"Sidelights Sketch" from SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR,
Vols. 80 & 125
by J. Sidney Jones
Marilyn Singer is an
award-winning author of children's books in a wide variety of
genres, including fiction and nonfiction picture books, juvenile
novels and mysteries, young adult fantasies, and poetry. Among
her many characters are a dog who insists he is not a dog, an
armadillo, a young heart surgery patient, obsessive Lizzie
Silver, Stryker the poltergeist, twin detectives named Sam and
Dave--even a dog detective. "People often ask me why I write
so many different kinds of things," Singer commented in an
essay for the Something about the Author Autobiography Series
(SAAS). "I tell them it's because I have so many
different parts to my personality, and each part has a different
way of expressing itself. I tell them too that I like to
challenge myself so that I'll never be bored."
Singer was born in Manhattan in 1948, but she grew up in North
Massapequa, Long Island. As a young girl Singer began writing,
partly influenced by her grandmother, with whom she had a close
relationship. Poems were and still are her favorite form, but she
also experimented with plays, and this early love of the theater
eventually carried over into many of her books. "It seemed
in those years that my childhood would remain pretty
carefree," Singer once commented.
In 1956 Singer had to undergo heart surgery, but the fact that
her parents and doctor kept the truth of her illness from her was
more traumatic than the actual surgery. Years later, Singer dealt
with her emotional wounds in her 1978 novel, It Can't
Hurt Forever. As a high school student, she felt
unpopular and on the outside of the cliques. In 1965 she began
attending Queens College--a branch of the City University of New
York--as an English major and education student. College was a
more rewarding experience for Singer and a Junior Year Abroad
program to England's Reading University would also be a formative
experience for the budding writer.
Returning to Queens College, Singer finished her last year there
and then moved to an apartment in New York City. She began
teaching and became very committed to her job. "I wanted to
inspire my students, to make literature come alive for them, to
make school a pleasure and not a chore," Singer once
recalled. In 1970 she met her future husband, Steve Aronson, who
had come to New York from Wisconsin to become an actor, and a
year and a half later they were visiting some of Singer's friends
in England when they decided to get married.
Singer began her writing career doing teaching guides on film and
filmstrips, and, although she enjoyed the work for a while, she
was not entirely satisfied. She also began looking into magazine
writing. Her article proposals were not very successful, but she
did manage to have some of her poetry published. The following
year brought a major turning point in Singer's life. She was
sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with a pad of paper and a
pen in case she wanted to write a new poem, when she suddenly
found herself writing a story instead. Upon seeing this first
story, her husband encouraged her to write more, so Singer wrote
a number of children's stories featuring animals and mailed them
off to publishers. In the meantime, she joined a workshop for
unpublished children's authors at Bank Street College and
continued writing. Then one day she received a letter from
Dutton, telling her that they wanted to publish one of her
books--The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't.
"I barely got through reading the letter before I let out a
scream," Singer once wrote. "A book! A published book!
I was about to become an author! A children's author! How
extraordinary! How fine! I had a new career."
In The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't,
Singer tells the story of Konrad the dog, who is absolutely
positive that he is not a dog but a person instead. He is lucky
enough to find Abigail, who convinces her family to go along with
Konrad and treat him as a human. Konrad sits at the table to eat,
takes baths, and even goes to school. When the other dogs in the
neighborhood decide that they too want to be treated like people,
all chaos breaks loose. They are eventually convinced to go back
to their carefree lives as dogs, and Konrad compromises by
agreeing to pretend he's a dog. A reviewer for the Bulletin
of the Center for Children's Books praised Singer's
portrayal of conversations between animals and humans and further
observed that "the adult-child relationships are
exemplary."
Singer often features dogs in her work, including the non-fiction
book A Dog's Gotta Do What a Dog's Gotta Do: Dogs at
Work and the poetry collection It's
Hard to Read a Map with a Beagle on Your Lap. Chester
the Out-of-Work Dog, one of Singer's most popular
books, features a border collie who loses his job when he and his
family move from their farm to the city. Writing in Booklist,
Ilene Cooper claimed, "This picture book has it
all--slapstick comedy, a touch of pathos, and an actual story
with a beginning, a middle, and an end."
