The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear

Author / Illustrator : Don and Audrey Wood

Format : Board Book

Condition : New

Dimensions : 15cm x 16cm x 1cm

Now, that's one red, ripe strawberry the big, hungry Bear will never get!

About Audrey Wood

My first memories are of Sarasota, Florida in the winter quarters of the Ringling Brothers' Circus. I was one year old and remember it vividly. My father, an art student, was making extra income by repainting circus murals.

The people in the circus were my friends. I was bounced on the knee of the tallest man in the world and rocked in the arms of the fat lady who could not stand up. My first baby-sitters were a family of little people who lived in a trailer next to ours. They told me stories about the animals they worked with: Chi Chi the Chimpanzee, an elephant named Elder, and Gargantua the Gorilla.

My mother says I was a fast learner, always ahead of my age. My father taught me to swim before I could walk. I walked at seven months and climbed over a seven foot chain link fence when I was one year old. Everyone in the circus thought I was going to be a trapeze artist.

When I was two, I traveled with my parents to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where they studied art. Spanish became my second language. Because my mother read to me every day, I fell in love with books and was reading by age three.

My parents had two more girls, which made me the oldest sister. All of us were trained in the arts: music, dance, painting, and drama. We had a miniature stage in our basement, complete with light-bulb floodlights and a dusty red velvet curtain. Admission for the plays we produced was a bargain--twenty-five cents.

When I was in the first grade, I wanted to grow up to be an artist like my father. Then, in the fourth grade, I decided I'd like to be a children's book author. As an adult who writes and illustrates children's books, I have realized both my childhood ambitions.

I got in trouble in school once for crossing out my favorite author's name and putting in mine--Audrey Brewer instead of Dr. Seuss! My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all professional artists. Since I am also a professional artist, there are four consecutive generations of artists in our family. However, I am the only female artist.

On our honeymoon, I read my new husband Don Wood the classic children's book entitled At the Back of the North Wind. Seven years later, we teamed up to create our first picture book together.

When our son Bruce Robert was two years old, I began to read picture books to him. He helped to remind me of my childhood ambitions. That's when I began to write children's books seriously.

About Don Wood

I was born and raised on a farm in the great Central Valley of California. It is one of the most fertile farming areas in the country. We raised peaches, sweet potatoes, almonds, grapes, and oranges. My father ran the farm, and my mother was a very popular elementary teacher at a small rural school nearby. There was always a lot of work to do

growing up on a farm. By the time I was in the sixth grade, I had forty acres of potatoes to take care of by myself (that's a lot of potatoes). My brother, half brother, and I were doing a man's work by the time we were twelve. During the summer, that often meant twelve to sixteen hour shifts, seven days per week. Once, when I was a teenager, I remember working twenty-six hours straight. We were paid wages for our work and were expected to pay for own clothes and entertainment, and eventually, cars and college educations. In the sixth grade, I decided to

be an artist. My father was worried about my decision, and I endured some tough pressure to pursue other careers (such as architecture). Luckily my other brothers wanted to run the farm, so my decision did not endanger the family business.

Since summer was so busy, winter was my time to draw. I could never find pieces of paper big enough. In those days, the laundry came wrapped in light-brown, crinkly paper. One day my mother had an idea. She ironed the crinkles out of the paper and gave it to me. At last! A giant piece of paper! It covered the entire kitchen table. From then on, laundry day was art day.

I loved sports as a child, and I still do. When I was younger, I played lots of football. Now that I live in Santa Barbara on the coast of Southern California, many of the sports I love involve the beach or the ocean. I enjoy sailing, beach volleyball, swimming, and snorkeling; and recently my son, who is an excellent surfer, taught me to surf. In the winter, Audrey and I like to camp in the deserts and go snow-shoeing in the mountains.

I attended college at the University of California at Santa Barbara and did graduate work in art at the California College of Arts and Crafts. I met Audrey at Berkeley while I was studying there, and six months later, we were married. After our son Bruce was born, Audrey began to write children's picture books. I was illustrating magazines at the time, and it seemed natural for me to illustrate one of her books. I illustrated Moonflute, and I enjoyed it so much I have been illustrating children's picture books ever since.

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear