Animal Crackers: Bedtime, Little Brown Bear Won't Take a
Doris jane dyer
Jane Dyer (born 1949) is an American author and illustrator of more than fifty books, including Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Cookies series and Jeanne Birdsall's Lucky and Squash. Dyer grew up in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She used to teach, write, and illustrate textbooks before she began illustrating children's books full-time. Most of Dyer's work in children books illustrates family or home scenes. Dyer is a twin and often illustrates books with her sister, Brooke Dyer.
Good Morning, Sweeite Pie, and other Poems for Little Children (Cynthia Rylant, 2001) Author and Illustrator
Little Brown Bear Won't Take a Nap! (2002) author and illustrator
Little Brown Bear Won't Go to School! (2003) Author and Illustrator
Little Brown Bear and the Bundle of Joy (2005) Author and Illustrator
Sophie's Masterpiece: A Spider's Tale (Eileen Spinelli, 2004) Illustrator
Blue Moon Soup: A Family Cookbook (Gary Goss, 2013) Illustrator
When Mama Comes Home Tonight (Eileen Spinelli, 1998) Illustrator
Child of Faerie, Child of Earth (Jane Yolen, 1997) Illustrator
Animal Crackers: A Delectable Collection of Pictures, Poems, and Lullabies for the Very Young (1996) Author
Cracked Corn and Snow Ice Cream: A Family Almanac (Nancy Willard, 1997) Illustrator
The Snow Speaks (Nancy White Carlstrom, 1992) Illustrator
If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo (Mary Jean Hendrick, 1996) Illustrator
The Random House Book of Bedtime Stories (2007) Illustrator
Talking Like the Rain: A Read-To-Me Book of Poems (X.J. and Dorothy Kennedy, 2002) Illustrator
The Girl in the Golden Bower (Jane Yolen, 1994) Illustrator
Piggins (Jane Yolen, 1992) Illustrator
Picnic With Piggins (Jane Yolen, 1993) Illustrator
Piggins and the Royal Wedding (Jane Yolen, 1989) Illustrator
Reception of works
Dyer has received multiple awards throughout her career, including two Parent's Choice Honor Books for Illustration awards. Dyer has a Tibetan Terrier named Scuppers. In 2015, Dyer spoke at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts and read Lucky and Squash aloud as part of her talk on the art-making process for picture books. In a School Library Journal review of Lucky and Squash, Anne Beier of the Hendrick Hudson Free Library in Montrose, New York praises Dyer's illustrations and states that Dyer's paintings of the titular dogs' faces are priceless, particularly in the scenes where they are looking at each other through the fence and those where they are in their owners' arms. Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews article calls the illustrations in this book charming and writes that they "have all the clever details that are Dyer's signature touch". Connie Fletcher of Booklist suggests that, apart from the "ominous grays and greens" in the illustrations of one scene, the pastel-colored illustrations in the book are evocative of 1940s picture postcards, which she considers "just right for such jolly capers".
