Pinkwater, Jill

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Pinkwater, Jill

Personal

Married Daniel Manus Pinkwater (an author and radio commentator), October 12, 1969. Hobbies and other interests: Dogs.

Addresses

Home—Hyde Park, NY.

Career

Illustrator and author.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Cloud Horse, illustrated by Irene Brady, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard (New York, NY), 1983.

The Disappearance of Sister Perfect, Dutton (New York, NY), 1987.

Buffalo Brenda, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1989.

Tails of the Bronx: A Tale of the Bronx, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1991.

Mister Fred, Dutton (New York, NY), 1994.

ILLUSTRATOR

Daniel Pinkwater, Wallpaper from Space, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1996.

Daniel Pinkwater, Young Larry, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 1997.

Daniel Pinkwater, At the Hotel Larry, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 1997.

Daniel Pinkwater, Wolf Christmas, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 1998.

Daniel Pinkwater, Second-Grade Ape, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Daniel Pinkwater, Bongo Larry, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 1998.

Daniel Pinkwater, Rainy Morning, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1998.

Daniel Pinkwater, Big Bob and the Thanksgiving Potatoes, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Daniel Pinkwater, Big Bob and the Halloween Potatoes, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Daniel Pinkwater, Big Bob and the Magic Valentine's Day Potato, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Daniel Pinkwater, Big Bob and the Winter Holiday Potato, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Daniel Pinkwater, The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, Aladdin Paperbacks (New York, NY), 1999.

Daniel Pinkwater, Ice Cream Larry, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 1999.

Daniel Pinkwater, Cone Kong: The Scary Ice Cream Giant, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Daniel Pinkwater, Uncle Boris in the Yukon, and Other Shaggy Dog Stories, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001.

Daniel Pinkwater, Mush, a Dog from Space, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2002.

Daniel Pinkwater, Mush's Jazz Adventure, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2002.

Daniel Pinkwater, Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken Chicken Story (sequel to The Hoboken Chicken Emergency), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

Daniel Pinkwater, The Artsy Smartsy Club (sequel to Looking for Bobowicz), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.

Daniel Pinkwater, Dancing Larry, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2006.

Daniel Pinkwater, Sleepover Larry, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2006.

ILLUSTRATOR; "WEREWOLF CLUB" SERIES

Daniel Pinkwater, The Magic Pretzel, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2000.

Daniel Pinkwater, The Lunchroom of Doom, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2000.

Daniel Pinkwater, The Werewolf Club Meets Dorkula, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2001.

Daniel Pinkwater, The Werewolf Club Meets the Hound of the Basketballs, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2001.

Daniel Pinkwater, The Werewolf Club Meets Oliver Twit, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2002.

ILLUSTRATOR; "IRVING AND MUKTUK" SERIES

Daniel Pinkwater, Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears, Houghton (Boston, MA), 2001.

Daniel Pinkwater, Bad Bears in the Big City, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2003.

Daniel Pinkwater, Bad Bears and a Bunny, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2005.

Daniel Pinkwater, Bad Bear Detectives, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2006.

Daniel Pinkwater, Bad Bears Go Visiting, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2007.

OTHER

(With Daniel Pinkwater) The Natural Snack Cookbook: 151 Good Things to Eat, Four Winds Press (New York, NY), 1975.

(With D. Manus Pinkwater; and illustrator) Superpuppy: How to Choose, Raise, and Train the Best Possible Dog for You, Seabury Press (New York, NY), 1977, reprinted, Clarion (New York, NY), 2002.

Adaptations

Characters from the Pinkwaters' "Irving and Muktuk" and "Larry" books were included in a stage play produced by the Lifeline Theatre, Chicago, IL.

Sidelights

An author and artist, Jill Pinkwater is best known for illustrating many of the zany chapter books written by her husband, well-known author and National Public Radio commentator Daniel Pinkwater. In her art Pinkwater brings to life engaging characters such as polar-bear friends Irving and Mukluk; Larry the Polar Bear, who stars in Ice Cream Larry and Bongo Larry; Phil the Gorilla, introduced in Second-Grade Ape; and young werewolf Bill Furball, whom readers meet in a series of books including The Lunchroom of Doom. "A new Pinkwater book is cause for celebration," announced Booklist contributor Connie Fletcher in her review of Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears. Jill Pinkwater's "funny marker-and-ink" drawings perfectly capture her husband's quirky stories, Fletcher added, and fellow Booklist critic Julie Cummins characterized Pinkwater's style as featuring heavy, black "squiggly lines" that animate the characters positioned "against colorful backgrounds."