Singer's writing for younger children has also addressed a
variety of people and places in the world. In the 1991 picture
book Nine O'Clock Lullaby, Singer's
text explores what children around the world are doing at the
time a child in Brooklyn is going to sleep. Complemented by the
illustrations of Frane Lessac, the book provides a simple
introduction to time zones and children of other cultures as well
as serving as a "rhythmic, pleasing lullaby," according
to a Publishers Weekly critic. Patricia Dooley, writing
in School Library Journal, praised the way Nine
O'Clock Lullaby demonstrates "the
connectedness of the inhabitants of our global village."
Singer and Lessac again teamed up for On the Same Day
in March, a picture book look at weather in
seventeen locations around the world. For each location,
"Singer provides a few lines of lyrical text that vividly
create the climate," noted Booklist's Michael Cart,
who concluded that the book "doubles as a delightfully
agreeable introduction to both climatology and geography."
Jody McCoy, writing in School Library Journal, called
the same title a "useful and engaging addition."
Dramatically different picture books take young readers into the
land of myth. In The Golden Heart of Winter,
an original folktale, three sons are sent off to bring back a
prize to their aging father. "The rich prose and haunting
illustrations of this original story give it the texture of a
folktale," wrote Miriam Martinez in Language Arts.
In The Painted Fan readers are
transported to ancient China where a cruel ruler destroys all the
fans in the kingdom after a soothsayer tells him a painted fan
will be his undoing. This is a story told with "simplicity
and dignity," according to Carolyn Phelan in Booklist.
Medieval England and verse prove the inspiration for Maiden
on the Moor, a story about two shepherd brothers
who find a young maiden on a snowy moor. Donna L. Scanlon,
reviewing the picture book in School Library Journal,
felt the tale "is sure to spark imaginations as it
transcends ordinary fairy-tale conventions." Scanlon also
noted that Singer "knows how to distill words into images,
and she conveys the bleak beauty of the setting with clarity and
precision." Singer presents another original fairy tale in The
Palace of the Ocean King, in which traditional
roles are reversed: it is the maiden who must save the imprisoned
young prince.
Young readers are also taken onto the bustling streets of
multi-cultural Brooklyn in Didi and Daddy on the
Promenade, which is about an eager preschooler and
her father on a Sunday morning outing. The two view such sights
as the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty. Shelle Rosenfeld,
writing in Booklist, commented that both young and adult
readers will "recognize and enjoy Didi's humorous enthusiasm
(and Daddy's good-natured participation) as the walk brings
anticipated joys and unexpected surprises."
In addition to this rich collection of fiction picture books,
Singer has also produced a wide array of nonfiction works for
young readers as well as numerous poetry volumes in picture book
format. In Exotic Birds, Singer
presents a "fact-filled but readable introduction" to
the subject, according to Booklist contributor Leone
McDermott. Ellen Dibner, reviewing the same title in School
Library Journal, concluded that Exotic Birds
is a "most satisfying book for browsing, general
information, and exotic bird watching." Other flying
creatures are dealt with in A Wasp Is Not a Bee
and A Pair of Wings. Animal anatomy is
the subject of the engaging and often humorous Bottoms
Up!, a "cheerful book about behinds and their
uses," according to Booklist's Ilene Cooper. In Prairie
Dogs Kiss and Lobsters Wave, Singer shows how
animals greet one another. The book, according to Booklist's
Hazel Rochman, is noteworthy for its "friendly, immediate
text and active, colorful pictures." Of her several poetry
books for young readers, Singer's personal favorite is the
award-winning Turtle in July, "a
lovely picture book of poetry that moves through the
seasons," according to Janet Hickman in Language Arts.
Nancy Vasilakis, reviewing Turtle in July
in The Horn Book, felt that Singer and illustrator Jerry
Pinkney created a "vivid picture book that is visually as
well as auditorily pleasing," and that Singer, by using the
first person, "captures the essence of each animal."
