Hayward, Linda 1943–

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Hayward, Linda 1943–

Personal

Born June 6, 1943, in Los Angeles, CA; married. Education: University of California, graduated, 1965. Hobbies and other interests: Bird-watching, alligator-spotting, stargazing, swimming.

Addresses

Home and office—Naples, FL. E-mail—PforPelican@aol.com.

Career

Educator, editor, and author. Formerly worked as a teacher in New York, NY; worked as an editor for New York publishers.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Letters, Sounds, and Words: A Phonic Dictionary, illustrated by Carol Nicklaus, Platt & Munk, 1973, published as A Phonic Dictionary, 1981.

(Reteller) Hansel and Gretel, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett, Random House (New York, NY), 1974.

The Curious Little Kitten, illustrated by Maggie Swanson, Golden Press (New York, NY), 1982.

When You Were a Baby, illustrated by Ruth Sanderson, Golden Press (New York, NY), 1982.

The Curious Little Kitten: A Sniff Sniff Book, illustrated by Maggie Swanson, Golden Press (New York, NY), 1983.

The Curious Little Kitten's First Christmas, illustrated by Maggie Swanson, Golden Press (New York, NY), 1984.

(With David Prebenna) The Simon & Schuster Picture Dictionary of Phonics: From A to Zh, illustrated by Carol Nicklaus, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1984.

I Had a Bad Dream: A Book about Nightmares, illustrated by Eugenie, Golden Books (New York, NY), 1985.

Snowy Day Bear, illustrated by Lucinda McQueen, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1985.

Windy Day Puppy, illustrated by Lucinda McQueen, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1985.

Story-a-Night, illustrated by Amye Rosenberg, Random House (New York, NY), 1985.

The Story of Violet Pickles (adapted from characters created by E.J. Taylor), illustrated by Pat Sustendal, Random House (New York, NY), 1986.

The Curious Little Kitten around the House, illustrated by Maggie Swanson, Golden Press (New York, NY), 1986.

Rainy Day Kitten, illustrated by Lucinda McQueen, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1986.

Sunny Day Bunny, illustrated by Lucinda McQueen, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1986.

(Reteller) Bible Stories from the Old Testament, illustrated by Katherine Dietz Coville, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1987.

(Reteller) Noah's Ark: A Story from the Bible, illustrated by Freire Wright, Random House (New York, NY), 1987, reprinted, 2003.

(Adaptor) Hello, House! (based on the characters of Joel Chandler Harris), illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, Random House (New York, NY), 1988.

D Is for Doll, illustrated by Denise Fleming, Random House (New York, NY), 1988.

Tea Party Manners, illustrated by Denise Fleming, Random House (New York, NY), 1988.

This Is the House, illustrated by Denise Fleming, Random House (New York, NY), 1988.

(Reteller) The Three Little Pigs, illustrated by Madelaine Gill Linden, Random House (New York, NY), 1988.

The Runaway Christmas Toy, illustrated by Ann Schweninger, Random House (New York, NY), 1988.

(Reteller) Goldilocks and the Three Bears, illustrated by M.G. Linden, Random House (New York, NY), 1988.

(Reteller) Little Red Riding Hood, illustrated by M.G. Linden, Random House (New York, NY), 1988.

Alphabet School, illustrated by Ann Schweninger, Random House, 1989.

Baby Moses, illustrated by Barb Henry, Random House (New York, NY), 1989.

All Stuck Up, illustrated by Normand Chartier, Random House (New York, NY), 1990.

The First Thanksgiving, illustrated by James Watling, Random House (New York, NY), 1990.

I Spy, Random House (New York, NY), 1993.

(Reteller) My First Bible, illustrated by Maria Grazia Boldorini, Random House (New York, NY), 1994.

The Stupid Fish, Random House (New York, NY), 1994.

Wheels, Random House (New York, NY), 1996.

(Adaptor with Cathy Goldsmith) Wet Foot, Dry Foot, Low Foot, High Foot: Learn about Opposites and Differences (based on books by Dr. Seuss), Random House (New York, NY), 1996.

