Derby, Sally 1934–

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Derby, Sally 1934–

Personal

Born July 1, 1934, in Dayton, OH; daughter of Wallene (a chemist) and Hildred (a homemaker) Derby; married

Karl S. Miller (a chemist), December, 1955; children: David, Michael, Steven, Philip, Matthew, Sarah. Education: Western College for Women, B.A. Religion: Episcopal. Hobbies and other interests: Children, books, walking.

Addresses

Home—Cincinnati, OH. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Writer and educator.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Authors Guild.

Awards, Honors

Notable Books for Children selection, Smithsonian magazine, 2001, for Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas.

Writings

The Mouse Who Owned the Sun, illustrated by Friso Henstra, Four Winds (New York, NY), 1993.

(Reteller) Jacob and the Stranger, illustrated by Leonid Gore, Ticknor & Fields (New York, NY), 1994.

King Kenrick's Splinter, illustrated by Leonid Gore, Walker (New York, NY), 1994.

My Steps, illustrated by Adjoa J. Burrowes, Lee & Low (New York, NY), 1996.

Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas, pictures by Gabi Swiatkowska, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2001.

Taiko on a Windy Night, illustrated by Kate Kiesler, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2001.

Two Fools and a Horse: An Original Tale, illustrated by Robert Rayevsky, Marshal Cavendish (New York, NY), 2002.

The Wacky Substitute, illustrated by Jennifer Herbert, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2005.

Whoosh Went the Wind!, illustrated by Vincent Nguyen, Marshall Cavendish (New York, NY), 2006.

No Mush Today, illustrated by Nicole Tadgell, Lee & Low (New York, NY), 2008.

Author's books have been translated into Spanish.

Sidelights

With the publication of her first book for children, The Mouse Who Owned the Sun, writer and educator Sally Derby realized a lifelong dream of becoming a children's author. After working as a teacher and raising her family, she started her writing career in the early 1990s and has been adding to her list of books ever since. In addition to The Mouse Who Owned the Sun, Derby's books for children include Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas, The Wacky Substitute, and Whoosh Goes the Wind!

"In 1943, at the age of (almost) ten I decided that when I grew up I would write books for children," Derby once recalled. "I grew up, went to college, married and then had six children and, a little later, at various times six foster children." In addition to working as a substitute teacher, she also had a job as a "laundry expert," answering consumers' laundry questions over an 800 number. "But all those years," Derby added, "whenever I could, I wrote. When I wasn't working or writing, I was reading. Finally I grew bold enough to send a manuscript to a publisher." Such was the beginning of The Mouse Who Owned the Sun.

A story for children ages five to eight, The Mouse Who Owned the Sun follows the adventures of Mouse as he discovers the wide world. Full of bravado, the cheeky little rodent fancies that he actually owns the sun and can tell it when to rise and set. Not satisfied with this role, Mouse sets off for adventure and ends up in the royal court, where he comes face to face with the king and gladly trades the sun for a map that well help him find his way back home. Elizabeth Hanson, writing in School Library Journal, dubbed The Mouse Who Owned the Sun a "charming tale" that illustrates "the many ways of seeing and interacting." Hanson concluded that "readers are sure to smile at Mouse's special sense of place," while a Publishers Weekly reviewer commented on Derby's "swift and sure" dialogue.

In Jacob and the Stranger Derby writes an original folk tale about a boy who lives in Slavda. Honest and kind but rather lazy, Jacob only works when his pockets are empty, and then only at jobs that require little effort. One day a stranger leaves a rare plant for Jacob to tend and promises to pay the boy a florin a day for his troubles. Jacob, taking his task seriously, sets the plant in the sun and waters it dutifully, only to be rewarded by the strangest buds in the history of flora and fauna: each day a different variety of wild cat emerges from the buds—beginning with a panther—until Jacob's house is full of the creatures. Finally the mysterious stranger—in reality a wizard—returns, but he refuses to pay Jacob his money. All the wild cats swarm up under the wizard's cloak and leave with him, all except a panther, which remains with Jacob and becomes the true friend the boy has always longed for. A Kirkus Reviews critic called Jacob and the Stranger "an intriguing, beautifully honed allegory" in which story and art combine in "an elegant piece of bookmaking." Anne Deifendeifer, writing in Horn Book, called the book "expertly paced" and possessing "the magical quality of stories from the oral tradition." "Derby reveals a depth of character rarely found in so brief a text," Deifendeifer concluded.

Framed as a traditional folktale, Two Fools and a Horse: An Original Tale was praised by a Kirkus Reviews writer as a "clever and foolish literary tale [that] is destined to become a classic." Featuring folk-style collage illustrations by Robert Rayevsky, Derby's story follows two young farmhands who are sure that a somewhat mysterious-looking itinerant peddler has stolen a horse belonging to Farmer Kohl and stuffed it into his large blue sack. When they call on the magistrate and assorted villagers to accost the peddler, the farmhands are made out to be fools: the peddler's sack is obviously too small to conceal a horse and besides, it is filled with all manner of interesting wares. Ultimately, Derby serves up a surprise that shows the two farmhands to far be less foolish than their fellow villagers believed. According to the Kirkus Reviews writer, the "blend of words and illustrations make [Two Fools and a Horse] … a not-to-be-missed offering."

In King Kenrick's Splinter a king attempts to ignore a painful splinter lodged in his toe until he can stand it no longer. Kendrick has an aversion to pain most children can relate to; he first tries to hide the painful injury from the queen by wearing slippers. The queen is not fooled, however, but when she offers to remove the painful splinter the king declines. Ultimately, King Kenrick realizes he must have the offending particle of wood removed if he is to lead the upcoming Hero's Day parade. When he learns that the royal cook's Uncle Archibald is supposed to be an expert splinter remover, he calls for the man. Intending to tease the monarch about his fear of the removal process, Archibald arrives with a bag full of ominous-looking tools, including an ice pick and a saw, but ultimately removes the splinter painlessly. The king exacts revenge on the jokey Archibald by ordering the man thrown into the dungeon. Kendrick is only kidding, however, and the two people share a final laugh before the king heads off to lead the parade. A Publishers Weekly critic described King Kenrick's Splinter as "subtly comforting," and that art work and story together display "a keen sense of humor." In Kirkus Reviews a writer dubbed Derby's story amusing, "especially to anyone who has faced the unhappy tweezers."

Derby turns to a more usual setting in My Steps, a picture book illustrated by Adjoa Burrowes. In the book a little girl lists all the fun she has playing on the steps of her apartment building, such as pretending its low walls are a horse's back for a journey, making a cave with a blanket, and simply enjoying time outside with her friends and neighbors. The story paces through the different seasons, from eating Popsicles on the stoop in summer to clearing snow off the steps in winter. In Booklist Carolyn Phelan remarked that the setting of My Steps will be familiar to most urban-dwelling youngsters, and those who are not "may end up wishing for a stoop of their own."

A small cat is the hero of Taiko on a Windy Night, a story featuring illustrations by Kate Kiesler. Here Derby follows the title feline on a jaunt through his neighborhood on an autumn evening. After being let out of the house by a little girl on a porch, Taiko has several adventures under the light of the full moon—walking on a fence, playing with fallen leaves, visiting the neighbor beagle, and chasing a mouse—before he relaxes near a bush in preparation for returning home. In Booklist John Peters commended "Derby's poetic text" for effectively bringing to life the cat's "atmospheric nighttime excursion." Karen Scott, writing in School Library Journal, asserted that art and text combined to help readers "experience the feline's enjoyment of his freedom."

In Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas Derby presents a holiday-themed story. Here a young girl helps her librarian aunt on the local bookmobile, an old school bus, on Christmas Eve afternoon. The weather is worsening, however, and as the afternoon grows dark Aunt Mary is forced to negotiate the increasingly perilous roads. Snowfall eventually shuts down the road to Hannah's home, so she and her aunt bunk in for the night on the comfortably furnished bookmobile bus. Polish illustrator Gabi Swiatkowska's images present the bookmobile as a charming and comfy wallpapered living room with bookshelves, and Hannah and her aunt settling in and reading their favorite holiday books while passing the time. They also enjoy many treats, for the bookmobile users they visited that day have showered them with Christmastime goodies. A brief afterword by Derby discusses the history of the bookmobile in the United States.

Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas "is quiet and slow, but the situation is intriguing," wrote Booklist critic Gillian Engberg, the reviewer also noting that Derby builds a sense of excitement by describing the worsening weather. A reviewer for School Library Journal called Swiatkowska's artwork "appealing," while a Publishers Weekly contributor commented on the contrast between the cozy warmth of the bus interior and the raging winter storm in Derby's "cozy holiday tale."

Not surprisingly, schools and teachers play a part in Derby's list of children's stories. As brought to life in illustrations by Jennifer Herbert, The Wacky Substitute, finds that when Mr. Hiram Wuerst substitutes in a kindergarten class at Merryvale School, all manner of mishaps occur. After dropping his spectacles into a hot frying pan during breakfast, the poor man accidentally mistakes a dish towel for a scarf while getting dressed for school. Wuerst's day goes from bad to worse when he confuses a banana for a telephone receiver, a floor mop for the school principal, and the twelve classroom gerbils for furry winter hats, all under the watchful eyes of his gleeful students. According to a Publishers Weekly critic, Derby's "off-the-wall scenarios" in The Wacky Substitute "will have readers wishing for a substitute who snores at rest time or dismisses them onto a fire truck instead of the bus." In School Library Journal Lynda Ritterman wrote that Jennifer Herbert's "colorful cartoon illustrations … support the text well," and called Derby's amusing title character the "Mr. Magoo of the education world."

An imaginative young excuse-maker is the focus of Whoosh Went the Wind! To excuse his tardiness, a young boy tries to blame a blustery breeze, explaining that he arrived late at school because he was setting right the destruction caused by the wind all over town. From traffic signs blown from their appointed spot to a mountain of dandelion fluff to flying chickens, the boy's story is so colorfully embroidered that even his skeptical teacher is caught up in his tale. In School Library Journal, Rebecca Sheridan praised the story's "dazzling language," adding that Derby's "delightful read-aloud" evokes a kinetic energy that "lift[s] readers into the enchanting tale." Praising Vincent Nguyen's charcoal-and-acrylic illustrations for bringing the story to life, Booklist critic Julie Cummins wrote of Whoosh Went the Wind! that the student's "fanciful" saga about his trip to school

"will leave children grinning and, perhaps, blowing up their own excuses," and a Kirkus Reviews writer cited the story's "sprightly text."

"For me, writing is a frustrating joy," Derby once admitted. "It's what I want to do and enjoy doing but never do well enough to please myself. Having the leisure to write makes my life rich and satisfying."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1994, Ilene Cooper, review of Jacob and the Stranger, p. 40; October 15, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of My Steps, p. 432; May 15, 2001, John Peters, review of Taiko on a Windy Night, p. 1756; September 15, 2001, Gillian Engberg, review of Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas, p. 234; October 15, 2006, Julie Cummins, review of Whoosh Went the Wind!, p. 54.

Horn Book, September-October, 1994, Anne Deifendeifer, review of Jacob and the Stranger, p. 583.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 1994, review of Jacob and the Stranger, p. 843; November 15, 1994, review of King Kenrick's Splinter, p. 1527; April 1, 2003, review of Two Fools and a Horse: An Original Tale, p. 532; June 15, 2005, review of The Wacky Substitute, p. 681; July 15, 2006, review of Whoosh Went the Wind!, p. 721.

New York Times Book Review, December 2, 2001, Heather Hepler, review of Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas, p. 83.

Publishers Weekly, September 20, 1993, review of The Mouse Who Owned the Sun, p. 71; October 31, 1994, review of King Kenrick's Splinter, p. 61; September 24, 2001, review of Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas, p. 50; March 3, 2003, review of Two Fools and a Horse, p. 75; July 11, 2005, review of The Wacky Substitute, p. 92.

School Library Journal, June, 2001, Karen Scott, review of Taiko on a Windy Night, p. 111; October, 2001, review of Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas, p. 64; May, 2003, Susan Scheps, review of Two Fools and a Horse, p. 112; October, 2005, Lynda Ritterman, review of The Wacky Substitute, p. 112; October, 2006, Rebecca Sheridan, review of Whoosh Went the Wind!, p. 109.