Jane Dyer always wanted to be a teacher as far back as she can
remember. Her mother was a kindergarten teacher and so she grew up
in a house filled with art projects, music, and books. Jane laughs
when she recalls the hours she spent playing school with her cat
and dog. She would dress them in doll clothes and conduct classes
in reading and writing.While she had little success with her
earliest students, Jane went on to become an innovative and
successful teacher. Art, music, and literature were incorporated
into many of the activities of her kindergarten and second grade
classes.Moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband while
he attended graduate school, Jane found her first work in the world
of publishing with the Boston Educational Research Company. She
wrote and illustrated lesson activities for teachers to accompany a
new reading program being developed for Addison-Wesley. But it was
Jane''s special gift for illustration that soon led to trade book
work with numerous publishers.Today, Jane is widely recognized for
her skill in telling the same tale as the author, while adding her
own embellishments to every story. Her work ranges from the
intricate detail and sophisticated humor of the Piggins series, to
the lush, impressionistic style of My Father. Jane''s work is a
combination of imagination and research. She finds inspiration for
her characters from family and friends, as well as from two cats
and a dog named Woolly who share her home. Jane''s original
illustrations are exhibited and sold at galleries throughout the
country. Her numerous awards and honors include two Parent''s
Choice Honor Books for Illustration and several Notable Children''s
Trade Book citations. Jane and her daughters love rainy days to
draw, to read, and to daydream. This rainy day enchantment is
apparent in Jane''s luminous illustrations for
Talking Like the
Rain, a poetry collection by X.J. and Dorothy Kennedy, which
Publisher''s Weekly called, "Unusually striking.Dyer''s vibrantly
colored detailed illustrations (are) some of this gifted artist''s
finest work." Her whimsical and charming illustrations also grace
the pages of
Animal Crackers: A Delectable Collection of
Pictures, Poems, and Lullabies for the Very Young. With
selections ranging from Mother Goose classics to contemporary
poems, this enchanting anthology celebrates the special times of a
child''s first years.Jane lives in western Massachusetts with her
husband, Tom, and their daughters, Brooke and Cecily.
MEM FOX is the author of many acclaimed books, including
Possum Magic, Koala Lou, Time for Bed, and, for adults,
Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change
Their Lives Forever. She lives in Adelaide, Australia.
www.memfox.net