Judy Sierra, Children’s Author and Folklorist
Judy Sierra’s love of poetry was nurtured by her mother and father, who read poems to her and rewarded her for learning them by heart. By second grade, she was writing her school reports in rhyme and had created her first homemade comic books. In high school, she edited the literary magazine and drew cartoons for the school newspaper.
Before becoming a children’s author, Judy worked as a puppeteer, and storyteller. With her husband, Bob Kaminski, she formed the Sierra Puppet Theater, named after the Northern California mountains they both loved. She adopted the name of their theater as her pen name. Together, Judy and Bob crisscrossed the US to perform as artists-in-residence at schools, libraries, theaters, and Renaissance festivals. Their shadow puppet production of the Chinese legend of Monkey King was featured in a month-long residency at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.
Judy is the author of over forty books, including rambunctious tales in rhyme like Wild About Books, Counting Crocodiles, and The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate the School. Her Fall 2019 book, Everyone Counts, is a prequel to the bestselling Wild About Books. Judy also edits collections of folktales and folklore for children. Her latest book, Fifty Favorite Read-Aloud Folktales, co-authored with her husband, Bob Kaminski, is an anthology of their storytelling favorites.
Judy is both a storyteller and an expert in traditional storytelling. All of her writing for children is meant to be shared out loud. Wild About Books, a celebration of reading and libraries, was a New York Times #1 bestseller, and won the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award from the U.S. Association of Booksellers for Children. Her collection of folktales, Nursery Tales Around the World received the Aesop Prize from the American Folklore Society, and was named a notable book by the American Library Association, and one of the best books of the 20th century by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Current home: Portland, Oregon
Childhood home: Falls Church, Virginia
Family: Husband, Robert Kaminski
Education: BA French, American University, Washington DC
MA, PhD Folklore & Mythology Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
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WILD ABOUT BOOKS. Illustrated by Marc Brown. Knopf, 2004.
New York Times #1 Children's Picture Book Bestseller Association of Booksellers for Children's E.B. White Read-Aloud Award Book Sense (Independent Booksellers) Book of the Year Honor Book Bank Street College of Education's Irma Simonton Black Honor Book American Library Association Notable Book "Many picture-book authors who try their hands at rhyme have less-than-stellar results. Here, the best part of the book is Sierra's handy way with a rhyming text that not only scans properly but also is both clever and full of images that will amuse children ("Tasmanian devils found books so exciting / That soon they had given up fighting for writing") . . . A wonderful advertisement for the joys of a literary life."—Booklist (starred review) |
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MIND YOUR MANNERS, B.B. WOLF. Illustrated by J. Otto Seibold. Knopf, 2007.
“The Big Bad Wolf receives a lesson in manners in this hilarious fractured fairy tale that begins with a trip to the mailbox. While sorting through bills (including a rental fee for "sheep's clothing"), B. B. Wolf finds an invitation to the local library's storybook tea. . . Kids will delight in the ensuing slapstick humor and the references to familiar stories. . . Seibold's wild, skillful computer-generated art is filled with jokes and details that will invite repeated viewings. . . .”—Booklist |
SLEEPY LITTLE ALPHABET. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Knopf, 2009.
Horn Book Fanfare; IRA-CBC Children’s Choice Award
“Using humor perfectly tuned for the two- to five-year-old audience, Sierra and Sweet’s alphabet book will capture the attention of the younger end (who are beginning to learn letter shapes) as well as the older (who will pick up on the sometimes understated use of words beginning with those letters in both text and art) . . . The jaunty text and subversive humor in this hybrid alphabet book/bedtime story will certainly lead to repeat readings and new discoveries.”—Horn Book (starred review)
Horn Book Fanfare; IRA-CBC Children’s Choice Award
“Using humor perfectly tuned for the two- to five-year-old audience, Sierra and Sweet’s alphabet book will capture the attention of the younger end (who are beginning to learn letter shapes) as well as the older (who will pick up on the sometimes understated use of words beginning with those letters in both text and art) . . . The jaunty text and subversive humor in this hybrid alphabet book/bedtime story will certainly lead to repeat readings and new discoveries.”—Horn Book (starred review)
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IMAGINE THAT! HOW DR. SEUSS WROTE THE CAT IN THE HAT. Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. Knopf, 2017.
"Buoyantly told, rich in insights into the creative process as well as the crafts of writing, illustrating, and storytelling."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "It’s an engrossing and amusing glimpse of creativity in action and the making of a children’s book classic."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) |