Singer's first middle grade novel, It Can't Hurt
Forever, recounts the trauma Singer had herself
experienced as a child undergoing surgery. In this fictionalized
version of her experience, Singer presents Ellie Simon, who is to
enter the hospital for the same corrective heart surgery Singer
had. Unlike Singer, however, Ellie is told what is going to
happen to her, with the exception of the catheterization she must
undergo. When she learns about it, she argues with the doctors
and her parents, just as Singer wished she had done. Singer
"provides an honest and thorough look at pre-and
post-operative care and at the concerns of a girl facing a major
trauma," pointed out Karen Harris in School Library
Journal. A Kirkus Reviews contributor concluded
that It Can't Hurt Forever is
"sharp, fast, funny, genuinely serious, and helpfully
informative."
Among her other early works for middle grade children are two
novels about the obsessions of a young girl named Lizzie Silver. Tarantulas
on the Brain has ten-year-old Lizzie doing
everything she can to earn enough money to buy a pet tarantula.
She tries having a junk sale and even works as a magician's
assistant to get the necessary money, lying to her mother about
what she is doing. In the end, her secret desire and activities
are discovered and everyone is much more sympathetic than Lizzie
imagined they would be. The pace of Tarantulas on the
Brain "is fast and exciting; the characters
are sufficiently quirky to keep the readers engrossed and
narrator Lizzie Silver, 10, wins their affections," asserted
a Publishers Weekly reviewer. In the sequel to Tarantulas
on the Brain, Lizzie Silver of Sherwood
Forest, Lizzie's new preoccupations include her
desires to be one of Robin Hood's merry followers and to learn
how to play the harp so she can attend the same music school as
her best friend. Lizzie Silver of Sherwood Forest is a
"funny, touching sequel," stated another Publishers
Weekly contributor, adding: "This is an adroitly
balanced and enjoyable tale about a naive and eager girl."
Singer has also produced a fantasy novel for younger readers, Charmed.
Miranda, a twelve-year-old with an active imagination, travels to
worlds around the galaxy in a quest to collect the "Correct
Combination"--a group of characters who must unite to
destroy an evil being known as the Charmer. Besides Miranda and
the humanoid named Iron Dog, the group includes Bastable,
Miranda's invisible feline friend, Rattus, a clever rodent, and
the wise cobra-goddess, Naja the Ever-Changing. The fact that the
characters manage to work together even though some of them
represent animals that are natural enemies was appreciated by Voice
of Youth Advocates contributor Jennifer Langlois, who stated
that the book's plot is "a good way to show young people
that just because someone is different doesn't mean they are
bad." Sally Estes declared in Booklist that in Charmed
"the various worlds created by Singer are fascinating,"
and School Library Journal reviewer Susan L. Rogers
lauded the fantasy's "somewhat surprising and quite
satisfying conclusion."
Other middle-grade and juvenile novels by Singer include Twenty
Ways to Lose Your Best Friend, California
Demon, Big Wheel, Josie
to the Rescue, and The Circus Lunicus.
Rosie Rivera opens up the wrong bottle in her mother's magic shop
and unleashes a genie in California Demon,
a book in which "humor keeps the story buoyant, magic gives
it sparkle," according to Kathryn Jennings in Bulletin
of the Center for Children's Books. Wheel Wiggins, a leader
of a gang, is trying to organize a Fourth of July Carnival, but
is running into problems from a rival in Big Wheel,
a "surefire story from a popular author," as a writer
for Kirkus Reviews noted. More magic and fantasy is
served up in The Circus Lunicus when
young Solly's toy lizard turns into a fairy godmother and helps
him to learn some home truths about himself, his supposedly dead
mother, and his evil stepmother and siblings. "This loony,
fast-paced mystery-fantasy . . . is full of surprises and clever
plot twists," observed Cart in Booklist, "and
it's as much fun as a three-ring circus." A Kirkus
Reviews critic described The Circus Lunicus
as "luminous and humorous."
