WHEELER, Jody 1952-

Personal

Born February 20, 1952; daughter of Byrhl F., Jr. and Betty I. (a physical education teacher and union negotiator) Wheeler. Education: Elmira College, B.A.; attended School of Visual Arts, and New School for Social Research.

Addresses

Offıce— 375 South End Ave., #12T, New York, NY 10280.

Career

Writer and illustrator. Dial Press, New York, NY, worked as a design assistant and secretary for two years; owner of freelance illustration business, 1980—.

Writings

ILLUSTRATOR

Lawrence Weinberg, What Is This For?, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1982.

Lawrence Weinberg, The ABC's, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1982.

The City Mouse and the Country Mouse, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 1985.

The Night before Christmas, Ideals Publishing (Nashville, TN), 1988.

Lyn Sandow, My First Tool Books, Warner (New York, NY), 1988.

Stephanie St. Pierre, Mystery in the Woods, Marvel (New York, NY), 1988.

Sharon Gordon, Home for a Puppy, Troll (Mahwah, NJ), 1988.

Joanne Barkan, My First Kitchen Gadget Books, six volumes, Warner (New York, NY), 1989.

What a Teddy Bear Needs, Ladybird Books (London, England), 1989.

Joanne Barkan, My First Garden Tools, three volumes, Warner (New York, NY), 1990.

The Gift of the Magi, Ideals Publishing (Nashville, TN), 1990.

Very Scary Halloween, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1991.

The First Noel, Ideals Publishing (Nashville, TN), 1992.

Lucille Recht Penner, The Tea Party Book, Random House (New York, NY), 1993.

An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving (based on a story by Louisa May Alcott), Ideals Publishing (Nashville, TN), 1993.

Lorraine J. Hopping, Wild Weather: Tornadoes!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

Lorraine J. Hopping, Wild Weather: Hurricanes! Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, retold by Maida Silver, Western Publishing (Racine, WI), 1995.

Lost Little Bunny, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1995.

Tooth Fairy Magic, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1995.

(With Renée Graef) Winter on the Farm (based on a story by Laura Ingalls Wilder), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1996.

County Fair (based on a story by Laura Ingalls Wilder), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1997.

Lucille Recht Penner, The Teddy Bear Book, Random House (New York, NY), 1997.

Lorraine Jean Hopping, Wild Weather: Blizzards!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

A Farmer Boy Birthday (based on a story by Laura Ingalls Wilder), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1998.

A Farmer Boy Christmas (based on a story by Laura Ingalls Wilder), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1999.

Lorraine Jean Hopping, Wild Weather: Lightning!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Lorraine Jean Hopping, Wild Earth: Avalanche!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

Lorraine Jean Hopping, Wild Weather: Floods!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

Lorraine Jean Hopping, Wild Earth: Volcanoes!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Lorraine Jean Hopping, Wild Earth: Earthquake!, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Jean Syswerda, My Sleep-Tight Bible Stories, Zonderkidz (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.

Also illustrator of The Very Scary Jack o' Lantern, Scholastic (New York, NY). Illustrator for educational texts and magazines.

CONTRIBUTOR OF INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS

Rosemary Wells, The School Play, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2001.

Rosemary Wells, Mama, Don't Go!, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2001.

Rosemary Wells, Read Me a Story, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2001.

Rosemary Wells, Timothy's Tales from Hilltop School, Viking (New York, NY), 2002.

Rosemary Wells, Make New Friends, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2002.

Rosemary Wells, Practice Makes Perfect, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2002.

Rosemary Wells, The Germ Busters, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2002.

Rosemary Wells, Bubble-Gum Radar, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2002.

Rosemary Wells, When I Grow Up, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2003.

Sidelights

Children's book illustrator Jody Wheeler has worked on a variety of books, from nonfiction titles for middle readers to fiction titles for young readers. Focusing on extreme conditions, Wheeler has illustrated more than a half a dozen weather-related titles written by Lorraine Jean Hopping. Included in the series are Wild Weather: Blizzards, which combines historical incidents involving blizzards with facts about these massive storms and descriptions of the job of a meteorologist. Wild Weather: Lightning! includes facts about the study of lightning and its potential deadly consequences, with many maps and illustrations. Booklist 's Ilene Cooper called the watercolor artwork in Wild Weather: Blizzards "effective."

Wheeler has also teamed up with author Rosemary Wells to produce a series of books for preschoolers, with Wheeler providing the interior artwork. In Read Me a Story, little kitten Yoko knows how to read but does not tell her mother for fear that she will stop reading to her. Yoko's ability comes from a decoder ring she sent for. Finding out about Yoko's talent, the mother assures the kitten that she will keep reading to her, and, in fact, allows Yoko to read to her. School Library Journal critic Anne Knickerbocker said of Wheeler's artwork, "Each page sports a bright, color illustration that will aid beginning readers in decoding the text."

Wheeler once told SATA: "I developed a greater than average interest in children's books at an early age, having been influenced and encouraged by my great-aunt Opal Wheeler, a prolific writer of books for young readers in the 1950s. After being trained as a fine artist and art educator, I moved to Manhattan in 1977, and eventually turned to the field of publishing. I worked as a design assistant/secretary at Dial Press in the juvenile books division for two years before establishing my own freelance illustration business in 1980. Since then, I have enjoyed working on a variety of projects ranging from picture books to educational texts and magazines, greeting cards to coloring books."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 1999, Ilene Cooper, review of Wild Weather: Blizzards!, p. 1705.

School Library Journal, May, 1999, Patricia Manning, review of Wild Weather: Blizzards!, p. 108; August, 1999, Maura Bresnahan, review of Wild Weather: Lightning!, p. 147; January, 2002, Marilyn Taniguchi, review of The School Play, p. 112; October, 2002, Laurie von Mehren, review of Timothy's Tales from Hilltop School, p. 134; December, 2002, Anne Knickerbocker, review of Read Me a Story, p. 112.*