Janie Writes a Play

A charming and warm new picture book about Jane Yolen is great for primary age students. Little Janie is in first grade and excited for the class play! She dreams of the music the acting and the dancing. But the script falls short and even though she has the lead it's boring. So, as she choreographs her carrots at dinner one night she realizes that she can write the play and make it better-and she does. A fun, picture book biography is a wonderful addition for classrooms and libraries. The story itself is sweet and simple, and children will relate to Janie's feelings. The artwork is the true star of this book. Whimsical and imaginative pictures show Janie’s ideas and feelings, and communicate them to the reader. The author includes a note at the back of the book with pictures of Janie Yolen's childhood and explains that this is a true story based on her life. This book is a good read aloud or independently read story.
—Children's Literature

Seeing that an upcoming class play needs sprucing up, a child takes matters into her own hands.
Looking back to her mother’s beginnings as a writer, Stemple offers a biographical tidbit that does double duty as tribute and as fresh encouragement for budding creative talents. Little Janie, she notes, eventually became the prolific, critically acclaimed children’s book author Jane Yolen. Living as she does in a world of great books, intriguing words, and imagined dramas, young Janie immediately realizes that the script for the school play in which she’s landed the role of “Girl Number 1” is going to be a “boring bust.” Time for a rewrite! The next morning she dances into school with a veggie-themed musical (starring herself as “chief carrot”) that goes on to earn a standing ovation. “It was Janie’s first rave review. It wouldn’t be her last.” Between endpapers featuring bookshelves crowded with just a sampling of familiar Yolen titles, Goodnight portrays a hardworking, confident child with an inward gaze. In some scenes, she’s surrounded by swirls of words or fanciful figures from books she would go on to write; in others, smiling adults offer support and fellow students diverse in skin tone gather round, eager to follow her lead. In the afterword, the author pairs a set of black-and-white snapshots with more detail about her talented mother and family.
A warm glimpse into the life and personality of a favorite childhood author.
—Kirkus Reviews