Wilsdorf, Anne 1954–

Personal

Born 1954, in France.

Addresses

Home and office—Lausanne, Switzerland.

Career

Author, illustrator, and educator.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

La graine de carotte, et autres histories pas comme les autres, 24 Heures, 1982.

Philomene, Greenwillow Books (New York, NY), 1992.

Princess: Based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Princess and the Pea", Greenwillow Books (New York, NY), 1993.

ILLUSTRATOR

Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Jack and the Beanstalk, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1985.

Ferida Wolff, The Woodcutter's Coat, Joy Street Books (New York, NY), 1992.

Garrison Keillor, The Old Man Who Loved Cheese, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1996.

Sharon Arms Doucet, Alligator Sue, Melanie Kroupa Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2003.

Lenore Look, Ruby Lu, Brave and True, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2004.

Candace Fleming, Sunny Boy!: The Life and Times of a Tortoise, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2005.

Maryann MacDonald, The Costume Copycat, Dial Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2006.

Lenore Look, Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2006.

Orel Protopopescu, Two Sticks, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2007.

Eileen Spinelli, The Best Story, Dial Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2008.

William Loizeaux, Clarence Cochran, a Human Boy, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2009.

Sidelights

Anne Wilsdorf is a Swiss artist whose works have appeared in a number of children's books published for English-language readers. Although she has created several self-illustrated stories, such as Philomene and Princess: Based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Princess and the Pea", she is best known for her book illustrations. Beginning her collaborations with English-language authors in the early 1990s, Wilsdorf's work has appeared in books by Ferida Wolff, Garrison Keillor, Lenore Look, Eileen Spinelli, Candace Fleming, and Orel Protopopescu, among others. Wilsdorf's art for Wolff's folktale-themed story in The Woodcutter's Coat prompted a Publishers Weekly contributor to laud her "detail-packed" ink and watercolor renderings. Reviewing Two Sticks by Protopopescu, a Kirkus Reviews critic concluded that Wilsdorf's acrylic paintings, "rich in saturated color, glow with warmth and vibrancy."

Wilsdorf's detailed watercolor-and-ink work for Candace Fleming's picture book Sunny Boy!: The Life and Times of a Tortoise, about a mild-mannered tortoise who is adopted by a human family and ends up riding over Niagara Falls in a barrel, captures the "energetic … foolhardiness" of the tale, in the opinion of Booklist critic Julie Cummins. Based on a true story, Sunny Boy! treats readers to what Rosalyn Pierini described in School Library Journal as a "rollicking romp" in which Wilsdorf's "comical cartoon narrative…. enhances the textual flow of the story." In Kirkus Reviews a contributor praised the artist's "exuberantly drawn cartoons" for Sunny Boy! In School Library Journal JoAnn Jonas concluded that Wilsdorf's illustrations for Maryann MacDonald's The Costume Copycat "include wonderful facial expressions" that bring the characters in MacDonald's sibling-centered tale to life.

In Alligator Sue Wilsdorf creates "colorful and expressive cartoon-style illustrations" to enhance Sharon Arms Doucet's "heartwarming" Cajun story about a girl who is adopted by a family of alligators living in Louisiana's Atchafalaya Swamp, according to Booklist contributor Lauren Peterson. The illustrator's "loose black line and watercolor wash make the girl's acceptance into the reptilian family seem plausible," noted a Publishers Weekly critic, the reviewer adding that Wilsdorf's characters are portrayed as "affectionate and playful." Dubbing the story full of "spirited fun," School Library Journal contributor Donna Cardon added that the artwork for Alligator Sue "accentuate[s] the re-

gional feel" of Doucet's story "and help[s] define" its tall-tale cast of characters.

Wilsdorf and Look have teamed up on a pair of chapter books featuring a spunky young girl named Ruby Lu. In Ruby Lu, Brave and True, readers meet a young Chinese-American girl who is learning the ropes of being a big sister while also learning the words to Asian songs at her Chinese School. Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything finds her attempting to adopt the Cantonese habits of the rest of her family after her cousin Flying Duck arrives from China. "Wilsdorf's airy pencil illustrations joyfully bounce through the" first collaboration between author and illustrator, according to a Kirkus Reviews writer, while in Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything, Horn Book contributor Jennifer M. Brabander noted that Wilsdorf's "energetic ink cartoons are in line with this comic novel's frenetic atmosphere."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2003, Lauren Peterson, review of Alligator Sue, p. 128; January 1, 2004, Terry Glover, review of Ruby Lu, Brave and True, p. 878; August, 2005, Julie Cummins, review of Sunny Boy!: The Life and Times of a Tortoise, p. 2034; February 15, 2006, Cindy Dobrez, review of Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything, p. 104; February 15, 2007, Gillian Engberg, review of Two Sticks, p. 86.

Horn Book, May-June, 2006, Jennifer M. Brabander, review of Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything, p. 322.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2003, review of Alligator Sue, p. 962; January 1, 2004, review of Ruby Lu, Brave and True, p. 38; July 15, 2005, review of Sunny Boy!, p. 789; July 1, 2006, review of The Costume Copycat, p. 679; February 15, 2007, review of Two Sticks.

Publishers Weekly, June 1, 1992, review of Philomene, p. 62; October 19, 1992, review of The Woodcutter's Coat, p. 76; May 17, 1993, review of Princess: Based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Princess and the Pea", p. 80; April 1, 1996, review of The Old Man Who Loved Cheese, p. 74; July 7, 2003, review of Alligator Sue, p. 72; January 19, 2004, review of Ruby Lu, Brave and True, p. 76; October 10, 2005, review of Sunny Boy!, p. 61.

School Library Journal, September, 2003, Donna Cardon, review of Alligator Sue, p. 177; August, 2005, Rosalyn Pierini, review of Sunny Boy!, p. 94; July, 2006, Julie R. Ranelli, review of Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything, p. 82; September, 2006, JoAnn Jonas, review of The Costume Copycat, p. 178; March, 2007, Nancy Kunz, review of Two Sticks, p. 184.