26 Fairmount Avenue (26 Fairmount Avenue Series #1)

by Tomie dePaola, Tomie dePaola (Illustrator)

Overview

A Newbery Honor Book

Tomie's family starts building their new house at 26 Fairmount Avenue in 1938, just as a hurricane hits town, starting off a busy, crazy year. Tomie has many adventures all his own, including eating chocolate with his Nana Upstairs, only to find out—the hard way—that they have eaten chocolate laxative. He tries to skip kindergarten when he finds out he won't learn to read until first grade. "I'll be back next year," he says. When Tomie goes to see Snow White, he creates another sensation. Tomie dePaola's childhood memories are hilarious, and his charming illustrations are sure to please.


"A thoroughly entertaining and charming story."—School Library Journal

"DePaola successfully evokes the voice of a precocious, inquisitive five-year-old everyone would want to befriend. Charming black-and-white illustrations animate the scenes and add a period flare, including a photo album-like assemblage of the characters' portraits at the book's start."—Publishers weekly 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780698118645
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	03/06/2002
Series:	26 Fairmount Avenue Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	122,056
Product dimensions:	5.13(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.21(d)
Lexile:	640L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Tomie dePaola was born in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1934 to a family of Irish and Italian background. By the time he could hold a pencil, he knew what his life's work would be. His determination to create books for children led to a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and an MFA from the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, California. It drove him through the years of teaching, designing greeting cards and stage sets, and painting church murals until 1965, when he illustrated his first children's book, Sound, by Lisa Miller for Coward-McCann. Eventually, freed of other obligations, he plunged full time into both writing and illustrating children's books.

He names Fra Angelico and Giotto, Georges Rouault, and Ben Shahn as major influences on his work, but he soon found his own unique style. His particular way with color, line, detail, and design have earned him many of the most prestigious awards in his field, among them a Caldecott Honor Award for Strega Nona, the Smithsonian Medal from the Smithsonian Institution, the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota for his "singular attainment in children's literature," the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal for his "continued distinguished contribution," and the University of Southern Mississippi Medallion. He was also the 1990 United States nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration.

Tomie dePaola has published almost 200 children's books in fifteen different countries. He remains one of the most popular creators of books for children, receiving more than 100,000 fan letters each year.

Tomie lives in an interesting house in New Hampshire with his four dogs. His studio is in a large renovated 200-year-old barn.

- He has been published for over 30 years.
- Over 5 million copies of his books have sold worldwide.
- His books have been published in over 15 different countries.
- He receives nearly 100,000 fan letters each year.

Tomie dePaola has received virtually every significant recognition forhis books in the children's book world, including:

- Caldecott Honor Award from American Library Association
- Newbery Honor Award from American Library Association
- Smithson Medal from Smithsonian Institution
- USA nominee in illustration for Hans Christian Andersen Medal
- Regina Medal from Catholic Library Association

copyright © 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

Hometown:

Connecticut and New Hampshire

Date of Birth:

September 15, 1935

Place of Birth:

Meriden, CT

Website:

http://www.tomie.com/main.html

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER THREE:As exciting as beginning the new house and the big hurricane were, something I had been waiting for for a long time had happened the spring of 1938. Mr. Walt Disney's movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had come to Meriden.
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "26 Fairmount Avenue"
by .
Copyright © 2002 Tomie dePaola.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Young Readers Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Kicking off a series by the same name, dePaola recounts some memorable moments from . . .[his] early years, surrounded by loving family members and friends." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Editorial Reviews

"Kicking off a series by the same name, dePaola recounts some memorable moments from . . .[his] early years, surrounded by loving family members and friends." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Publisher

Tomie dePaola, known for the well-loved Strega Nonabooks and many others has fashioned a charming short novel from his own childhood. Illustrated with many black-and-white drawings and small black silhouettes, the nine chapters describe the family's ups and downs in building the family home, as well as other exciting events like a hurricane and Tomie's first day of school. The first person narrative, which has the uncluttered freshness of a child's viewpoint, weaves in well-chosen details that will entertain young readers.
— Book

Kathleen Odean

Nobody tells an anecdote better than the person who lived through it. This is one of the reasons that author-illustrator dePaola's picture-book autobiographies (26 Fairmount Avenue; Here We All Are; On My Way) have been such a success. On this audio adaptation of those first three books, plus the just-released What a Year! (Putnam, Mar.), dePaola, as narrator, lets his easygoing storytelling style and effervescent personality shine through. He recounts in vivid detail memories from his childhood in Connecticut, describing family members and major events in his life, including the hurricane of 1938, seeing Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for the first time, the birth of his baby sister and his first foray into trick-or-treating (as Snow White). Contemporary kids will be enthralled by these accounts of long-ago because they are told with such childlike charm; parents and grandparents will likely want to listen for nostalgia's sake. And everyone will be entertained, taking away a sense of what it was really like to be a kid in the late 1930s/early 1940s. Ages 7-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 4 Tomie dePaola's loving recollections of his childhood - 26 Fairmount Avenue, Here We All Are, On My Way, and What a Year (Putnam, 1999-2002) come to life in this delightful audiobook. The author reads his own works, and it is clear from his voice that writing these books was a true labor of love. The tone is conversational as dePaola takes listeners back to another time when "Little Orphan Annie" was on the radio and doctors made house calls. His large extended family - both Irish and Italian - are featured in these stories, but the hero is clearly little Tomie. He exults in a starring role in a dance recital, dresses up as Snow White for Halloween, and has the occasional run-in with his teachers who insist on spelling his name "Tommy." There are tense moments here, as Tomie's little sister battles pneumonia, and joyous celebrations when the family moves to Fairmount Avenue. The entire production, including original music and a closing interview with the author/illustrator, is extremely well done. It offers listeners, both young and old, a warm glimpse of a loving family. It also provides insights into the background that influenced dePaola's later work. -Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary School, Federal Way, WA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

A charming, gentle, funny...His respect and reverence for both the old and the youngis clear...in his stories. (Patricia MacLachlan, author of Sarah, Plain and Tall)

Author Biography: Tomie dePaola is one of the best-known and best-loved author/illustrators creating books for children today. Both his writing and art have won numerous awards, and many of his picture books are now considered classics.

Neat sketches and silhouettes will draw browsers in, and the book design is approachable and not babyish...[A]n entirely satisfying easy chapter book...
— The Horn Book Review

Sutton

The legions of fans who over the years have enjoyed dePaola's autobiographical picture books will welcome this longer gathering of reminiscences. Writing in an authentically childlike voice, he describes watching the new house his father was building go up despite a succession of disasters, from a brush fire to the hurricane of 1938. Meanwhile, he also introduces family, friends, and neighbors, adds Nana Fall River to his already well-known Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, remembers his first day of school (" `When do we learn to read?' I asked. `Oh, we don't learn how to read in kindergarten. We learn to read next year, in first grade.' `Fine,' I said. `I'll be back next year.' And I walked right out of school."), recalls holidays, and explains his indignation when the plot of Disney's "Snow White" doesn't match the story he knows. Generously illustrated with vignettes and larger scenes, this cheery, well-knit narrative proves that an old dog can learn new tricks, and learn them surpassingly well. (Autobiography. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews