About the Author:
Virginia's name is familiar to readers of children's periodicals---she had published more than 1,400 articles and stories for magazines such as Wee Wisdom, Turtle, The Dolphin Log, and Highlights for Children. But magazines are just the beginning. In 1992 Virginia published a trio of picture books, including Helen the Fish and My Sister, Then and Now. Her book Masai and I arrived on 1992 best-book list in Publishers Weekly, Smithsonian, and Book Links. She now has more than fifteen books scheduled for publication with Macmillan, Henry Holt, and Little, Brown, among others. With six active children and a lively granddaughter, Virginia has inspiration close at hand. She has spent much of her working life as a teacher, and now serves as a writing instructor at Medaille College. "Kids are so important in my life," says Virginia. "I've never been without them. They're responsive, receptive readers, and that's the kind of ausience I like.
From Kirkus Reviews:
The prolific Kroll's litany of the signs of spring--with most of the lines that caption the double-spread illustrations beginning with the title--is lyrical (``...when the air stops nipping her nose and chin and kisses her cheeks instead...when her [tire] swing holds her in a safe, round hug and she sails and spins in a whirling twirl''), but it's just another evocation of the changing seasons--until, at the end, Naomi overhears a neighbor: ``If only Naomi could see the blue in the sky.'' For the first time, readers are clued into the fact that Naomi's blind. But by the time readers encounter Mrs. Jensen's unneeded pity, the simple text and Kastner's lovely impressionistic paintings have conveyed Naomi's joy in the season's wealth of other sensations and experiences, summed up in her smiling response: ``If only Mrs. Jensen could see the rainbow in my mind!'' Nice. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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