The 2011 Willow Awards
Shining Willow Nominee
Clever Rachel
In this retelling of a Jewish folktale, Jacob tries to stump Rachel with his best riddles, but he fails repeatedly. When a young woman in need of help presents them with the trickiest riddles of all, they learn they must work together to solve them, rather than compete against each other.
About the Author
Growing up in Utica, N.Y., Debby Waldman loved reading so much that she often fell asleep clutching a book. She wanted to write books when she grew up, but she detoured into journalism school at Syracuse University because journalism seemed a safer bet for earning a living.
Since graduating in 1982, Debby has been a newspaper reporter and a freelance writer. She also earned an MFA in creative writing from Cornell University in 1991, and has taught at Cornell, Ithaca College, St. Lawrence University, and Grant MacEwan College. Her writing has appeared in publications including People, Parents, Glamour, Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Publishers Weekly, Chatelaine, the Washington Post, and More Canada. She writes a bi-weekly family column for The Edmonton Journal.
Debby's picturebooks are based on Jewish folk tales. Her first, A Sack Full of Feathers, was short-listed for awards in Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan and was named a 2007 Best Book for Kids and Teens by the Canadian Children's Book Centre. Her second, Clever Rachel, was published in October of 2009 and was one of Resource Links' "The Year's Best". Cindy Revell illustrated both books. Debby's third picture book, Room Enough for Daisy, written with fellow Edmontonian Rita Feutl, is scheduled for publication in 2011.
Debby lives in Edmonton with her husband and two children. She is available for readings and to conduct writing workshops with students of all ages. When not working on one of her many writing projects, she enjoys reading, cycling, baking, attempting to make nutritionally balanced meals for her family, and ferrying her children to music lessons and sports activities. More information is available on her website: www.debbywaldman.com.
About the Illustrator
Cindy Revell planned on becoming an artist ever since her first taste of wax crayons during her childhood in Carrot River, a small town in Saskatchewan. After some very uncreative forays into the working world Cindy realized that she needed to get back to art and went to college receiving her diploma in Environmental Graphic Design. Cindy worked as a designer and illustrator eventually going on to become an award winning freelance illustrator.
Her illustrations have been used on billboards, wine bottles, books, magazines, calendars, furniture, packaging and numerous children's books all over North America. She was nominated in 2001 for a Governor General's award for children's book illustration (Mallory and the Power Boy). Some of her clients are: Adobe, L.A. Times, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Better Homes and Gardens, Cornell University, Penguin Putnam, Annick Press, Orca Book Publishers and Scholastic.
As well as being an illustrator, she is an accomplished oil painter. Several years of regular oil painting classes, numerous international and provincial workshops and traveling to view and learn from the old masters as well as her design and illustration training have helped her develop as a traditional realist.
Cindy loves the work of the Flemish oil painters and Spanish artist, Luis Melendez, while her illustration has been inspired by folk, medieval, and eastern art. Her oil painting and illustration are vastly different from one another, the oil paintings tending to be simple and elegant while the illustrations are full of pattern and whimsy. The common element in her oil paintings and illustrations is her use of colour which is always rich and lush.
Book Reviews
Suggested Activities
- Go to the following link to hear the author Debbie Waldman read Clever Rachel.
- Rachel was very good at making riddles and she was also very good at solving them. Try some of Rachel’s riddles out on a family member.
- Make up some riddles of your own or find a book of riddles in your library. Challenge a friend with your riddles.
- Author Debbie Waldman wrote another Jewish folktale called A Sackful of Feathers. See if you can find it in your library and read it with a friend. Your library may have lots of folktales from many different cultures. Explore more of these wonderful stories.
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