Hanson, Warren 1949-

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HANSON, Warren 1949-

Personal

Born April 17, 1949, in Yankton, SD; son of Clifford G. (a salesman) and Grace E. (a homemaker; maiden name, Selleck) Hanson; married Patricia L. Wallway (a disabilities counselor); children: Cody W., Lacey E. Education: Augustana College, B.A., 1971; College of Visual Arts, B.F.A., 1973. Hobbies and other interests: Music, reading, travel.

Addresses

Home P.O. Box 8100, St. Paul, MN 55108-0100. E-mail [email protected].

Career

Author and illustrator of children's books. Advertising agency art director in Bloomington, MN, 1973-74; program presenter.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

A Is for Adult: An Alphabet Book for Grown-Ups, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1993.

The Next Place, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1999.

Older Love, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1999.

ILLUSTRATOR

Tom Hegg, To Nourish Any Flower: The Request Collection, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1994.

Tom Hegg, Peef: The Christmas Bear, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1995.

Tom Hegg, A Silent Night for Peef, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1998.

Tom Hegg, A Memory of Christmas Tea, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1999.

Richard Jorgensen, Reading with Dad, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Tom Hegg, Peef and His Best Friend, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2001.

Beginning: Encouragement at the Start of Something New, Waldman House Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

Rick Kupchella, Tell Me What We Did Today, Tristan Pub. (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

(Compiler, with Tim Nyberg) What Does the President Do?: Real Comments by Real Kids, 2004.

Work in Progress

Raising You Alone and I Am Loved for Tristan Publishing; Bugtown Boogie, for HarperCollins; The Sea of Sleep, for Scholastic.

Sidelights

Warren Hanson told Something about the Author: "I love what I do. I try to let that love show in every book I do. I try to make each of my books, even the silly ones, as positive as I can. I don't believe in putting more negative stuff into the world. I think of my books as my children. I give them the best I can while they are with me. Then they go out into the world and live their lives. I, as their parent, can only sit back and watch.

"One of my books, The Next Place, has gone on to do wonderful work. It is bringing peace, comfort, and hope to people who have lost someone they love. The book is doing good things that I could never have imagined when I created it.

"I have one piece of advice for anyone who wants to create books. Advice for anyone, really. Turn off the TV. It isn't real and it isn't good. TV thinks you're stupid. But I know that you're not. Turn it off, and you'll be amazed at what you find inside you."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Publishers Weekly, November 20, 1995, review of Peef: The Christmas Bear, p. 76.

School Library Journal, February, 2001, Karen Scott, review of Reading with Dad, p. 100.

ONLINE

Warren Hanson Web site, http://www.warrenhanson.com/ (October 21, 2004).*