ALLISON, Linda 1948–

PERSONAL: Born July 7, 1948, in San Bernardino, CA; daughter of Lewis and Marie (Maltos) Allison. Education: University of California—Berkeley, A.B.

ADDRESSES: Home—2220 Sacramento St., Berkeley, CA 94720.

CAREER: Author and illustrator.

AWARDS, HONORS: New York Academy of Science honorable mention, 1980, for Wild Inside: Sierra Club's Guide to the Great Indoors; Blood and Guts: A Working Guide to Your Own Insides was listed on the New York Times best-seller list for children's books.

WRITINGS:

JUVENILE

(Self-illustrated) The Reasons for Seasons: The Great Cosmic Megagalactic Trip without Moving from Your Chair, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1975.

(With David Katz; self-illustrated) Blood and Guts: A Working Guide to Your Own Insides, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1976.

(Self-illustrated) The Sierra Club Summer Book, Sierra Books (San Francisco, CA), 1977.

(With Stella Allison) Rags: Making a Little Something Out of Almost Nothing, with photographs by Tom Liden, C. N. Potter (New York, NY), 1979.

(Self-illustrated) The Wild Inside: Sierra Club's Guide to the Great Indoors, Sierra Books (San Francisco, CA), 1979.

Trash Artists Workshop, Fearon Teacher Aids (Belmont, CA), 1981.

(With David Katz; self-illustrated) Gee Wiz! How to Mix Art and Science; or, The Art of Thinking Scientifically, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1983.

Dinosaurs, California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco, CA), 1987.

Earthquakes, California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco, CA), 1987.

Sharks, California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco, CA), 1987.

Biters and Strangers, California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco, CA), 1988.

Penguins, California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco, CA), 1988.

(With Tom Ferguson) The Stethoscope Book, Addison-Wesley (Reading, MA), 1991.

(With Martha Weston) Eenie Meenie Miney Math!: Math Play for You and Your Preschooler, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1993.

Wordsaroni: Word Play for You and Your Preschooler, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1993.

(With William S. Wells) The Get-Well-Quick Kit, Addison-Wesley (Reading, MA), 1993.

(With Martha Weston) Pint-Size Science: Finding-Out Fun for You and Your Young Child, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1994.

(With Martha Weston) Razzle Dazzle Doodle Art: Creative Play for You and Your Young Child, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1994.

(With Martha Weston) Howdy Do Me and You: Getting-Along Activities for You and Your Young Child, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1996.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Writing computer software for children's learning games.

SIDELIGHTS: Linda Allison's books encourage children and parents to learn while playing. In Eenie Meenie Miney Math!: Math Play for You and Your Preschooler, Allison presents mathematical activities geared toward preschoolers. Teachers and parents are given ideas for tying in math learning with everyday life. Suggestions include looking for numbers on clothing, vehicles, telephones, and signs, and practicing sorting and matching skills through chores like laundry and cleaning messy rooms. Games are outlined, including counting games with cereal, concentration exercises, activities to reinforce pattern comprehension, and games that use whole-body movements such as hopping, skipping, and jumping. Reviewing the book for Teaching Children Mathematics, David J. Whitin concluded the book had a "very lively, entertaining, playful tone and presents an appealing invitation for exploring mathematics with young children." Carolyn Phelan praised the book in her Booklist review, citing its "excellent ideas with clear text written in a down-to-earth tone."

In Razzle Dazzle Doodle Art: Creative Play for You and Your Young Child, Allison encourages adults to bring out the artist in children. In a style that is "humorous and laid-back," according to Hazel Rochman in Booklist, the author gives suggestions for easy, creative play and projects, including junk art, recipes for play clay, and activities such as bathtub bodypainting. Activities for in the car and other confined places are also offered. Wordsaroni: Word Play for You and Your Preschooler gives suggestions for talking with children, reading aloud effectively, creating stories, using television constructively, and playing with computers and tape recorders to develop language. Phelan praised it for its "abundance of good ideas."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 1993, Carolyn Phelan, review of Eenie Meenie Miney Math!: Math Play for You and Your Preschooler, and Wordsaroni: Word Play for You and Your Preschooler, p. 397; September 15, 1994, Hazel Rochman, review of Razzle Dazzle Doodle Art: Creative Play for You and Your Young Child, p. 138.

School Library Journal, January, 1980, Margaret Bush, review of The Wild Inside: Sierra Club's Guide to the Great Indoors, p. 64; May, 1984, Ruby G. Campbell, review of Gee, Wiz! How to Mix Art and Science or the Art of Thinking Scientifically, p. 61; January, 1995, April L. Judge, review of Pint-Size Science: Finding-out Fun for You and Your Young Child, and Razzle Dazzle Doodle Art, p. 39.

Teaching Children Mathematics, November, 1994, David J. Whitin, review of Eenie Meenie Miney Math!, p. 193.

Wilson Library Bulletin, September, 1989, Carol Kappelmann, review of The Sierra Club Summer Book, p. S12, review of The Wild Inside, p. S16.