In the "Werewolf Club" books, geared for readers in the upper elementary grades, Pinkwater depicts the saga of fourth-grader Norman Gnormal. The series plays out in five volumes, including The Magic Pretzel, The Lunchroom of Doom, and The Werewolf Club Meets Dorkula. In School Library Journal, Kate Kohlbeck called The Magic Pretzel "creative and filled with zany humor," providing beginning readers with "howling good fun." Pinkwater's illustrations for The Lunchroom of Doom "add more fun and humor to an already entertaining title," according to Betsy Barnett in School Library Journal, and Martha Simpson wrote in the same periodical that the "understated humor" in Sleepover Larry "is perfectly matched with the bright, cheerful illustrations" depicting Larry the polar bear. Her work for the "Irving and Muktuk" books is perhaps her most popu- lar; series installment Bad Bears and a Bunny benefits from Jill's "giggleworthy artwork," according to Booklist critic Ilene Cooper, while a Kirkus Reviews critic concluded of Bad Bears in the Big City that Pinkwater's "spare line drawings perfectly capture these strange, gratifying bear" characters.

In addition to her work as illustrator, Pinkwater has also written several novels for younger readers: Cloud Horse, Mister Fred, The Disappearance of Sister Perfect, and Tails of the Bronx: A Tale of the Bronx. In Mister Fred, Pinkwater leads readers to Class 6-A at My Dear Watson Elementary School, where the young students worry that their new teacher is not what he appears: human. High school freshmen India Ink and Brenda Tuna stir things up at their school in Buffalo Brenda, while in The Disappearance of Sister Perfect a teen sleuth tracks the troubling behavior of her older sister to its source in a religious cult. A group of city children hunt for some runaway cats and learn about homelessness in the process in Tails of the Bronx, while Cloud Horse is a favorite among horse lovers due to its story weaving together the life of a contemporary girl with the legacy of a Viking child and the cloud horses of Iceland. Praising Tails of the Bronx as a "magnificent mystery" with a "spirited cast," a Publishers Weekly critic in particular noted the mix of humor and poignancy that treats readers of Pinkwater's "solid, thought-provoking" novel.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 1992, review of Tails of the Bronx: A Tale of the Bronx, p. 341; December 15, 1994, Ilene Cooper, review of Mister Fred, p. 754; September 15, 2001, Todd Morning, review of The Werewolf Club Meets Dorkula, p. 223; September 15, 2001, Connie Fletcher, review of Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears, p. 233; February 15, 2005, Ilene Cooper, review of Bad Bears and a Bunny, p. 1085; April 1, 2007, Julie Cummins, review of Bad Bears Go Visiting, p. 60.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December, 1983, review of Cloud Horse, p. 76; April, 1989, review of Buffalo Brenda, p. 202; January, 1995, review of Mister Fred, p. 174.

Horn Book, July-August, 1989, Edith R. Twichell, review of Buffalo Brenda, p. 489; March-April, 2007, Vicky Smith, review of Bad Bears Go Visiting, p. 188.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2004, review of Bad Bears in the Big City, p. 183.

Publishers Weekly, May 12, 1989, review of Buffalo Brenda, p. 295; May 17, 1991, review of Tails of the Bronx, p. 64; July 7, 1997, review of Young Larry, p. 67.

School Library Journal, December, 1983, review of Cloud Horse, p. 76; May, 1987, review of Cloud Horse, p. 76; December, 1989, Trev Jones, review of Buffalo Brenda, p. 120; May, 1987, Ruth S. Vose, review of The Disappearance of Sister Perfect, p. 117; June, 1991, Tatiana Castleton, review of Tails of the Bronx, p. 112; January, 1995, Mary Jo Drungil, review of Mister Fred, p. 109; November, 2000, Kate Kohlbeck, review of The Magic Pretzel, p. 129; May, 2001, Betsy Barnett, review of The Lunchroom of Doom, p. 131; September, 2001, Karen J. Tannenbaum, review of Irving and Muktuk, p. 203; February, 2002, Kate Kohlbeck, review of The Werewolf Club Meets the Hound of the Basketballs, p. 110; May, 2005, Alison Follos, review of The Artsy Smartsy Club, p. 138; November, 2007, Martha Simpson, review of Sleepover Larry, p. 98.

Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 1982, review of Superpuppy: How to Choose, Raise, and Train the Best Possible Dog for You, p. 67; August, 1989, review of Buffalo Brenda, p. 160.