Mysteries and young adult fantasy novels are also among Singer's
writings. The "Sam and Dave"
series stars a pair of twins who solve mysteries, some set in
school, some further afield. A Clue in Code
has the detectives in search of the thief who stole the class
trip money. There is an obvious suspect who insists he is
innocent, so Sam and Dave embark on an investigation.
"Singer's ability to subtly incorporate the necessary facts
of the case into the narrative demonstrates her respect for young
readers eager for satisfying mysteries they can solve on their
own," pointed out a Booklist reviewer.
Elements of the supernatural are introduced into Singer's young
adult novel Ghost Host. Bart Hawkins
seems to have an ideal life--he is the quarterback of the high
school football team and dates Lisa, the captain of the
cheerleading squad. He secretly loves to read, though, and fears
that if this gets out he will be labeled a nerd. When he
discovers that his new house is haunted by Stryker, a nasty
poltergeist, his life is thrown into chaos and he must enlist the
help of a friendly ghost and the class brain to pacify Stryker.
"Ghost Host is above all else fun
to read," maintained Randy Brough in Voice of Youth
Advocates. "Singer's deft introduction of the
supernatural into the world of a high school junior, his family,
and friends creates headaches for everyone, ghosts
included." Ghosts are also at the center of the 1997 title Deal
with a Ghost in which fifteen-year-old Deal, or
Delia, thinks she is terribly sophisticated until she comes face
to face with a ghost who knows her name. Booklist critic
Chris Sherman described this novel as "fast-paced" and
"engrossing."
Singer has written several other books for young adult readers,
including The Course of True Love Never Did Run
Smooth, which deals with the difficulties
encountered by Becky and Nemi, a girl and boy who, during the
production of a high school presentation of A Midsummer
Night's Dream, find that their friendship is changing from
one of childhood buddies to something more sexually charged.
"Singer neatly uses Shakespeare's comedic mix-up as a foil
for the tangled web woven by her teenage protagonists,"
noted Estes in a Booklist review of the novel.
Highlighting Singer's writing style, Bulletin of the Center
for Children's Books reviewer Zena Sutherland found much
merit in The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth,
noting that "the minor characters are sharply defined [and]
the familial relations are strongly drawn, with perceptive
treatment of the dynamics of the acting group and especially of
its gay members." In Several Kinds of Silence Singer
tackles the theme of prejudice when young Franny falls in love
with a Japanese boy, and in Storm Rising
the author tells an inter-generational tale of lonely Storm, who
finds comfort with an older woman who possesses unusual powers.
Additionally, Singer has edited volumes of short stories for
young adult readers, including Stay True: Short
Stories for Strong Girls and I Believe
in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion.
Singer once mentioned that people often ask her why she writes
books for children and young adults instead of for a more mature
audience. "I've given them a lot of answers such as 1) Kids
are interesting to write about and for; 2) If you understand the
child in yourself, you can understand the grown-up better. I want
to understand myself better; 3) There's nothing else I know how
to do. All of these answers are basically true. But now I think
the truest, most honest answer I can give is that I write books
for children and young adults because I like to."
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES
BOOKS
Authors of Books for Young People, 3rd edition, edited
by Martha E. Ward, Scarecrow Press, 1990.
Children's Literature Review, Volume 48, Gale
(Detroit, MI), 1998.
St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers, 2nd edition,
edited by Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast, St. James (Detroit,
MI), 1999.
Something about the Author Autobiography Series, Volume 13,
Gale (Detroit, MI).
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 15, 1983, Sally Estes, review of The
Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, p. 1197; September
15, 1985, review of A Clue in Code, p. 140; January 1,
1991, Sally Estes, review of Charmed, p. 922; February
1, 1991, Leone McDermott, review of Exotic Birds, pp.
1126-1127; May 15, 1991, p. 1806; September 15, 1991, p. 166;
October 15, 1992, Ilene Cooper, review of Chester the
Out-of-Work Dog, p. 425; December 1, 1992, p. 671; May 1,
1994, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Painted Fan, p.