(Adaptor with Cathy Goldsmith) Did I Ever Tell You How High You Can Count? Learn about Counting beyond One Hundred (based on books by Dr. Seuss), Random House (New York, NY), 1996.

Cave People, illustrated by Gabriela Dellosso, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1997.

Lambchop and Friends Band in a Book, illustrated by Chris Angelilli, Golden Books (New York, NY), 1998.

The Curious Little Kitten's First Christmas, illustrated by Maggie Swanson, Golden Books (New York, NY), 1999.

The Adventures of Cliff Hanger, illustrated by Joe Ewers, Golden Books (New York, NY), 2001.

A Day in the Life of a Builder, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 2001.

A Day in the Life of a Dancer, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 2001.

A Day in the Life of a Doctor, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 2001.

A Day in the Life of a Firefighter, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 2001.

A Day in the Life of a Musician, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 2001.

A Day in the Life of a Police Officer, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 2001.

A Day in the Life of a Teacher, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 2001.

A Day in the Life of a TV Reporter, Dorling Kindersley (New York, NY), 2001.

(Adapter) Pepe and Papa, illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith, Golden Books (New York, NY), 2001.

(Adapter) Little by Little, illustrated by Peter Grosshauer, Golden Books (New York, NY), 2002.

What Homework?, Kane Press (New York, NY), 2002.

All Stuck Up, Random House (New York, NY), 2003.

The First Thanksgiving, Random House (New York, NY), 2003.

I Am a Pencil, illustrated by Carol Nicklaus, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2003.

It Takes Three, illustrated by Michal Koontz, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2003.

Monster Bug, illustrated by Diane Palmisciano, Kane Press (New York, NY), 2004.

The King's Chorus, illustrated by Jennifer P. Goldfinger, Clarion (New York, NY), 2006.

"SESAME STREET MUPPET" BOOKS

The Sesame Street Dictionary, illustrated by Joe Mathieu, Random House, (New York, NY) 1980.

The Sesame Street Storybook Alphabet, illustrated by Tom Cooke, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1980.

Going Up! The Elevator Counting Book, illustrated by Tom Leigh, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1980, published as Going Up with Grover, 1992.

Early Bird on Sesame Street, illustrated by Tom Leigh, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1980.

Twiddlebugs at Work, illustrated by Irene Trivas, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1980.

The Case of the Missing Duckie, illustrated by Maggie Swanson, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1981.

The Sesame Street Sun, illustrated by Tim Kirk, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1981.

Sesame Seasons, illustrated by Rick Brown, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1981, published as A Big Year on Sesame Street, 1989.

Which One Doesn't Belong?, and Other Puzzles from Sesame Street, illustrated by Kimberly A. McSparran, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1981.

A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch, illustrated by Bill Davis, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1981.

The City Worm and the Country Worm, illustrated by Carol Nicklaus, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1983.

I Can Count to Ten and Back Again, illustrated by Maggie Swanson, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1985.

Look What I Can Do, illustrated by Richard Brown, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1985.

Mine: A Sesame Street Book about Sharing, illustrated by Norman Gorbaty, Random House, 1988.

Grover's Summer Vacation, illustrated by Ron Fritz, Random House, 1989.

The Biggest Cookie in the World, illustrated by Joe Ewers, Random House, 1989.

Elmo Goes to Day Camp, illustrated by Carol Nicklaus, Random House, 1990.

Big Bird Visits Granny Bird, illustrated by Carol Nicklaus, Random House, 1991.

Ernie and Bert's Summer Project, illustrated by Carol Nicklaus, Random House, 1991.

Baker, Baker, Cookie Maker, Random House (New York, NY), 1998.

The Sesame Street Dictionary, illustrated by Joe Mathieu, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

"ON MY WAY WITH SESAME STREET" SERIES; WITH OTHERS

Colors and Shapes, illustrated by Tom Brannen and others, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1989.

I Can Count, illustrated by Tom Cooke and others, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1989.

In the City, illustrated by Cooke and others, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1989.

My Family, illustrated by Cooke and others, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1989.

People in My Neighborhood, illustrated by Richard Eric Brown and others, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1989.

