who otherwise would not have access to them. She has also donated all royalties from THE HOPE TREE- KIDS TALK OUT ABOUT BREAST CANCER, to the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Laura has appeared on The Today show twice as well as Good Morning America. On her December 13th, 2000 appearance on The Today Show, Laura donated 500 Mouse mini-books with doll ornaments to the show's toy drive.

When not writing, Laura takes tennis lessons (she says she's not very good but loves it anyway), reads to children in hospitals and foster homes and calls herself a book and movie fanatic.

Customer Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars If you spark a child's imagination..., November 29, 2011

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Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: If You Give an Author a Pencil (Meet the Author) (Hardcover)

My first grader reads voraciously (a passion shared by mom), and is developing her writing skills. She has been writing since she was four, and every now and then, she presents me with a little booklet of stories. So when she came across this title in her school library, she got very excited. For some reason, she was not able to check the title out, so we went to our local library, and it did not have the book, so I came to my favorite online bookstore of course:)

Having read several other author biographies in the same series (Eve Bunting, Cynthia Rylant), we were looking forward to discovering something interesting about author Laura Numeroff (one of my daughter's favorite books back when she was three/four was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie), and what an insightful read!

We learned about Ms. Numeroff's early beginnings, how she grew up in a house filled with books, art, and love. What I especially liked about this book was the details about what inspired Ms. Numeroff, and her writing process. Also, the level of tenacity and persistence - Ms. Numeroff had eight rejections at one time, but she never gave up, and look where she is now! It is a story that inspires young children and aspiring writers to keep persevering at one's writing and not to call it quits.

Lavishly illustrated with photos of the author at work, at rest, and at play, as well as some of the illustrations from her various children's books, this is a delightful, inspiring author biography that deserves a place in school and public libraries.