Joseph Slate
Biographical Information
Picture book author and painter Joseph Slate was born in January 1928 in Hollidays Cove, West Virginia, a small town near the Ohio River in the state's northern panhandle that has since been incorporated into Weirton. His father worked in the Weirton Steel Coke Plant and later left the company to design and build houses. His mother worked at home caring for Slate and his four sisters. He attended the University of Washington, completing a BA in 1951. While there, Slate was awarded the University of Washington Top-Flight Award for journalism (1951). He joined the staff of the Seattle Times in 1951, working as a reporter for three years before becoming editor for Foreign Broadcast Information Service in 1955, a job he held until 1959. He attended Yale University, completing a BFA in 1960. In 1962, Joseph Slate began as an instructor at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He became a professor of art in 1969, serving as chairman of the art department from 1963 – 1975 and again from 1981-1982. He has served as a consultant and co-author with the late Professor Irvin Child of Yale University on his studies on the psychology of art (published in the Fall 1963 Art Journal as "The Preconceptual Eye"). He originated the National Endowment for the Arts “Fiction in Newspaper” program; a program which has since been discontinued. Currently working as a full-time writer and artist, Joseph Slate and his wife of nearly fifty years Patricia live in Silver Springs, MD.Joseph Slate published his first picture book for children, The Star Rocker, in 1982. The story, a reworking of the Greek myth of Cassiopea, tells of a old woman who smokes a corncob pipe while floating on a raft and who calms and comforts the woodland animals who frightened by the night. Since then, Slate has published 13 other books for children. His most popular books are the “Miss Bindergarten” books, a series about a border-collie kindergarten teacher and her classroom. The books help to introduce young children to the idea of school and some of the things and activities they might encounter there, while reinforcing the alphabet and number skills. Popular with parents and teachers, as well as children, Miss Bindergarten has even been made into a doll by Merry Makers, Inc.
Critical Responses
Joseph Slate’s books have been praised by parents and educators alike for they way they help to introduce children to new ideas and reinforce concepts such as the alphabet in fun, child-friendly ways. His popular “Miss Bindergarten” series helps children approach school –with new places and sick days and field trips and parties—in ways that are fun and very non-scary. His other picture books have garnered praise as well. Reviewing The Secret Stars for Booklist, Hazel Rochman remarked “the magic realism of words and acrylic pictures shows the mystery of the holiday, the warmth inside the small ranch house, and the shining stars that glitter in the icy world outside.” Another Booklist reviewer, commenting on Crossing the Trestle, wrote that “Slate has created an entire cast of thoroughly likable, believable characters, and he provides vivid descriptions pf wartime conditions in West Virginia and Pittsburgh. The children’s success is never in doubt, but it’s a pleasure to see how the gentle story unfolds.”
Works Published
- Prints/Poems: Soundings and Other Poems (Prints by Martin Garhart)
- The Star Rocker
- How Little Porcupine Played Christmas
- Mean Clean Giant Canoe Machine
- Lonely Lula Cat
- Who Is Coming to Our House?
- Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten
- Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten
- The Secret Stars
- Crossing the Trestle
- Miss Bindergarten Stays Home from Kindergarten
- Story Time for Little Pocupine
- Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip with Kindergarten
- Miss Bindergarten Plans a Circus with Kindergarten
- The Great Big Wagon that Rang: How the Liberty Bell Was Saved
In addition to his books for children, Joseph Slate has contributed to such periodicals as Contempora, New Yorker, Saturday Review, Art Journal, and The Kenyon Review.
Selected Bibliography
Cooper, Ilene. Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip (book review). Booklist. 98(3), October 1, 2001. 98(3), pp. 327.
Janssen, Carolyn. Miss Bindergarten Plans a Circus with Kindergarten (book review). School Library Journal. 48(2), December 2002. pp. 108.
Kosco, Sheilah. Miss Bindergarten Stays Home from Kindergarten (book review). School Library Journal. 46(11), November 2000. pp.134.
Little Porcupine's Christmas. Kirkus Reviews. 69(18), September 15, 2001. pp.1368.
Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten (book review). Publishers Weekly. 249(47), November 25, 2002. pp.71.
Parent, Joanne L. Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten (book review). Teaching Children Mathematics. 6(4), December 1999. pp.267.
Phelan, Carolyn. The Great Big Wagon that Rang: How the Liberty Bell Was Saved (book review). Booklist. 99(5), November 1, 2002. pp.509.
Rochman, Hazel, The Secret Stars (book review). Booklist. 95(2), September 15, 1998. pp.240.
Sherman, Chris. Crossing the Trestle (book review). Booklist. January 1, 2000. pp.927.
Townsend-Hudson, Shelley. Story Time for Little Porcupine (book review). Booklist. 97(4), October 15, 2000. pp.446.
Author Website
www.josephslate.com