Janie Writes a Play

November 1, 2024
Grades K-3 Growing up in New York City in the mid-twentieth century, Janie was a reader with a great imagination. She loved making up stories and jotting down ideas to use in her writing. One day at school, her teacher announced that the class would be putting on a play for other students. But when she handed out the scripts, Janie was disappointed with the play, which was boring. That afternoon and into the night, she wrote a new play with vegetable characters, a better plot, and songs. The class rehearsed all week and then performed the musical for students and families. As the chief carrot, Janie "belted out the finale" and received a standing ovation. The real-life happy ending is that Janie (Jane Yolen) has never stopped writing, and her middle-grade novels and picture books are beloved by many young people. Her writer's origin story, retold here by her daughter, is digitally illustrated with expressive characters and imaginative touches. A fitting tribute to an author who found her calling early and, over 400 books later, is still going strong.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 16, 2024
Stemple pays tribute to her mother, author Jane Yolen
(b. 1939), with this tightly written tale of Yolen’s debut as a school-age playwright. Centering on how “Janie loved a great story,” scenes paint the subject’s days as filled with reading and writing, while she anticipates the start of school play rehearsals. That initial excitement fizzles upon a read of the script, but Yolen’s writerly instincts kick in, and she draws on everyday experience to craft an original work whose performance achieves a standing ovation. With texturized coloring, Goodnight’s large-scale digital artwork moves between cheerful depictions of the mundane and Yolen’s imagination-infused perceptions. An author’s note concludes. Ages 5–8.