Sidelights

Linda Hayward grew up knowing that she wanted to be a writer. When she was ten years old, she started a newspaper and sold it, for a nickel, to all the members of her family. She continued to create her solo publications until high school, when she was appointed editor of the school newspaper and won an On-the-Spot article-writing contest. After graduating from college, Hayward moved to New York City and worked there as a teacher. Later on she made a career shift to publishing, and in her editorial position began producing texts for children's books.

A prolific author of picture books and board books for the preschool set, Hayward has written many stories based on the popular Sesame Street television show. In addition to recounting the antics of Bert and Ernie, Elmo, the Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and the lovable but slightly confused Grover, she has also penned dozens of other stories, including a number of retellings of classic folk and fairy tales. Drawing on her experiences as a teacher, she has also compiled dictionaries for young people, including the 1,300-word The Sesame Street Dictionary and The Simon and Schuster Picture Dictionary of Phonics: From A to Zh. The definitions in The Sesame Street Dictionary were described by a contributor to Publishers Weekly as "crisp and unmistakable," the critic predicting that the book will allow beginning readers to learn spelling "and have a good time to boot." Similarly, a Publishers Weekly reviewer termed Hayward's Letter, Sounds, and Words: A Phonic Dictionary "a mixture of pure fun and effective education."

Among Hayward's books based on Jim Henson's Muppet characters, which were made popular via Sesame Street are The Case of the Missing Duckie, Going Up!: The Elevator Counting Book, The Biggest Cookie in the World, and A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch. In A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch the curmudgeonly Oscar emerges from his trash can just long enough to tell readers what he dislikes most about his can, his street, and everyone else on Sesame Street. Suspense fills Sesame Street in The Case of the Missing Duckie, as Ernie becomes perplexed at the disappearance of his yellow plastic bath-time buddy. Fortunately, ace detective Sherlock Hemlock comes to his aid and the mystery is eventually solved. The Biggest Cookie in the World finds Cookie Monster daydreaming while waiting for his latest baking project—cookies, of course!—to pop from the oven. In A Big Year on Sesame Street, first published as Sesame Seasons, Hayward includes not only stories, but poems, games, and suggestions for fun activities to celebrate each of the four seasons of the year, and also features ideas for welcoming in the New Year.

Books featuring original characters by Hayward include When You Were a Baby, Story-a-Night, The Curious Little Kitten: A Sniff Sniff Book, and the humorous The Runaway Christmas Toy, the last which finds a toy train hoping to road-test its wheels by rolling out of Santa's workshop before the jolly old gentleman is ready to make his annual rounds. In The Curious Little Kitten, as well as in the book's two sequels, a young kitten decides to expand her world and almost (but not quite) ends up using one of her nine lives. In Story-a-Night Hayward does what the title suggests, presenting 365 short stories that can be used to entertain youngsters on their way to bed every night of the year.

Hayward has also adapted several popular folk and fairy tales into picture-book format, among them Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Little Red Riding Hood. In Hello, House, which features illustrations by talented artist Lynn Munsinger, Hayward presents readers with a retelling of a Brer Rabbit tale that School Library Journal contributor Gale W. Sherman deemed "simple but delightful." Based on a story by Joel Chandler Harris that pits the wits of Brer Rabbit against the wily Brer Wolf, Hayward's adaptation was also praised by Booklist reviewer Phillis Wilson for retaining the "integrity" of the original story. All StuckUp also features the antics of Brer Rabbit as he attempts to become unstuck from a tarbaby—a big gob of sticky stuff—used as a trap by Brer Fox. In the retold folktale Pepe and Papa, Pepe tries to help out by taking the chiles grown by his family to market, but ends up getting the chiles, his father, and his burro all tangled up. "New readers will get lots of phonic practice in this very simple version" of a humorous tale, according to Hazel Rochman in Booklist.

