Jane Wattenberg facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jane Wattenberg
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| Born | Jane Wattenberg 1949 Norwalk, Connecticut |
| Occupation | Artist, Writer, Illustrator |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Children's literature, photomontage |
| Notable works | Mrs. Mustard's Baby Faces, Henny-Penny |
Jane Wattenberg (born 1949) is an American author, photographer, and illustrator. She creates books for children. She is also known by her pen name, Mrs. Mustard.
Contents
Becoming a Children's Book Creator
Jane Wattenberg is famous for her unique books. She writes and illustrates them using a special art style called photo collage. This means she combines different photographs to make new images.
Popular Books for Young Readers
Some of her most popular books are Mrs. Mustard's Baby Faces and Mrs. Mustard's Beastly Babies. These are accordion-style board books, which means they fold out like an accordion.
She also retold classic stories. One is Henny-Penny, which won awards. Another is The Boy Who Cried Wolf, but she changed it to Never Cry Woof!. In her version, dogs guard the sheep instead of a boy.
Her book The Duck and the Kangaroo is based on a poem by Edward Lear. It's the first time this sweet poem has been published as its own book.
How Jane Wattenberg Creates Art
Jane Wattenberg gets ideas from many other artists. She is inspired by people who use photo collage, like Hannah Höch. She also admires painters like René Magritte. Animal photographers like Ylla and Harry Whittier Frees have also influenced her.
She started taking pictures when she was young with a simple Brownie camera. She even made double-exposed photos back then. Her first published photo appeared in Rolling Stone magazine in 1972. The famous photographer Annie Leibovitz chose it.
Jane Wattenberg has also designed covers for many books. These include books by popular authors like Judy Blume and Joan Bauer. She has also created album covers for musicians. Before making books, her photo collages appeared in magazines like Electric Company.
Jane Wattenberg's Life
Jane Rachel Wattenberg was born on April 19, 1949, in Norwalk, Connecticut. Her father was a chemist and enjoyed photography. Her mother was an elementary school teacher. She cared a lot about helping her community.
Living on an Urban Farm
Today, Jane Wattenberg lives in San Francisco, California. She has an "urban farm" there. This means she raises animals in the city! She lives with her husband and their three adult sons.
She is a beekeeper and harvests honey from her bees. She also raises chickens, ducks, and goats. Sometimes, she even has emus and quails on her farm.
Education and Teaching
Jane Wattenberg studied art and photography. She earned a bachelor's degree in Art History from Simmons College in 1971. Then, she got a master's degree in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1973. She also studied art history in Vienna, Austria.
After finishing her studies, Jane Wattenberg moved to San Francisco. She taught photography classes at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She also taught at the University of California San Francisco. She even taught classes about self-portraits. Later, she joined the photography team at Lone Mountain College. Some of her students became famous photographers themselves.
Books by Jane Wattenberg
- The Duck and the Kangaroo Greenwillow/HarperCollins (2009)
- Never Cry Woof! A Dog-U-Drama Scholastic Press (2005)
- This is the Rain (Text by Lola Schaefer) HarperCollins/Greenwillow (2001)
- Henny-Penny Scholastic Press (2000)
- Mrs. Mustard's Name Games Chronicle Books (1993)
- Mrs. Mustard's Beastly Babies Chronicle Books (1990)
- Mrs. Mustard's Baby Faces Chronicle Books (1989, 2007)
Awards and Recognition
- Never Cry Woof!, Children's Choice Award (2006)
- Henny-Penny, Best Book Choices, University of Wisconsin (2001)
- Henny-Penny, Blue Ribbon Award for Best Books, Center for Children's Books, University of Illinois (2000)
- Mrs. Mustard's Beastly Babies, American Bookseller's Pick of the Lists (1990)
