Donahue, Dorothy

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Donahue, Dorothy

Personal

Born in WI; married, husband's name James; children: two. Education: Rhode Island School of Design, M.F.A.

Addresses

Home and office—Boulder, CO. E-mail—dot@indra.com.

Career

Illustrator and author of children's books. Has worked as an art teacher and as an illustrator at Hallmark Cards.

Awards, Honors

Notable Children's Book selection, American Library Association, for Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Big and Little on the Farm, Golden Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Veggie Soup, Winslow Press (Delray Beach, FL), 2000.

(Adapter, with Susan Stevens Crummel) City Dog, Country Dog, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2004.

ILLUSTRATOR

Karen Waggoner, The Lemonade Babysitter, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1992.

Susan Patron, Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1993.

John Schindel, Dear Daddy, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1995.

Hazel Hutchins, Believing Sophie, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1995.

Laurie Halse Anderson, Turkey Pox, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1996.

Diana Noonan, The Biggest Bear in the Woods, Celebration Press (Glenview, IL), 1996.

Laurie Halse Anderson, No Time for Mother's Day, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1999.

Jan Carr, Frozen Noses, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1999.

Jan Carr, Dappled Apples, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2001.

Jan Carr, Splish, Splash, Spring, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2001.

Jan Carr, Sweet Hearts, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2003.

Susan Stevens Crummel, All in One Hour, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2003.

Marion Dane Bauer, If Frogs Made Weather, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2005.

Susan Stevens Crummel, Ten-Gallon Bart, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2006.

Adaptations

City Dog, Country Dog was adapted as an audiobook, Spoken Arts, 2006.

Sidelights

Dorothy Donahue is the author and illustrator of a number of picture books for young readers, including Veggie Soup and City Dog, Country Dog. Donahue has also provided the artwork for books by other writers, such as Turkey Pox by Laurie Halse Anderson, Sweet Hearts by Jan Carr, and Ten-Gallon Bart and All in One Hour, the last two collaborations with writer Susan Stevens Crummel.

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Donahue began her career in illustration at Hallmark Cards. She made her literary debut in 1992, serving as the illustrator for The Lemonade Babysitter, a picture book by Karen Waggoner. In the work, a young girl who hopes to get rid of her new babysitter instead finds him to be an amiable companion. "Donahue's soft, sherbet-colored illustrations employ intricate patterns and designs," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

In Believing Sophie, a picture book with a text by well-known writer Hazel Hutchins, a resourceful youngster proves her innocence after she is falsely accused of stealing. According to Booklist contributor Julie Corsaro, Donahue's illustrations, done in colored pencil and watercolor, "are highly patterned with a good dose of exaggeration and new-wave flair." Anderson's Turkey Pox, which concerns a grandmother's decision to spend Thanksgiving with her family after her grandchild falls ill, feature "bright watercolor paintings" by Donahue that "illustrate the story with warmth," according to Carolyn Phelan in Booklist.

Frozen Noses, Donahue's first collaboration with writer Jan Carr, describes the pleasures of frolicking on a wintry day. "The collage illustrations … feature a multiracial trio of friends," noted Booklist reviewer Marta Segal. Dappled Apples also with a text by Carr, extols the virtues of autumn. In this seasonal work Donahue's cut-paper collage "technique results in an almost 3-D effect," according to Shara Alpern in School Library Journal. A Kirkus Reviews critic also praised Donahue's artwork for Dappled Apples, stating that "the fluffy tissue paper clouds seem to pop right off the page." A young panda makes homemade valentines for his family in Carr's Sweet Hearts, a work "completely crafted with inventive cut-paper collages," according to Karin Snelson in Booklist. "Donahue's intricate collages" for the book "offer a wealth of textures and colors to stimulate the eye," remarked a contributor in Kirkus Reviews.