The King's Chorus is an original tale that has the feel of a porquois tale. Kadoodle the rooster cannot understand why the other farm animals do not appreciate his crowing all through the night. When the sleepy farm animals can no longer stand Kadoodle's crowing, Honketta the goose tells the rooster a story that explains why roosters only crow to greet the sun. Won over by Honketta's tale, Kadoodle crows to greet the sun the very next morning. "Hayward's animated prose will be great for reading aloud," wrote Shelle Rosenfeld in Booklist, and a Kirkus Reviews contributor predicted that parents will appreciate Hayward's "ironic text and behavior-modification theme."

In addition to dictionaries and reading aides, Hayward has also written several other nonfiction works geared for young students. In The First Thanksgiving she tells the story of the first New England colonists as they battled against starvation and nature while surviving in their new home, and introduces such real-life characters as Native American Squanto. The book was praised by Roger Sutton, who wrote in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books that The First Thanksgiving is "welcome, particularly for its resistance to fictionalization." In her Booklist review, Hazel Rochman noted that Hayward's holiday offering should "appeal to both beginners and to reluctant readers" looking for information on colonial village life. Other nonfiction works include My First Bible, an edition designed especially for youngsters and published with illustrations by Maria Grazia Boldorini. Hayward has also adapted several other stories from the Bible, among them Baby Moses, a story of the infant's trip down the Nile in a basket made of bullrushes while escaping from Pharaoh's wrath. School Library Journal contributor Susan Kaminow commended Baby Moses as "unique" and "an interesting reading experience."

In I Am a Book, another of Hayward's nonfiction titles, a book explains to readers how it came to be made. From wood chips to pages in a binding, the book explains the typical life cycle of a book as well as vital parts of the final product, including the title and copyright pages. "The text maintains a light tone, keeping the information accessible to beginning readers," wrote Carolyn Phelan in Booklist.

On her home page, Hayward offered the following advice for young writers: "Try different kinds of writing. If you want something, write about why. If you disagree with someone, write down your arguments. If you have an experience that makes you happy or angry or sad, write a poem. Use your imagination. When you write a story, imagine it is happening to you. Then try to make your reader imagine what you imagine."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 1988, Phillis Wilson, review of Hello, House!, p. 330; December 1, 1990, Hazel Rochman, review of The First Thanksgiving, p. 754; November 1, 2001, review of Pepe and Papa, p. 486; January 1, 2006, Carolyn Phelan, review of I Am a Book, p. 105; February 15, 2007, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of The King's Chorus, p. 83.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March, 1981, review of The Sesame Street Dictionary, p. 135; September, 1985, review of I Had a Bad Dream: A Book about Nightmares, p. 10; June, 1987, review of Noah's Ark: A Story from the Bible, p. 182; June, 1989, review of Baby Moses, p. 251; July, 1990, review of All Stuck Up, p. 267; November, 1990, Roger Sutton, review of The First Thanksgiving, p. 61.

Instructor and Teacher, May, 1981, Allan Yeager, review of A Phonic Dictionary, p. 62.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2006, review of The King's Chorus, p. 1072.

Publishers Weekly, June 25, 1973, review of Letters, Sounds, and Words: A Phonic Dictionary, p. 74; November 21, 1980, review of Sesame Street Dictionary, p. 59.

School Library Journal, December, 1980, Kenneth F. Kister, review of The Sesame Street Dictionary, p. 18; May, 1982, review of The Sesame Street Dictionary, p. 21; February, 1985, review of A Phonic Dictionary, p. 64; June-July, 1987, Nancy Palmer, review of Noah's Ark, p. 80; March, 1988, Patricia Pearl, review of Bible Stories from the Old Testament, p. 182; October, 1988, Gale W. Sherman, review of Hello, House!, pp. 117-118; December, 1989, Susan Kaminow, review of Baby Moses, p. 95; August, 1990, Sharon McElmeel, review of All Stuck Up, p. 130; June, 1994, Kathy Piehl, review of My First Bible, p. 122; February, 1999, Sharon R. Pearce, review of Baker, Baker, Cookie Maker, p. 84; November, 2002, Wendy S. Carroll, review of What Homework?, p. 124; October, 2005, Erlene Bishop Killeen, review of I Am a Book, p. 140; October, 2003, Pat Leach, review of It Takes Three, p. 125.