Brewster, Hugh 1950-

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Brewster, Hugh 1950-

PERSONAL:

Born May 26, 1950, in London, England; immigrated to Ontario, Canada, 1956; son of Ormond Macmillan (a doctor) and Anne (a nurse and homemaker) Brewster. Education: University of Guelph, B.A. (English). Hobbies and other interests: Traveling, swimming, theater.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

CAREER:

Writer. Scholastic Canada, Toronto, Ontario, editor, 1972-81; Scholastic, New York, NY, editor, 1981-84; Madison Press Books, Toronto, editorial director, 1984-2004; freelance writer, 2005—. Banff Publishing Workshop, instructor, 1993-95. Arts Foundation of Greater Toronto, member of board.

MEMBER:

Book Publishers Professional Association (president, 1992-94).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Silver Birch Award nomination, and Red Cedar Award nomination, both 2001, both for To Be a Princess; Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award, and Silver Birch Award nomination, both 2005, Rocky Mountain Book Award nomination, 2006, and Red Cedar Award nomination, 2007, all for On Juno Beach; Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature finalist, 2007, for Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose; Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award Honor Book designation, 2007, and Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award nomination, 2008, for At Vimy Ridge.

WRITINGS:

The Complete Hoser's Handbook, Prentice Hall Canada (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada), 1983.

Anastasia's Album, Hyperion (New York, NY), 1996.

Inside the Titanic, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1997.

(With Laurie Coulter) 882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions about the Titanic, paintings by Ken Marschall, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Laurie Coulter) To Be a Princess: The Fascinating Lives of Real Princesses, illustrated by Laurie McGaw, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

On Juno Beach: Canada's D-Day Heroes, introduction by J.L. Granatstein, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

At Vimy Ridge: Canada's Greatest World War I Victory, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

The Other Mozart: The Life of the Famous Chevalier de Saint-George, illustrated by Eric Velasquez, Abrams Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 2007.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting, paintings by John Singer Sargent, Kids Can Press, 2007.

(With the curators of the Royal Ontario Museum) Breakout Dinosaurs: Canada's Coolest, Scariest Ancient Creatures Return!, illustrated by Alan Barnard, Whitfield Editions (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

Dieppe: Canada's Darkest Day of World War II, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Canada), 2008.

Author's work has been translated into French.

SIDELIGHTS:

Canadian writer Hugh Brewster worked for many years as an editor before embarking on a full-time career as a children's book author focusing on historical subjects. Brewster's books range from fact-based accounts of famous ocean liners to Canadian wartime epics, from Alberta's dinosaurs and the lives of notable individuals to a fictionalized account of the creation of a famous work of art. His books To Be a Princess: The Fascinating Lives of Real Princesses, On Juno Beach: Canada's D-Day Heroes, and At Vimy Ridge: Canada's Greatest World War I Victory have received critical praise as well as literary honors in his native Canada, while Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting was a finalist for the prestigious Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature. Taking readers back to 1885, Brewster's story describes famous American portraitist John Singer Sargent's visit with the English family of six-year-old Kate Millet and his decision to feature the young girl in one of his paintings. His "calm, mood-setting text captures elements of the … affluent lifestyles" of English families during the late Victorian period," noted School Library Journal contributor Lynn K. Vanca, the critic adding that by telling the story from the girl's viewpoint, "Brewster deftly develops Kate's personality, with strong emphasis on her feelings." Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose was described by Washington Post Book World contributor as an "exquisite" picture book in which Kate's fictional narrative "is gorgeously illustrated with … paintings and sketches by Sargent as well as photographs of … the real, fierce-eyed Kate."

Brewster's first children's book, Anastasia's Album, is based on the diary entries, letters, and photos of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. The book covers the life of Russia's imperial family during their final years of rule to their execution by the country's revolutionary government in 1918. Although the Romanovs' lives ended tragically, during her years growing up in a royal family Anastasia described a fascinating world of happiness and closeness between family members in her diary. In fact, one of the few stressful elements in the family's day-to-day life was their concern for Anastasia's younger brother, Alexei, who was a hemophiliac. "It would be difficult to find a more engaging portrait of the Romanovs," noted Elizabeth Talbot in a review of Anastasia's Album for School Library Journal. A contributor to Publishers Weekly attributes the uniqueness of Brewster's book to the "well chosen excerpts" he compiles from among the young woman's letters, diaries, and even schoolwork. According to the reviewer, these selections "heighten Anastasia's very real presence in these pages." In the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Deborah Stevenson concluded in her review that the Romanovs' regal lifestyle and unfortunate death "will be an enticing combination for many readers and browsers."

