"This is a wonderful story about a physically challenged eight year old girl who helps her family, neighbors, and community. She shows that there are many ways to be a strong young girl. This book is a good introduction to the Jewish farming history of Eastern Connecticut. The illustrations are beautiful throughout. Children (and grandchildren) will enjoy this story when they are in their early years in elementary school. Highly recommended!"
Growing up on the Lower East Side, Lionel knows only a tiny tenement apartment and a few crowded streets. He scribbles drawings on every available scrap of paper but doesn’t think much of them—until he takes a momentous streetcar journey to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There, he finds that the world is a wider and more exciting place than he could have imagined. With gentle humor and fondness, Sharon Reiss Baker tells a story based on her own family history. Evocative paintings by Beth Peck help capture both the safe familiarity of home and the glorious liberation of discovering the world beyond it.
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Sharon Reiss Baker’s first story, published when she was nine in a fourth grade class anthology, starred a spider-eating baby. Over a decade later, she received her B.A. from Harvard University and then did graduate work in education at Lesley University and the University of Miami. She taught elementary and middle school for many years in many different places, including Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico, and collected plots, characters, and settings for future children’s books in each location.
Sharon and her husband live outside Philadelphia.
This year, some of them are getting works by two local authors. Sharon Baker’s newly published All Kinds of Strong, about a frail girl in rural Connecticut who helps her community, will arrive in the mailboxes of 15,000 6-year-olds around the country in September. And Tamar Fox’s No Baths at Camp, about the joys of Jewish camping, landed in the hands of that same group of youngsters in June. More
When I walk into a school, I am always delighted by the art on the walls and in the display cases. My appreciation of things made extends from elementary school walls to museum walls. I have this joy and appreciation for the talents that extend through all ages and work in all media. So I guess what I am trying to say is: I walk into my studio or home and see the framed pictures my daughters made when they were in elementary school and I think they are so beautiful, they take my breath away.
When I see the breadth and scope of storytelling and picture-making that goes on in the art of creating books, I am proud to be a small part of this art form.
For over 25 years I've created illustrations for the publishing, editorial and packaging industries nationwide. ...
Much of my art and illustration focuses on the natural world. Trees, water, animals and human relationships are common subjects. And because I enjoy spending time outdoors, I often sketch and paint on location. Many of these works are shown and sold at galleries, cafes and restaurants.
Before starting my illustration career I received a BA in painting from Western Washington University, Bellingham. I continued my studies in illustration at the School of Visual Concepts, Seattle, where I eventually taught figure drawing,basic drawing and illustration.
Contact Sharon