Ransom, Jeanie Franz 1957–

Personal

Born 1957; children: three. Education: Cornell College, B.A. (American studies); Lindenwood University, M.A. (professional counseling).

Addresses

Home and office—O'Fallon, MO. E-mail—jeanieransom@pobox.com.

Career

Author, presenter, and therapist. Worked previously as a freelance writer, editor, and copywriter.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Awards, Honors

Best Children's Resource designation, Today's Librarian, 2000, for I Don't Want to Talk about It; Storytelling World Award, 2004, for Grandma U; iParenting Media Award, for Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal; Kansas State Reading Circle Recommended Reading listee, 2008, for What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home).

Writings

I Don't Want to Talk about It, illustrated by Kathryn Kunz Finney, Magination Press (Washington, DC), 2000.

Grandma U, illustrated by Lucy Corvino, Peachtree Publishers (Atlanta, GA), 2002.

Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal: A Tale of Tattletales, illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic, Magination Press (Washington, DC), 2006.

What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home), illustrated by Cyd Moore, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 2007.

What Really Happened to Humpty?, illustrated by Stephen Axelsen, Charlesbridge (Watertown MA), 2009.

Sidelights

As Jeanie Franz Ransom noted on her home page, before beginning her career as an author she worked as an elementary school counselor. Ransom turned to a career in writing children's books after having children of her own, but she quickly realized that "picture books look deceptively easy to write—and amazingly hard to get published." After ten years spent struggling with rejection letters and learning the craft of writing children's literature, she published her first book, I Don't Want to Talk about It. Continuing to work with Magination Press, as well as with other child-focused publishers, Ransom has since expanded her writing credits to include Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal: A Tale of Tattletales, What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home), and a mystery titled What Really Happened to Humpty? In addition to picture books, she has also started work on a young-adult title.

In What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home) a little boy imagines all the fun things his mother and father must do while he and his sister are away from home visiting their grandparents. As brought to life in Cyd Moore's humorous illustrations, the boy envisions his mom and dad playing with his toys, dressing up the family dog, and playing video games while their two children are gone. School Library Journal reviewer Linda L. Walkins commented that Ransom's "fun-filled" picture book "provides an inventive twist to a typical story." A Kirkus Reviews critic regarded What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home) as a "cheerful tale" that "plucks at the seams of conventionality and lets out a little stuffing."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2007, Abby Nolan, review of What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home), p. 60.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2007, Deborah Stevenson, review of What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home), p. 342.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2002, review of Grandma U, p. 1233; February 15, 2007, review of What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home),

San Francisco Chronicle, May 27, 2007, Regan McMahon, "Parents, Baby, and Pirates Do Their Thing at Home."

School Library Journal, February, 2001, Jane Marino, review of I Don't Want to Talk about It, p. 104; December, 2002, Carol L. MacKay, review of Grandma U, p. 106; February, 2007, Martha Simpson, review of Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal: A Tale of Tattletales, p. 94; June, 2007, Linda L. Walkins, review of What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home), p. 120.