Steve Jenkins (author)

Stephen Wilkins Jenkins
Born(1952-03-31)March 31, 1952
Hickory, North Carolina
DiedDecember 26, 2021(2021-12-26) (aged 69)
Boulder, Colorado
Alma materNorth Carolina State University
SpouseRobin Page

Stephen Wilkins Jenkins (March 31, 1952  – December 26, 2021)[1][2] was an American children's book author. He illustrated, wrote, and art-directed over 80 books.[1][2]

Biography

Jenkins was born March 31, 1952, in Hickory, North Carolina, to Alvin and Margaret Jenkins.[1][2] His father, who was a physics professor and astronomer, did research and taught at various universities, so he spent much of his childhood moving from one city to the next.[1]

He received a bachelor's and master's from the School of Design at North Carolina State University (NCSU).[1] During his time at NCSU, he met his wife, Robin Page.[1] After graduating, the couple moved to New York City, and in 1982, founded their own graphic design firm, Jenkins & Page.[1] In 1994, they moved to Boulder, Colorado.[1]

Jenkins's debut book, Duck’s Breath and Mouse Pie, was published in 1994.[1]

Jenkins died on December 26, 2021, of a splenic artery aneurysm,[1] in Boulder, Colorado.[2]

Awards and honors

Forty-four of Jenkins's books are Junior Library Guild selections.[3]

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books included the following books in their lists of the best books of the year: How to Swallow a Pig (2015)[4] and Animals by the Numbers (2016).[5] The Horn Book Magazine has included the following books in their lists of the best children's nonfiction books of the year: The Top of the World (1999), Life on Earth (2002), Invisible Allies (2005), and The Animal Book (2013).[6]

Awards for Jenkins's books
Year Title Award Result Ref.
1998 Animal Dads (as illus.) NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended [7]
1999 Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Honor [7]
2000 The Top of the World NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Honor [8]
2002 Animals In Flight NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended [8]
2004 What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? (as illus.) Caldecott Medal Honor [9][10]
2005 Actual Size NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Honor [8]
2006 Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers Selection [11]
2007 Animal Poems (as illus.) Cybils Award for Poetry Finalist [12]
Living Color Cybils Award for Nonfiction Picture Books Finalist [12]
2008 Living Color. Animals: tomato frog, scarlet percher dragonfly,deep-sea jellyfish, scarlet ibis, fire shrimp, Giant Vietnamese centipede, stonefish, hooded seal, flame scallop, ʻIʻiwi, white uakari, Red salamander, harvest mite, shield bug, crow, hyacinth macaw, poison dart frog, cleaner wrasse, american robin, blue morpho butterfly, Cobalt blue tarantula, Oedipoda caerulescens, Portuguese man-of-war, blue bird of paradise, blue-tongued skink, Plestiodon elegans, crab spider, Madagascan moon moth, yellow mongoose, trumpetfish, great hornbill, eyelash viper, yellow crazy ant, yellow shore crab, ladybird beetle, American goldfinch, common cuttlefish, leaf insect, green moray eel, three-toed sloth, lesser green broadbill, green anole green tiger beetle, luna moth (caterpillar), giant green anemone, leafy sea dragon, kelp isopod, African chameleon, Garibaldi NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended [8]
Vulture View (as illus.) ALSC Notable Children's Books Selection [13]
Geisel Award Honor [14][15]
2009 Down, Down, Down- Animals: Portuguese man o' war, albatross, great white shark, flying fish, flying squid, bottlenose dolphin, mackerel, krill, bluefin tuna, sailfish, shearwater, green sea turtle, mola mola, whale shark, manta ray, compass jellyfish, venus girdle, nautilus, oarfish, goblin shark, snipe eel, vampire squid, siphonophore, marine hatchetfish pram bug, pelican eel, deep sea jellyfish, arrow worm, deep-sea shrimp, deepsea lizardfish, hairy angler, stoplight loosejaw, black swallower, fangtooth, sperm whale, giant squid, deep-sea comb jelly, swimming sea cucumber, sea lily, tripod spiderfish, hagfish, vent crab, mussel, giant tube worm, vent octopus, and eelpout. Cybils Award for Nonfiction Picture Books Finalist [16]
Sisters and Brothers - Animals: African elephant, Gould's long-eared bat, nine-banded armadillo, New Mexico whiptail lizard, naked mole rat, termite, grizzly bear, spotted hyena, black widow spider, cheetah, peregrine falcon, wild turkey, beaver, nile crocodile, European shrew, great crested grebe, cichlid, cuckoo catfish, common myna, Asian koel, and giant anteater. NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended [8]
Bones Cybils Award for Nonfiction Picture Books Finalist [17]
2011 How to Clean a Hippopotamus ALSC Notable Children's Books Selection [18]
2012 Billions of Years, Amazing Changes ALSC Notable Children's Books Selection [19]
NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended [20]
2013 The Beetle Book ALSC Notable Children's Books Selection [21]
2014 Eat Like a Bear (as illus.) ALSC Notable Children's Books Selection [22]
2015 The Animal Book Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor [23]
Mama Built a Little Nest (as illus.) ALSC Notable Children's Books Selection [24]
2016 Woodpecker Wham! (as illus.) ALSC Notable Children's Books Selection [25]
2017 Animals by the Numbers ALSC Notable Children's Books Selection [26][27]
Animals by the Numbers NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Honor [28][29]
Eye to Eye - Animals: red-crowned Amazon, stick insect (called jumping stick insect), nudibranch, garden snail, nautilus, Atlantic bay scallop, colossal squid, bullfrog, stalk-eyed fly, blue mountain swallowtail butterfly, green pit viper, jumping spider, brownsnout spookfish, tuatara, halibut, panther chameleon, ghost crab, gharial, housecat, hippopotamus, leopard gecko, tarsier, mantis shrimp Eurasian buzzard NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended [28]

