Thompson, Richard 1951-

Personal

Born January 7, 1951, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; son of an oilfield worker; married Maggee Spicer (a teacher and writer); children: Jesse (daughter). Education: College of New Caledonia B.A. (early childhood education), 1980.

Addresses

Home—Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Home and office—195 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R 4TB, Canada.

Career

Children's book author and storyteller. Formerly worked as a restaurant cook and daycare worker; Oscar O's Family Daycare, operator for six years; Story Vine Nursery School, teacher until 1989; full-time writer and storyteller, beginning 1989. Member, Prince George Storytellers Roundtable; speaker at schools and libraries throughout North America.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Jenny's Neighbours, illustrated by Kathryn E. Shoemaker, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1987.

Sky Full of Babies, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1987.

Foo, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988.

I Have to See This!, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988.

The Last Story, the First Story, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988.

Gurgle, Bubble, Splash, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1989.

Effie's Bath, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1989.

Zoe and the Mysterious X, illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1990.

Jesse on the Night Train, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1990.

Frog's Riddle, and Other Draw-and-Tell Stories, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1990.

Maggee and the Lake Minder, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1991.

The Gastank of My Heart (story collection), Caitlin Press (Prince George, British Columbia, Canada), 1991.

Tell Me One Good Thing: Bedtime Stories, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992.

Jill and the Jogero, illustrated by Françoise Durham-Moulin, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992.

Don't Be Scared, Eleven, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993.

The Ice Cream Bucket Effect (story collection), Caitlin Press (Prince George, British Columbia, Canada), 1993.

Who, illustrated by Martin Springett, Orca (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 1993.

Cold Night, Brittle Light, illustrated by Henry Fernandes, Orca (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), 1994.

(With wife, Maggee Spicer) Fishes in the Ocean, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Then and Now, illustrated by Barbara Hartman, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

There Is Music in a Pussy Cat, illustrated by Barbara Hartmann, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

The Follower, illustrated by Martin Springett, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

(With Maggee Spicer) We'll All Go Sailing, illustrated by Kim LaFave, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

(With Maggee Spicer) We'll All Go Flying, illustrated by Kim LaFave, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

The Night Walker, illustrated by Martin Springett, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

(With Maggee Spicer) We'll All Go Exploring, illustrated by Kim LaFave, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

(With Maggee Spicer) When They Are Up …, illustrated by Kirsti Anne Wakelin, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

OTHER

(Self-illustrated) Draw and Tell: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, Viewing, Shaping, Annick Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988.

Adaptations

Foo, Sky Full of Babies, I Have to See This!, Jesse on the Night Train, and Gurgle, Bubble, Splash were adapted for audiocassette, Annick Press, 1990.

Sidelights

Devoting his career to inspiring young children with a love of story, Richard Thompson worked as a day-care provider and even started his own nursery school, until his family's prodding and the acquisition of a computer convinced him to devote his full time to writing and telling stories. Beginning in 1989, Thompson created dozens of tales for young children, and also spent sixteen weeks a year traveling throughout his native Canada and the United States to share his stories and his creative ideas with school and library groups. "My school visits have given me a chance to explore new storytelling ideas and to find out first hand what ‘works’ for both myself and my audiences," he noted on his home page. "And, of course, sharing stories with enthusiastic and appreciative audiences is a very rewarding process in itself."

Among Thompson's books for young children are picture books and beginning readers for younger children such as Then and Now, The Follower, Fishes in the Ocean, and When They Are Up …, the last two coauthored by his wife, Maggee Spicer. Story collections for older elementary-graders include The Gastank of My Heart and The Ice Cream Bucket Effect. Praising the coauthors' adaptation of a traditional nursery rhyme in When They Are Up …, Bina Williams described the work in School Library Journal as a "merry book [that] will make an active storyhour even more fun." A slightly scary mystery that offers up clues on every page, The Follower was praised by Booklist contributor Shelle Rosenfeld as a "charming, not-too-spooky story." In her School Library Journal review of the same book, Margaret Bush wrote that, with its nighttime "images richly rendered" in both Thompson's text and Martin Springett's "surreal" art, The Follower serves up "fine read-aloud fare."

In the trio of books that include We'll All Go Sailing, We'll All Go Flying, and We'll All Go Exploring, Thompson's rhyming text, with its singsong question-and-answer structure, follows the adventures of the young narrator and his friends Maggee and Jesse (characters named after Thompson's wife and daughter). In We'll All Go Sailing, which features bold, heavily outlined art by award-winning illustrator Kim LaFave, the three sailors launch their small boat and discover a host of amazing sea creatures, introducing children to basic color concepts along the way. We'll All Go Flying finds the trio soaring up through the clouds and then into outer space in their hot air balloon, while hiking is the preferred form of transportation in We'll All Go Exploring. "The repetitive verses and simple rhymes will make this a favorite of young naturalists," concluded a Kirkus Reviews writer in an appraisal of We'll All Go Exploring. Noting that the lift-the-flap pages of the book allow Thompson to expand his introduction to various forest ecosystems, Kathleen Kelly McWilliams wrote in School Library Journal that the collaboration between author and artist serves as an effective way to "introduce basic ecology" while "maintaining a light-hearted appeal."

Although retiring from his work as a traveling storyteller in 2006, Thompson continues to inspire children and teachers alike through his interactive home page, www.drawandtell.com, which includes word games, puzzles, magic tricks, and other mind-stretchers, as well as draw-and-tell tales and other stories for use in story-hour groups.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 2000, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of The Follower, p. 823; May 15, 2001, Carolyn Phelan, review of We'll All Go Sailing, p. 1755; May 1, 2003, Carolyn Phelan, review of We'll All Go Exploring, p. 1603; September 1, 2003, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of The Night Walker, p. 131.

Canadian Review of Materials, June 8, 2001, review of There Is Music in a Pussycat; June 22, 2001, Catherine Hoyt, review of We'll All Go Sailing; November 29, 2002, review of The Night Walker.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2002, review of The Night Walker, p. 1858; April 1, 2003, review of We'll All Go Exploring, p. 540.

Publishers Weekly, June 4, 2001, review of We'll All Go Sailing, p. 82.

Quill & Quire, October, 2000, review of Follower, p. 44; April, 2001, review of We'll All Go Sailing, p. 33.

Resource Links, February, 1999, review of Fishes in the Ocean, p. 2; December, 2000, review of The Follower, p. 41; June, 2001, Linda Ludke, review of We'll All Go Sailing, p. 6; December, 2002, Isobel Lang, review of We'll All Go Flying, p. 18; February, 2003, Ann Ketcheson, review of The Night Walker, p. 7; October, 2003, Kathryn McNaughton, review of We'll All Go Exploring, p. 9; April, 2004, Lori Lavallee, review of When They Are Up …, p. 8.

School Library Journal, December, 2000, Margaret Bush, review of The Follower, p. 126; July, 2001, DeAnn Tabuchi, review of We'll All Go Sailing, p. 100; December, 2002, Carol L. Mackay, review of We'll All Go Flying, p. 110; April, 2003, Kathy Piehl, review of The Night Walker, p. 140; May, 2003, Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, review of We'll All Go Exploring, p. 129; May, 2004, Bina Williams, review of When They Are Up …, p. 136.

ONLINE

Richard Thompson Home Page,http://www.drawandtell.com (November 15, 2007).