Gray, Rita

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Gray, Rita

Personal

Married; children: two. Education: Completed B.S. and M.S.W. at universities in New York.

Addresses

Home—New York, NY. E-mail—info@ritagraytoday.com.

Career

Writer. Formerly operated an after-school program.

Writings

PICTURE BOOKS

Nonna's Porch, illustrated by Terry Widener, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2004.

The Wild Little Horse, illustrated by Ashley Wolff, Dutton (New York, NY), 2005.

Easy Street, illustrated by Mary Bono, Dutton (New York, NY), 2006.

Mama Mine, Mama Mine, illustrated by Ponder Goembel, Dutton (New York, NY), 2008.

Sidelights

Rita Gray has always loved young children. Whether running an after-school program, working in social service, writing, or playing with her own children, her focus has always been on young lives. When she decided to begin writing, Gray started with a story book, Nonna's Porch, which is based on her own experience. Interestingly enough, her first story about growing up was written on her own Nonna's porch.

Nonna's Porch is a quiet picture book that describes a day as viewed by a grandchild visiting his grandmother's house. The boy describes the porch and the sounds he can hear from it, the games he plays with the other children, and the sound of his grandmother's heartbeat at the end of the day. "Gray's poetic first effort is as satisfying as an ice-cold glass of lemonade and as comforting as a hug from Grandma," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Kathy Piehl, in her review for School Library Journal, wrote that "Gray captures the sights and sounds of an idyllic summer day in the country." According to a Publishers Weekly contributor, "even youngest readers will grasp that Nonna, in her serene stillness, animates everything and everyone in her vicinity."

Gray's The Wild Little Horse features a story of youthful curiosity and exploration. A young horse goes exploring and discovers a larger world around him before coming home to the comfort of the barn and his mother. "Little horse lovers will be besotted," predicted a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Carol Schene, writing for School Library Journal, noted that Gray's "rhyming verse reads easily and is interspersed with repeated sound."

Unlike the quiet of Nonna's Porch, Easy Street is full of noise as the characters build an asphalt roadway. Using "minimal rhyme," according to a Kirkus Reviews contributor, Gray offers children a step-by-step look at how a road is built. Older readers can gain additional insight into road construction in the book's afterword, which goes into greater depth about the process. Cassandra A. Lopez, reviewing Easy Street for School Library Journal, considered the picture book an "energetic read-aloud," while the Kirkus Reviews contributor maintained that the details in the afterword "compliment … the read-aloud bounce of the text."

Gray explores the relationship between children and their mothers in Mama Mine, Mama Mine. Featuring different animal mothers on the farm, she describes the chores each creature does while away from its young ones. In addition to being informative, Mama Mine, Mama Mine also reassures young readers that working mothers always return home.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2004, review of Nonna's Porch, p. 1007; August 15, 2005, review of The Wild Little Horse, p. 914; May 1, 2006, review of Easy Street, p. 458.

Publishers Weekly, November 29, 2004, review of Nonna's Porch, p. 39.

School Library Journal, November, 2004, Kathy Piehl, review of Nonna's Porch, p. 104; September, 2005, Carol Schene, review of The Little Wild Horse, p. 171; June, 2006, Cassandra A. Lopez, review of Easy Street, p. 113.