Vera B. Williams: Biography and Book Recommendations

Biography:

Vera B. Williams, born in 1927, didn't illustrate her first picture book until 1975. But her path towards an artistic career began much earlier, when she was growing up in New York City in the 1930s and 40s. At the Bronx House, a local community center, she acted, danced, and painted. When Williams was 9 years old, one of her paintings was included in a WPA exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. She later graduated from New York City's High School of Music and Art, and then graduated from the Black Mountain School in North Carolina with a degree in graphic arts.

Williams has pursued a wide variety of personal and professional interests throughout her life. She raised three children; she helped found an alternative community and school in New York; she ran a bakery in Ontario, canoed down 500 miles of the Yukon River, and has contributed her talents and time to political organization and activism. Williams' life experiences, love of children, and social conscience shine through her fine collection of books for young readers.

Vera B. Williams has received the following commendations from Parents' Choice:

Cherries and Cherry Pits (1986 Parents' Choice Silver Honor; 1991 Parents' Choice Paperback Book Gold Award). Vera B. Williams. Mulberry Books. ISBN 0688104789. $5.95, Ages 4 - 8.

Music, Music for Everyone (1984 Parents' Choice Silver Honor). Vera B. Williams. Morrow. ISBN 0688026036. $16, Ages 4 - 8.

Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea (1988 Parents' Choice Gold Award). Vera B. Williams. Morrow. ISBN 0688071619. $15.95, Ages 4 - 8.

Algo especial para mí / Something Special for Me

Ages: 4 - 8 yrs.

Stories by: Vera B. Williams  
HarperCollins Children's Books / Amistad, $4.95 (Hard Cover)   

Spring 2000 Picture Books Noteworthy Product Review) Greenwillow. ISBN 0688138020, $4.95

Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe (1981 Parents' Choice Gold Award). Vera B. Williams. Greenwillow. ISBN 0688040721. $5.95, Ages 4 - 8.

Scooter (1993 Parents' Choice Gold Award)Vera B. Williams
Greenwillow ISBN 0-688-09376-0
$15, Ages 8 - 12.

Elana Rose Rosen is a creative young lady; she uses acrostics to express her emotions about the drama in her life. When she moves with her divorced mother into a one-room apartment in a housing project in New York City, she just stands on her prized scooter, watching other children play. Elana gradually finds new friends, as eccentric an assortment of characters as ever graced a housing project…let alone a book. The girl scoots through life, aware of flaws in herself and others; she is highly capable of finding people who are worthy of affection and love-with which she rewards them liberally.
Reviewed by Kemie Nix, ©1993 Parents' Choice