About Audrey Wood

Audrey Wood was born to a couple of professional artists in 1948 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her earliest memory is of being around the Ringling Brothers circus, where her father was employed to paint murals. Many members of the circus would tell her stories about the circus animals.

When Audrey was two years old, she moved to Mexico, where her parents studied art. Spanish became her second language. Audrey's mother read to her every single day, igniting her love for literature. She soon became the oldest of three children, all girls. Audrey fell more in love with storytelling as she shared stories with her two younger sisters. The arts played a big role in the lives of Audrey and her sisters. They were all trained in the arts: music, dance, art, and drama. Audrey wanted to become an artist like her father. Her grandfather and great-grandfather were also professional artists. It was when she was in the fourth grade that Audrey dreamed of becoming a children's author instead.

Audrey Wood met her husband, Don Wood, while he was attending the California College of Arts and Crafts as an artist. They had only known each other for six months before getting married. On their honeymoon, Audrey read children's stories to Don and remembered her childhood dream of becoming a children's author. It was when their son Bruce was born that Audrey put forth the effort to publish her stories and delve more into writing.

Audrey, Don, and Bruce have recently lived in Hawaii and Santa Barbara, California. Bruce is now a professional artist, becoming the fifth generation of Audrey's family to carry on the traditional career. Most of the illustrations for Audrey's books have come from Don and Bruce.

Summary: "Elbert's Bad Word"

"At some point, all parents and teachers must deal with the issue of bad words. That's why I wrote this story." -Audrey Wood

Elbert is a young boy who hears a nasty word being spoken by an adult at a party. The word sticks around Elbert's memory, "ugly [and] covered with dark bristly hairs." As the party goes on, the bad word makes its way out of Elbert's mouth, making him feel just awful. Elbert learns to let go of the bad word by the end of the party, and he feels much better.

Summary: "The Rainbow Bridge"

Audrey Wood teams up with artist Robert Florczak to retell this Chumash legend. The island of Limuw is where the earth goddess Hutash planted a plant that soon bore beautiful people instead of flowers. These people formed the Chumash tribe. The tribe was soon overpopulating the island, so Hutash intervened and asked many of the people to cross over the water to another part of land. The way to get across was a giant rainbow across the sky. Some of the Chumash people fell off the bridge and into the water. Hutash saved their lives by turning them into dolphins so they could continue living in the water.

Summary: "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear"

This picture book features a little mouse who loves strawberries. Upon finding a big, ripe strawberry, he decides to pick it and keep it all to himself. The little mouse learns that there is a big, hungry bear who also loves strawberries. The little mouse decides to do whatever he can to protect the strawberry from the bear, even if that means sharing with someone else.

Summary: "King Bidgood's in the Bathtub"

King Bidgood is very stubborn and does not want to get out of his bath. Members of his kingdom try to coax him out by naming off various tasks that need to be done outside of the bathtub. King Bidgood is not at all convinced, and he proceeds to perform his day's duties while remaining in the bathtub. There is one person in the kingdom who knows what to do to get the King out of the tub, and that is simply to pull the plug!

Summary: "The Napping House"

"The Napping House" is a cute story about a boy, his granny, and their pets sleeping and being woken up by a disturbing flea. The story line is peaceful as everyone is asleep, and silly as the illustrations depict everyone piled onto the same bed. There is a mouse on top of the cat, which is on top of the dog, which is on top of the boy, who is on top of his grandmother. A flea bites the cat, waking him up and causing a domino effect awakening all of the others.

Alicia's Favorites: About the Author

So here are some interesting facts about Audrey Wood that I particularly like:

~ Audrey Wood spent a great deal of her infancy around the circus.

~ Audrey has a very strong relationship with her husband, Don. I admire the passion they share when it comes to working together. I don't know too many people who can read children's literature during their honeymoon!

~ Most of the illustrations on Audrey Wood's books are by her husband, Don, or her son, Bruce. I think it's nice that the whole family is involved in this collective art of creating children's books.

~ When Don illustrated "The Napping House," he used his home with Audrey as the model house! There are two dogs, a cat, a bird, and a turtle living in the Napping House with Audrey and Don.