Vera Williams

Infobox Writer


imagesize = 150px
name = Vera B. Williams
caption =
pseudonym =
birthdate = Birth date and age|1927|01|28"Williams, Vera B." "Something About the Author", vol. 102, pp. 200-205.]
birthplace = Hollywood, California
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Writer and illustrator
nationality = American
period = 1975-present
genre = Children's literatureAuthor
"It's a Gingerbread House" (1978)
spouse = Paul Williams (-1970)
children = Sarah
Jennifer
Merce
influences =
influenced =


website =

Vera B. Williams (b. January 28, 1927) is an American children's writer and illustrator. Her best known work, "A Chair for My Mother", has won multiple awards and was featured on the children's television show "Reading Rainbow". [PBS. [http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/books/episode_detail_020.html Reading Rainbow episode "A Chair for my Mother"] .] She was the U.S. Illustrator Nominee for the 2004 Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Biography

Early life and education

Vera Baker was born January 28, 1927 in Hollywood, California. She has one sister, Naomi.] cite interview |last=Williams |first=Vera B. |interviewer=Neela Sakaria |title=BookWire speaks with... Vera B. Williams, author of "Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart" |url=http://www.bookwire.com/MeetTheAuthor/Interview_Vera_Williams.htm |program=BookWire |year=2002 |month=January |accessdate=2007-10-10 ] As a child, her family moved to the Bronx, New York, where her father was frequently absent during her early childhood. Encouraged by their parents to explore the arts, she studied at The High School of Music & Art and Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where she received her BFA in Graphic Art in 1949.

Marriage and children

While at Black Mountain College, she married fellow student Paul Williams. The couple divorced in 1970. Together they had three children:
*Sarah Williams
*Jennifer Williams
*Merce Williams

Career

Williams was a co-founder of the Gate Hill Cooperative Community and served as a teacher for the community from 1953-70. She taught at alternative schools in New York and Ontario throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Following her divorce, she emigrated to Canada, where she committed to becoming a children's author and illustrator. In 1975 she was invited by Remy Charlip to illustrate "Hooray For Me", which she did while living on a houseboat in Vancouver. She established a publishing relationship with Greenwillow Books that continues to this day. Today, Ms. Williams lives in New York City and remains active in local issues such as the [http://www.theainc.org/ The House of Elder Artists] [cite news |first=Patricia Leigh |last=Brown |title=GENERATIONS; Raising More Than Consciousness Now |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E7DC1731F937A1575BC0A9669C8B63 |work=New York Times |date=2000-08-24 |accessdate=2007-10-10 ] and participated in the 2007 PEN World Voices literary festival. [ [http://www.pen.org//page.php/prmID/1096 PEN World Voices 2007] ]

Philosophical and political views

Ms. Williams has long supported nonviolent and nuclear disarmament causes. In 1981 she spent a month in Alderson Federal Prison Camp following arrest at a women's peaceful blockade of the Pentagon. [cite interview |last=Williams |first=Vera B. |interviewer=Molly McVeigh |title= Vera B. Williams |url=http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-williams-vera.asp |program=KidsReads.com |date=2001-12-12 |accessdate=2007-10-10 ] She served on the executive committee of the War Resisters League from 1984 to 1987.

Works

As author

*"It's a Gingerbread House" (1978)
*"The Great Watermelon Birthday" (1980)
*"Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe" (1981)
*"A Chair for My Mother" (1982)
*"Something Special for Me" (1983)
*"Music, Music for Everyone" (1984)
*"My Mother, Leah and George Sand" (1986)
*"Cherries and Cherry Pits" (1986)
*"Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea" with Jennifer Williams (1988)
*"More More More" Said the Baby" (1990)
*"Scooter" (1993)
*"Lucky Song" (1997)
*"Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart" (2001)

As illustrator

*"Hooray For Me!", Remy Charlip (1975)
*"Long Walks and Intimate Talks", Grace Paley (1991)
*"Home: A Collaboration of Thirty Authors & Illustrators" (1996)

Awards

*1983: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Picture Book category, "A Chair for My Mother"
*1983: Caldecott Honor Award, "A Chair for My Mother" [cite news |first=Edwin |last=McDowell |title=Newberry, Caldecott Book Prizes Awarded |work=New York Times |date=1983-01-12 |accessdate=2007-10-10 |quote=...Caldecott Honor books are "When I Was Young in the Mountains" (E.P. Dutton), written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Diane Goode, and "A Chair for My Mother" (Greenwillow Books), illustrated and written by Vera B. Williams. ]
*1985: Jane Addams Children's Book Award, Honor Book, "Music, Music for Everyone"
*1991: Caldecott Honor Award, "More More More" Said the Baby" [cite news |first=Edwin |last=McDowell |title=Children's Book Award Winners Named |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DF143BF936A25752C0A967958260 |work=New York Times |date=1991-01-15 |accessdate=2007-10-10 ]
*1994: Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Fiction category, "Scooter"
*1995: Library of Congress exhibition, "Family, Friends, and Community: The Art of Vera B. Williams" [ [http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/1995/95-073.html Library of Congress Exhibition Features Work of Children's Author/Illustrator Vera Williams] ]
*1998: Charlotte Zolotow Award, "Lucky Song"
*2002: Jane Addams Children's Book Award, Honor Book, "Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart"
*2008: Regina Medal of the Catholic Library Association; body of work

References

Persondata
NAME = Williams, Vera B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American children's author and illustrator.
DATE OF BIRTH = January 28, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH = Hollywood, California, United States
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =