Laura Joffe Numeroff
(born July 14, 1953) is an American author and illustrator of children's books who is best known for her work If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
.
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IF YOU GIVE A PIG A PARTY TICKETS
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Early life
Numeroff was born in Brooklyn, New York, and is the youngest of three girls. As a child, Numeroff was an avid reader and by the age of 9 had decided she wanted to be a writer when she grew up
[1], but even today she credits her current profession to two specific childhood favorites and has claimed that they “are the reason” she is a writer: E.B. White’s
Stuart Little
and Kay Thompson’s
Eloise
.
[2] As she once pointed out in an interview, both stories not only captured her attention but also sported main characters that lived in her very own city of New York.
When it came time for Numeroff to apply for college though, she applied to Pratt University of Design with the intent of following her older sister's footsteps and becoming a fashion designer. Eventually though, Numeroff came to terms with the fact that fashion "wasn't for me" and began taking a class on writing as she and returned to her previous dream of becoming a writer.
A homework assignment for one of these classes prompted Numeroff to write the story
Amy for Short
, and in 1976, after being meet with only 4 rejections, the story was published by Macmillan Publishing and launched Laura Joffe Numeroff's writing career
.
Career
Over the course of her career Numeroff’s has worked with numerous illustrators including Lynn Munsinger, David McPhail, Tim Bowers, Nate Evans, Joe Mathieu, Sal Murdocca, Sharleen Collicott, and Felicia Bond, Felicia Bond being the illustrator of the “If You Give . . .” series, but when Numeroff began her career she served as her own illustrator; Numeroff's first 9 books were both written and illustrated by Numeroff herself. Since her editor chose Felicia Bond to illustrate Numeroff's
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
book though, she has not illustrated another book since, and when asked about her earlier endeavors into illustrations during an interview she mentioned that though she loves drawing that she decided her "strength was in writing and not in illustration” and said "I don’t think I would illustrate a whole book anymore at this point"
.
Her autobiography,
If You Give an Author a Pencil
, was published in 2003. It is written at a second grade reading level so that all children can enjoy it, and her most current book, published on September 20, 2008, is
If You Give a Cat a Cupcake
. Numeroff’s books are easily recognized by people worldwide, and have been published in many languagess so that children all over the world can enjoy them. Numeroff currently resides in Los Angeles, California where she continues to write.
Series
If You Give a...
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
was the book that launched Numeroff's hit "If You Give A..." series, and despite the acclaim that this book has garnered over the years,
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
was rejected by publishers "nine times before it found a home at Harper."
[3] These stories use not only a circular story format, presenting to the reader a chain of events that has no definite end, but also rely heavily on consequences of actions in an If->Then setup. This first story of
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
ended up as such as hit that it spawned numerous more books that expanded from the mouse to include the characters of a moose, a cat, and a pig.
What People Do Best
The first book in this series by Numeroff, published in April 2008, was
What Mommies Do Best/ What Daddies Do Best
. Illustrated, using watercolors, by Lynn Munsinger is written for children ages 4 – 8.
This children’s book is a two part story. On one side of the book is What Mommies Do Best. This book demonstrates many the great things that mommies do like: give piggyback rides, teach children how to ride a bicycle, and sew a button on a teddy bear.
Following What Mommies Do Best, the book can be flipped to reveal What Daddies Do Best. This side illustrates all the special things that daddy does with you. The stories are identical. Both mommy and daddy do the same things in each book.
What Mommies Do Best/ What Daddies Do Best uses different animals in it’s brightly colored illustrations to show young children the things parents do that make them so special. Each illustration shows a different animal parent with their young child.
Other Works
Ten Step Guide to Living with Your Monster:
Laura Numeroff's Ten Step Guide to Living with Your Monster was illustrated Nate Evans. This book was published in April 2002 for children ages 4 – 8.This book gives kids a different idea about monsters. Instead of being afraid of them this story shows you how to make a monster a good pet. This guide outlines Numeroff’s ten basic steps to buying, naming, and dealing with your pet monster. There are things you should know like choosing a monster that can tie its shoes, how to take your monster to the vet, not to choose a monster who tries to eat your shirt, and that “Fluffy” is not a good name for a monster. With each step is a bright, colorful illustration to help you choose your own pet monster.
A portion of the profits from Laura Numeroff's Ten Step Guide to Living with Your Monster were donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's.
Phoebe Dexter Has Harriet Peterson’s Sniffles:
Published in January 1977, this story tells the woeful tale of Phoebe Dexter who is stuck at home because she is sick. Upset that she is missing all the happenings of her school day, Phoebe busies herself pretending she is a dog and eventually playing Go Fish with her grandmother who comes over to keep her company. Luckily though, when Phoebe gets up the next day, she is well enough to go to school! Both written and illustrated by Numeroff, this story really captures the essence of staying home sick through the quirky personality that Numeroff has given Phoebe.
Awards
Laura Numeroff has been honored by many people for her amazing talent in children’s literature. Oprah choose two of her books for her Kid’s Reading List and Laura Bush invited Numeroff to the White House to be honored for her "If You Give a..." Series at the “Laura Bush Celebrates American Authors” event. She has also won numerous awards for her individual stories including:
- California Young Reader Medal-1987
- Colorado Children’s Book Award-1988
- Georgia Children’s Picture Storybook Award-1988
- Nevada Young Readers’ Award-1988
- Buckeye Children’s Book Award-1989
- Quill Award (If You Give a Pig a Party)-2006
- The Milner Award-2007
Works
The If You Give A
series
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
(1985)
- If You Give a Moose a Muffin
(1991)
- If You Give a Pig a Pancake
(1998)
- The Best Mouse Cookie
(1999)
- If You Take a Mouse to the Movies
(2000)
- If You Take a Mouse to School
(2002)
- If You Give a Pig a Party
(2005)
- Merry Christmas Mouse
(2007)
- Time for School Mouse
(2008)
- If You Give a Cat a Cupcake
(2008)
- If You Give a Bear a Brownie
(2009)
The What People Do Best
series
- What Mommies Do Best/What Daddies Do Best
- What Grandmas Do Best/What Grandpas Do Best
- What Aunts Do Best/What Uncles Do Best
Other books
- ''Beatrice Doesn't Want to"
- Sometimes I Wonder If Poodles Like Noodles
- Monster Munchies
- The Chicken Sisters
- Laura Numeroff's Ten Step Guide to Living with Your Monster
- Dogs Don't Wear Sneakers
- Chimps Don't Wear Glasses
- Two For Stew
- Why a Disguise?
- When Sheep Sleep
- The Jellybeans and the Big Dance
- Emily’s Bunch
(with Alice Richter)
- Walter
- Amy for Short
(1976)
- Does Grandma Have an Elmo Elephant Jungle Kit
- You Can’t Put Braces on Spaces
(with Alice Richter)
- Phoebe Dexter Has Harriet Peterson’s Sniffles
- If You Give an Author a Pencil
- Sherman Crunchley
(with Nate Evans)