1609; June 1, 1997, Chris Sherman, review of Deal with a
Ghost, pp. 1686-1687; March 15, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review
of Bottoms Up!, pp. 1242-1243; April 1, 1998, p. 1313;
December 1, 1998, Hazel Rochman, review of Prairie Dogs Kiss
and Lobsters Wave, p. 681; May 1, 1999, p. 1596; February
15, 2000, Michael Cart, review of On the Same Day in March,
p. 1116; November 15, 2000, p. 640; December 1, 2000, Michael
Cart, review of The Circus Lunicus, p. 708; April 1,
2001, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Didi and Daddy on the
Promenade, p. 1480; May 15, 2001, p. 1755.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January,
1977, review of The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, p. 82;
May, 1983, Zena Sutherland, review of The Course of True Love
Never Did Run Smooth, p. 179; February, 1993, Kathryn
Jennings, review of California Demon, p. 191.
The Horn Book, July-August, 1989, p. 478;
January-February, 1990, Nancy Vasilakis, review of Turtle in
July, pp. 82-83; March-April, 1998, p. 223.
Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 1978, review of It Can't
Hurt Forever, p. 1140; December 1, 1993, review of Big
Wheel, p. 1529; August 1, 1999, p. 1231; December 1, 1999,
p. 1890; September 15, 2000, review of The Circus Lunicus.
Language Arts, April, 1990, Janet Hickman, review of Turtle
in July, pp. 430-431; January, 1992, Miriam Martinez, review
of The Golden Heart of Winter, p. 67.
Library Journal, November, 1992, p. 78.
Publishers Weekly, July 9, 1982, review of Tarantulas
on the Brain, p. 49; June 1, 1984, p. 65; February 22, 1985,
p. 158; June 27, 1986, review of Lizzie Silver of Sherwood
Forest, pp. 91-92; April 24, 1987, p. 71; May 12, 1989, p.
291; April 13, 1990, p. 64; March 1, 1991, review of Nine
O'Clock Lullaby, p. 72; July 12, 1991, p. 66; October 12,
1992, p. 78; June 14, 1993, p. 70; April 18, 1994, p. 62; August
29, 1994, p. 78; January 25, 1999, p. 96; January 24, 2000,
review of On the Same Day in March, p. 311; October 23,
2000, p. 76; February 12, 2001, p. 210.
School Library Journal, September, 1978, Karen Harris,
review of It Can't Hurt Forever, p. 149; December, 1982,
pp. 68-69; August, 1983, Joan McGrath, review of The Course
of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, p. 80; May, 1984, p. 102;
May, 1985, p. 110; September, 1985, p. 149; December, 1985, pp.
82-83; October, 1986, p. 83; May, 1987, p. 104; September, 1987,
pp. 182-183; August, 1989, p. 132; November, 1989, p. 99; June,
1990, p. 126; December, 1990, Susan L. Rogers, review of Charmed,
p. 111; June, 1991, Ellen Dibner, review of Exotic Birds,
p. 120; July, 1991, Patricia Dooley, review of Nine O'Clock
Lullaby, p. 64; December, 1991, p. 102; January, 1993, p.
84; July, 1993, p. 95; April, 1995, Donna L. Scanlon, review of The
Maiden on the Moor, p. 146; June, 1997, p. 128; June, 1998,
p. 122; July, 1998, p. 91; September, 1999, p. 206; April, 2000,
Jody McCoy, review of On the Same Day in March, p. 126;
July, 2000, p. 87; November, 2000, p. 162; December, 2000, p.
148; February, 2001, p. 115; May, 2001, p. 135.
Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 1985, p. 164; June,
1986, p. 83; June, 1987, Randy Brough, review of Ghost Host,
p. 83; December, 1990, Jennifer Langlois, review of Charmed,
p. 32.
From Something About the Author, Vol.
80, Gale, 1995. Reprinted by
permission of The Gale Group, www.galegroup.com.
From Something About the Author, Vol.
125, Gale, 2002. Reprinted by
permission of The Gale Group, www.galegroup.com.