Actual current photo. Notice portrait of Winnie (partial view) behind me.
Julie Corsaro, the brilliant and caring Vice-President/President-elect of ALSC, interviewed me for NoveList. It's here:
Here is teeny me signing in Texas in April for the Bluebonnet list. I flew there! On a plane! I had fun! (It is possible that I hate to fly.)
Older photo. Better.
The anti-author photo: Mary Azarian, illustrator of HERE COMES DARRELL, and I pose with excavator. Try using a magnifying glass.
Photo by Bob Rosenfeld.
Darrell Farnham, the inspiration for HERE COMES DARRELL, digs a pond with his excavator.
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Welcome to my web site!How nice that you have managed to find the virtual me. Please hit a lot of buttons and explore, look at dog photos and other assorted photographs, and CHECK OUT MY BOOKS! I update the pages fairly often.
It is not easy to put up all these pages that are full of information about me and my books for children when I'd rather talk about you, but I do it anyway. I live in Plainfield, Vermont, the center of the universe, where 1200 other souls and I enjoy our used bookstore, community cafes, gas station-convenience stores, pizza place, food coop, and the glorious Green Mountains. I've been here a long time and the traffic is getting much worse, the winters are long, and the blackflies are terrible. I tell you this to discourage you from moving here. (Underneath my hostile exterior, however, I am a very nice person.) I write books for children and I teach in the MFA program in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. 
Feeding the Sheep: FSG, March, 2010.
From Kirkus Reviews"... U’Ren’s action-filled, brightly colored double-page spreads convey physical exertion and concentration as well as joy and satisfaction.There is a strong sense of depth and detail, and, in a subtle touch, the little girl’s play mirrors her mother’s work.The collaboration of text and illustration is seamless and presents a complex operation in a manner completely accessible and understandable to young readers. Lovely." 1/15/2010
From School Library Journal: "...Its approach is unique, showing the loving relationship between a mother and her daughter through the seasons as the animals are fed and sheared; the wool is cleaned, carded, spun, and dyed; and a sweater is knitted. Schubert’s musical text has a predictable, soothing structure: “‘What are you doing?’ the little girl asked. ‘Feeding the sheep,’ her mother said. Snowy day, corn and hay. ‘What are you doing?’ the little girl asked. ‘Shearing the wool,’ her mother said. Soft and deep, sheepy heap.” ...Feeding the Sheep will teach and entertain the very young, and they’ll be examining their sweaters with greater appreciation." 3/1/2010 From Booklist: "The physicality of the words, the fascinating facts, and the action-filled, brightly colored illustrations will capture kids' attention, as will the cozy bond between parent and child, working together and caring for their free-range animals." 
I practice arabesques at about age four or five. I always wanted to be a ballet dancer. Don't I look exactly like the dancers below? By the way, I still love striped t-shirts.
Roaring Brook Press, 2006. The amazing true story of a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine for fifty elephants.
Houghton Mifflin, Fall, 2005. Cover image c. Mary Azarian.
Throughout the seasons in northern Vermont, Darrell helps his neighbors, never finding time to fix his own barn. When a windstorm passes through town, he finds his kindness to his neighbors returned.
Caldecott Medal winner Mary Azarian knows Darrell's Vermont world well, but this is the first time she's put a backhoe in a book.
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