Selected works

As author and illustrator

  • Duck's Breath and Mouse Pie: A Collection of Animal Superstitions (Ticknor & Fields, 1994)
  • Animals in Flight
  • What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?
  • How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships, illustrated by Robin Page (Clarion Books, 2010)

As illustrator only

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Maughan, Shannon (2022-01-11). "Obituary: Steve Jenkins". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  2. ^ a b c d Green, Penelope (January 16, 2022). "Steve Jenkins, 69, Dies; His Children's Books Brought Science to Life". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  3. ^ "Steve Jenkins". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  4. ^ Stevenson, Deborah. "2015 Blue Ribbons". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Archived from the original on 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  5. ^ Stevenson, Deborah. "2016 Blue Ribbons". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  6. ^ "Horn Book Fanfare 1938 to present". The Horn Book. 2012-12-05. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  7. ^ a b "NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Outstanding Nonfiction for Children Past Winners 1990-2000" (PDF). National Council of Teachers of English. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  8. ^ a b c d e "NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Outstanding Nonfiction for Children Past Winners 2000-2010" (PDF). National Council of Teachers of English. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  9. ^ "What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?". ALSC Book & Media Awards Shelf. American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2023-04-11. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  10. ^ "2004 Caldecott Medal and Honor Books". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  11. ^ "Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2006-09-29. Archived from the original on 2023-01-27. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  12. ^ a b "2007 Cybils Finalists". Archived from the original on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  13. ^ Schulte-Cooper, Laura (2008-01-29). "ALSC announces 2008 Notable Children's Books". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-10-19. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  14. ^ "Vulture View". ALSC Book & Media Awards Shelf. American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-08-10. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  15. ^ Morales, Macey; Petersen, Jennifer (2008-01-14). "Mo Willems wins Geisel Award for There Is a Bird on Your Head!". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2023-04-11. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  16. ^ "2009 Cybils Finalists". Archived from the original on 2023-03-22. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  17. ^ "2010 Cybils Finalists". Archived from the original on 2023-03-22. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  18. ^ Schulte-Cooper, Laura (2011-01-18). "ALSC announces 2011 Notable Children's Books". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  19. ^ Schulte-Cooper, Laura (2012-03-13). "ALSC announces 2012 Notable Children's Books". News and Press Center. Archived from the original on 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  20. ^ "NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Outstanding Nonfiction for Children Past Winners 2010-Present" (PDF). National Council of Teachers of English. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  21. ^ Jewell, Caroline (2013-02-28). "ALSC announces 2013 Notable Children's Books". News and Press Center. Archived from the original on 2016-03-17. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  22. ^ Schulte-Cooper, Laura (2014-02-05). "ALSC names 2014 Notable Children's Books". News and Press Center. Archived from the original on 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  23. ^ "Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards". Shelf Awareness. 2015-05-28. Archived from the original on 2022-12-26. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  24. ^ Laura Schulte-Cooper (2015-03-03). "ALSC names 2015 Notable Children's Books". News and Press Center. Archived from the original on 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  25. ^ "Woodpecker Wham!". ALSC Book & Media Awards Shelf. American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  26. ^ "Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Infographics". ALSC Book & Media Awards Shelf. American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-09-30. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  27. ^ Schulte-Cooper, Laura (2017-02-03). "ALSC names 2017 Notable Children's Books". News and Press Center. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  28. ^ a b "NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Outstanding Nonfiction for Children Past Winners 2015-Present" (PDF). National Council of Teachers of English. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  29. ^ "2017 Awards for Youth Literature". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Archived from the original on 2022-12-07. Retrieved 2023-04-11.