Wicked Jack - Softcover

Woolridge, Connie Nordheim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 082341292X ISBN 13: 9780823412921

Publisher: Holiday House, 1996

Synopsis

A mean old blacksmith's actions leave him unwelcomed by both Saint Peter and the Devil when he dies

About this title

About the Author:

Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge lives in Richmond, Indiana with her husband, an orthopedic surgeon.  They have four grown children.

It wasn't until she was in her 30's that Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge knew for sure that she was a writer. Before that, she tried her hand at a lot of different things.

She spent a college year studying Greek culture and archeology in Athens. She worked as a flight attendant for American Airlines. She taught first grade at an English-speaking school in Seoul, Korea. She received a masters degree in education and library science from the University of Chicago. And she worked as a school librarian.

Nothing was as exciting as finally sitting down to write and seeing her stories begin to appear in the pages of Highlights for Children and Cricket. Her first picture book, Wicked Jack, rolled off the press in 1995. It received starred reviews in School Library Journal, the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, and Kirkus Reviews and was awarded the Irma S. and James H, Black Award and the North Carolina Junior Book Award.

 Wooldridge lives in Richmond, Indiana with her husband, an orthopedic surgeon.  They have four grown children.

It wasn't until she was in her 30's that Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge knew for sure that she was a writer. Before that, she tried her hand at a lot of different things.

She spent a college year studying Greek culture and archeology in Athens. She worked as a flight attendant for American Airlines. She taught first grade at an English-speaking school in Seoul, Korea. She received a masters degree in education and library science from the University of Chicago. And she worked as a school librarian.

Nothing was as exciting as finally sitting down to write and seeing her stories begin to appear in the pages of Highlights for Children and Cricket. Her first picture book, Wicked Jack, rolled off the press in 1995. It received starred reviews in School Library Journal, the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, and Kirkus Reviews and was awarded the Irma S. and James H, Black Award and the North Carolina Junior Book Award.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 3?From the first page, readers are sure to realize that this is one of those great spooky-funny books where they're laughing too hard to ever be really scared. Those familiar with Appalachian folklore will know the story of Wicked Jack, who accidentally does a nice turn for St. Peter and is given three wishes. Of course Jack, "...meaner than a rattlesnake," comes up with the "...sorriest wishes" St. Peter has ever heard. Jack ends up being rejected at the gates of Hell by the devil himself, which accounts for those mysterious lights in the swamp at night. Wooldridge's rhythmic phrases and colorful expressions read aloud particularly well. Hers is an assured voice, using a sly understatement that provides a terrific backdrop for the pictures done in graphite on paper with oil, oil pastels, "...and a smudge of the coal left over from the illustrator's jack-o'-lantern." Children will especially love the slapstick humor: the text reads, "After that, Jack got meaner than ever," and the pictures show him dropping hot coals down a neighbor's pants, then hoisting him up and shooting him with a slingshot. And Jack himself is priceless, a lumbering oaf with a massive body and ridiculously delicate little feet. Hillenbrand can create figures that will provoke a laugh just by being there. All in all, a book with surefire child appeal.?Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Holiday House
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 082341292X
• ISBN 13: 9780823412921
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Hillenbrand Will