2007_06_01_archive

Happy Birthday, Judy Sierra

Today is Judy Sierra's birthday: librarian, puppeteer, author, poet,

and speaker. In Sharron McElmeel's profile of Sierra we learn that

Judy took to poetry like a fish to water. Her mother reminisced about

"two-year-old Judy going to her doctor and reciting a Robert Louis

Stevenson poem for him. Sierra herself said, "As a child, I was a

great fan of Dr. Seuss and Wanda Gag and shared my parents' enthusiasm

for Ogden Nash, Cole Porter, and Gilbert and Sullivan." Her father

paid her a dollar for every poem she learned by heart. She memorized

poems by many poets, including Lewis Carroll and T.S. Eliot.

Second-grade reports were written in rhyme."

Many of her works for children are rhyming picture books that bridge

the worlds of poetry and folklore, with a strong dash of humor. She

enjoys parodying or spoofing classic children's rhymes from Mother

Goose to "The Night Before Christmas" to "The Lady Who Swallowed a

Fly." Sierra has a knack for creating rhymes and rhyming text that are

musical and song-like, often injecting a bit of wordplay a well. Look

for:

Schoolyard Rhymes: Kids' Own Rhymes for Rope Skipping, Hand Clapping,

Ball Bouncing, and Just Plain Fun

Wild About Books

Counting Crocodiles

Antarctic Antics (which was also animated by Weston Woods)

'Twas the Fright Before Christmas

There's a Zoo in Room 22

Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly-Pie

Good Night, Dinosaurs

Monster Goose

Sierra worked as a librarian, toured with her own puppet theater, and

earned a Ph.D. in Folklore and Mythology Studies from UCLA. Besides

her work for children, she has also authored professional books and

storytelling and folklore collections for librarians and teachers,

including:

The Flannel Board Storytelling Book

Cinderella, part of the Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series

Multicultural Folktales: Stories to Tell Young Children

Nursery Tales Around the World

Fantastic Theater: Puppets and Plays for Young Performers and Young

Audiences

Children's Traditional Games

Can You Guess My Name?: Traditional Tales Around the World

Storytellers Research Guide

Mother Goose's Playhouse