Donahue has teamed with Crummel on a number of children's books. In Ten-Gallon Bart, the beloved sheriff of Dog City prepares for a final showdown with Billy the Kid, a rough-and-tumble billy goat. "The large

format gives full rein to Donahue's artwork to detail the wild and woolly action and close-ups," a Kirkus Reviews critic noted, while JoAnn Jonas observed in School Library Journal that the illustrator's "beautiful textured papers and collage characters are full of detail and humor." A hungry mouse creates chaos in the cumulative tale All in One Hour, another joint project by Stevens and Crummel. According to a reviewer in Publishers Weekly, Donahue's "jubilant 3-D images, spanning each oversize spread, are so big, detailed and textured that they command interest."

Donahue published her first self-illustrated title, Big and Little on the Farm, in 1999. In the work, young readers identify adult and baby farm animals. "This is a good choice for lapsitting story times," observed Susan Dove Lempke in Booklist. Donahue followed with Veggie Soup, "a fresh story about friendship, advice, and sharing," as Lee Bock explained in School Library Journal. Miss Bun the rabbit, an award-winning cook, discovers that simpler is sometimes better when she invites her animal friends to contribute their own ingredients to her new soup recipe. Donahue's "cut-paper collages are a smorgasbord of rumpled texture and bright color," wrote a critic in Publishers Weekly. In City Dog, Country Dog Donahue again teamed with Crummel, this time providing a fresh take on a favorite Aesop's fable. Despite their many differences, Vincent van Dog and Henri LaPooch become fast friends after meeting in art school. Here, Donahue's "large paper-cut illustrations are filled with texture, bright colors, and humor," wrote School Library Journal contributor Linda Staskus.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 19995, April Judge, review of Dear Daddy, p. 1580; September 1, 1995, Julie Corsaro, review of Believing Sophie, p. 86; September 1, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of Turkey Pox, p. 135; April 1, 1999, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Big and Little on the Farm, p. 1419; September 15, 1999, Marta Segal, review of Frozen Noses, p. 266; November 15, 2000, Marta Segal, review of Veggie Soup, p. 648; October 1, 2002, Carolyn Phelan, review of Dappled Apples, p. 324; December 1, 2002, Karin Snelson, review of Sweet Hearts, p. 672; April 1, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of Ten-Gallon Bart, p. 48.

Family Matters, winter, 2000, Carole Jean, review of Dear Daddy, p. 71.

Horn Book, January-February, 1993, Maeve Visser Knoth, review of The Lemonade Babysitter, p. 79.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2001, review of Dappled Apples, p. 1208; October 1, 2002, review of Sweet Hearts, p. 1463; February 15, 2003, review of All in One Hour, p. 303; April 1, 2005, review of If Frogs Made Weather, p. 412; February 15, 2006, review of Ten-Gallon Bart, p. 180.

Publishers Weekly, November 23, 1992, review of The Lemonade Babysitter, p. 62; February 8, 1999, review of Big and Little on the Farm, p. 216; September 4, 2000, review of Veggie Soup, p. 107; December 2, 2002, review of Sweet Hearts, p. 51; January 27, 2003, review of All in One Hour, p. 258.

School Library Journal, April, 1999, Maryann H. Owen, review of Big and Little on the Farm, p. 92; October, 2000, Lee Bock, review of Veggie Soup, p. 122; September, 2001, Shara Alpern, review of Dappled Apples, p. 184; November, 2002, Be Astengo, review of Sweet Hearts, p. 112; May, 2003, Dona Ratterree, review of All in One Hour, p. 110; June, 2004, Linda Staskus, review of City Dog, Country Dog, p. 106; May, 2005, Susan Weitz, review of If Frogs Made Weather, p. 76; April, 2006, JoAnn Jonas, review of Ten-Gallon Bart, p. 98; July, 2006, Teresa Bateman, review of City Dog, Country Dog (audiobook review), p. 53.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), February 18, 2001, review of Veggie Soup, p. 5.