As Brewster once explained, "Occasionally, I have written the text for a book that I felt particularly close to. With Anastasia's Album, for example, I went to Moscow and spent time in the state archive. While there, I was able to look through the letters, diaries, photo albums, and drawings of the last tsar's family. Anastasia's letters—which had not previously been translated—and her photo albums—many of which she had hand-colored and decorated—seemed to be asking for entry into an illustrated book for young readers. The result shows children that a princess who lived in a palace and died nearly eighty years ago was a girl very much like them."

Brewster continues his exploration of the lives of royalty in To Be a Princess, which features profiles of Anastasia of Russia and her three ill-fated sisters; Henry VIII's daughters Mary and Elizabeth Tudor; Marie Antoinette; Indian Princess Ayesha; Queen Victoria, who ascended the British throne at age thirteen; and Princess Ka'iulani of Hawai'i. In his text, Brewster describes each of the young women and explains how they made an impact on their worlds, from the Tudor era to the present day. Coauthored by Laurie Coulter, the book was praised by a Kirkus Reviews writer who predicted: "For anyone who has ever wondered about the lives of real princesses," To Be a Princess "provide[s] some eye-opening narrative." "Students and teachers alike will appreciate the research and literate style of this unusual approach to collective biography," concluded School Library Journal critic Barbara Buckley in a review of To Be a Princess, while Resource Links contributor Veronica Allan wrote that the "biographies themselves are written in an entertaining and readable fashion with plenty of details to interest younger readers."

Featuring art by Eric Velasquez, Brewster's The Other Mozart: The Life of the Famous Chevalier de Saint-George also focuses on a colorful life, this time that of Joseph Boulogne, a Guadeloupian slave boy who, educated in Paris, became a virtuoso violinist and composer as well as a champion swordsman who ultimately served as a commander in opposition to the court of former patrons Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. In addition to intricate paintings by Eric Velasquez, the book includes a wealth of period images, as well as a time line and information on many of the men and women who factored in Boulogne's life. In School Library Journal, Emily R. Brown dubbed The Other Mozart a "swash-buckling biography" in which Brewster's "engaging narrative supplies delicious detail about life in Europe in the late 1700s." In Kirkus Reviews a writer noted that in "clear writing," Brewster "blends 16th-century history" with the story of a "fascinating life" in a volume that also "combines wonderful historical and lush original art."

Several of Brewster's nonfiction works focus on life in Canada during the world wars. Published in 2007 to coincide with the 90th anniversary of Canada's historic World War I battle, At Vimy Ridge returns readers to the spring of 1917, as the members of the Canadian Corps successfully take the position that had been attempted by British and French troops for many months. Led by Generals Julian Byng and Arthur Currie, the Canadian forces are transformed from a rag-tag troop to an elite corps that gain a respected place within the British Army. On Juno Beach was also written to honor a famous battle, in this case D-Day, June 6, 1944. Landing off the shore of Juno Beach in France, thousands of Canadian soldiers waded ashore while under fire of German troops and ultimately took the beach. Brewster includes photographs and other contemporary images to On Juno Beach, and these elements "add realism to the well-organized telling of this historic event," according to Resource Links critic Gail Lennon.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 1996, Ilene Cooper, review of Anastasia's Album, p. 349; December 1, 2001, Gillian Engberg, review of To Be a Princess: The Fascinating Lives of Real Princesses, p. 639; February 1, 2007, Gillian Engberg, review of The Other Mozart: The Life of the Famous Chevalier de Saint-George, p. 56; November 1, 2007, Jennifer Mattson, review of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting, p. 60.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January, 1997, Deborah Stevenson, review of Anastasia's Album, pp. 164-165; December, 2001, review of To Be a Princess, p. 133.

Christian Science Monitor, December 11, 2007, Christopher Andreae, review of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.

Horn Book, January-February, 1997, Lauren Adams, review of Anastasia's Album, p. 75.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2001, review of To Be a Princess, p. 1355; December 15, 2006, review of The Other Mozart, p. 1265; September 1, 2007, review of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.

Publishers Weekly, October 21, 1996, review of Anastasia's Album, pp. 83-84; November 4, 1996, p. 44; January 14, 2002, review of Princess Power, p. 62; January 1, 2007, review of The Other Mozart, p. 49.

Resource Links, February, 1997, review of Anastasia's Album, p. 117; February, 2001, Veronica Allen, review of To Be a Princess, p. 17; December, 2007, Teresa Hughes, review of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, p. 15.

School Library Journal, December, 1996, Elizabeth Talbot, review of Anastasia's Album, p. 149; October, 2001, Barbara Buckley, review of To Be a Princess, p. 179; June, 2007, Emily R. Brown, review of The Other Mozart, p. 166; January, 2008, Lynn K. Vanca, review of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, p. 82.

Washington Post Book World, September 23, 2007, Elizabeth Ward, review of Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, p. 12.