- AWARD WINNING AUTHOR -
Joanne Oppenheim
Have You Seen Series
Have You Seen Birds? originally published by Young Scott Books in 1968, illustrated by Julio de Diego, a marvelous watercolorist whose other claim to fame was having been married to Gypsy Rose Lee. William Scott wanted a glossary added to identify the birds by name, but Julio refused, saying the book is poetry and art…not a science book with labels.
•Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Award
•Canada Council, Children's Literature Prize 1987
•Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award, 1987
•Outstanding Science Book
Barbara Reid redid the book with her amazing plasticine illustrations in 1986 for Scholastic Canada and published in French, Spanish and English. It’s been a big book, a hardcover, paperback, and audiobook. It's never been out of print, but was recently been refreshed with not quite the glossary that William Scott wanted, but a list of the birds plus a new title page.
"Oppenheim's catchy sing-song text is so much fun it could stand on its own as a poem to memorize or a song to sing, but what a treat to have illustrations that are equally intriguing" — Christian Science Monitor
"Oppenheim's poetry is magical...her poetry swoops and rolls, pecks and hoots, bringing the birds alive on the page." — Quill & Quire Review
Have You Seen Trees? was the first book in the series published by Young Scott books in 1967. It was reissued by Scholastic in 1995 with watercolors by Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng. It's currently out of print but I'm working on a new edition with photographs.
"The delightful dance of her words and her inclusion of humor ("No dogs in the dogwood. Nor cotton in the cottonwood...") make it a perfect story time selection. " -School Library Journal
"Vibrant watercolors impart new luster to this poem first published nearly 30 years ago and still humming with life...Oppenheim's exuberant interrogatories all but demand that readers not only see trees but also touch them, listen to them, sit under them and taste their fruit; in sum, experience them with a full range of senses, in all seasons and all climes." -Publisher's Weekly
Other Have You Seen books...
"a must for dog lovers"
— Resource Links
"Eye-popping artwork headlines this sensational picture book in praise of insects...sprightly verse takes an up-close-and-personal view of bugs in all their splendid variety..."Publisher's Weekly
"titillate, educate, [and] play with the mind's ear."—Kirkus
" From houses of bricks or sticks or stone...wherever you live your house is your home."
..there's a swing to the verse that matches the expansiveness, even exuberance of the illustrations--or the other way around; either way, it has a certain zing.—Kirkus
"The rhythm of Joanne Oppenheim's descriptive verse text will "transport" young readers."
—George Woods, NYTimes Book Review