Fisher, Valorie

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Fisher, Valorie

Personal

Married; children: two.

Addresses

Home and office—Cornwall Bridge, CT.

Career

Children's book author and illustrator and photographer. Exhibitions: Photography exhibited at Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; and Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France.

Awards, Honors

Platinum Award, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, 2003, for My Big Brother, and 2004, for My Big Sister.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

My Big Brother, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2002.

Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears, and Other Amazing Alphabet Anecdotes, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2003.

My Big Sister, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2003.

How High Can a Dinosaur Count?, and Other Math Mysteries, Schwartz & Wade (New York, NY), 2006.

ILLUSTRATOR

Edward Lear, Nonsense!, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2004.

Peggy Gifford, Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little, Schwartz & Wade (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

A print artist, photographer, and author, Valorie Fisher combines her multiple talents to create unique children's books that include Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears, and Other Amazing Alphabet Anecdotes and a newly illustrated edition of Edward Lear's classic Nonesense! An established photographer, Fisher has exhibited her work in such well-known institutions as the Victoria and Albert Museum of London and Paris's Bibliothèque Nationale. She has also incorporated her photographs in the children's books My Big Brother and My Big Sister, both of which received an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum award. The two companion titles are written from the perspective of a young child who admires the feats of an older sibling. In My Big Brother a little girl describes all the wonderful talents of her older brother, such as his ability to make music and balance a ball on his feet. The large boldfaced text is enhanced by Fisher's bright and uniquely angled photographs, which Susan Dove Lempke described in Booklist as "creatively composed."

Fisher also uses her artistic talent in How High Can a Dinosaur Count?, and Other Math Mysteries, which includes fifteen humorous dioramas. Regarded by School Library Journal reviewer Grace Oliff as a "creative combination of text and art," the book matches Fisher's illustrations with a text that encourages young readers to solve simple problems involving general math techniques. Fisher's mixed-media collages also provide hints

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to problem solutions and advanced mathematicians are given the opportunity to decipher more complex puzzles in the last pages of the book. Jennifer Mattson, reviewing How High Can a Dinosaur Count?, and Other Math Mysteries for Booklist, deemed Fisher's mix of dioramas with math problems "confidence-boosting" for young readers, and a Publishers Weekly writer concluded that the author/illustrator's "collage-like medium … beckons readers to explore these pages on many levels."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2002, Susan Dove Lempke, review of My Big Brother, p. 239; August, 2003, Ilene Cooper, review of Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears, and Other Amazing Alphabet Anecdotes, p. 1988; January 1, 2006, Jennifer Mattson, review of How High Can a Dinosaur Count?, and Other Math Mysteries, p. 111.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2002, review of My Big Brother, p. 880; May 15, 2003, review of Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears, and Other Amazing Alphabet Anecdotes, p. 749; August 1, 2003, review of My Big Sister, p. 1016; August 15, 2004, review of Nonsense!, p. 808; January 15, 2006, review of How High Can a Dinosaur Count?, and Other Math Mysteries, p. 83.

Publishers Weekly, May 20, 2002, review of My Big Brother, p. 64; November 1, 2004, review of Nonsense!, p. 61; February 6, 2006, review of How High Can a Dinosaur Count?, and Other Math Mysteries, p. 69.

School Library Journal, July, 2002, Marianne Saccardi, review of My Big Brother, p. 90; November, 2003, review of My Big Sister, p. 92; November, 2004, Lauralyn Persson, review of Nonsense!, p. 127; February, 2006, Grace Oliff, review of How High Can a Dinosaur Count?, and Other Math Mysteries, p. 118.