YONA ZELDIS MCDONOUGH
Author

Yona Zeldis McDonough began writing for children at the urging of her mother, self-taught painter Malcah Zeldis. Together, they have collaborated on eight biographies, and have strong commitment to subjects who are not simply famous, but who have made real and lasting contributions to the world. McDonough was born in Chadera, Israel and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated with a BA from Vassar College and an MA from Columbia University. The author of eighteen books for children and four books for adults, she has been published in numerous literary journals, reviews and national magazines. She presently lives with her husband and two children in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Published Books

The Doll with the Yellow Star by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Author), Kimberly Bulcken Root (Illustrator) Reading level: Ages 9-12 Hardcover: 64 pages Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st ed edition (August 25, 2005)

ISBN-10: 0805063374 ISBN-13: 978-0805063370

A tender story about the power of love in the face of loss
 
      Nine-year-old Claudine doesn’t want to leave her much-loved home in France to go live in America, not without her parents. But she knows about the shortages, about the yellow stars Jews must wear, and about Adolf Hitler. And she knows that there are some things she needs to do even when she doesn’t want to. It’s wartime, and there is much that is different now. There are more things that Claudine will lose to this terrible war. But not everything that is lost must be lost forever. Here is a moving story about lost and found lives, and the healing power of love.

Winner of the 2006 Once Upon A World Award,
presented by the Simon Wiesenthal Center

Editorial Reviews
From The Horn Book September/October 2005 With its soft color illustrations and calm narrative voice, McDonough's brief novel offers young readers a gentle introduction to matters of the Holocaust. Given occupied France's war-time rationing, eight-year-old Claudine is amazed to receive a new doll on her birthday—neither a grownup nor a baby, but a doll just her age to be "a friend as much as a toy." The doll, Violette. wears a yellow star just like Claudine; along with Claudine she leaves Paris and sails to America. But Violette is lost en route, and Claudine must adjust to America, her relatives, and learning English without Violette, Maman, or Papa. Finally, Claudine is reunited with Papa, and even after the war is over she hopes against hope that Maman, too, will find her. Only when she and Papa have made a new home in Brooklyn and Violette miraculously returns to her does Claudine accept her mother's death. McDonough skims over years ("Claudine watches two more birthdays go by—her tenth and eleventh—without hearing a word from her parents") and alludes to Nazi atrocities only obliquely (Claudine understands her mother's fate only when she sees what Nazi vandals have done to the family's house in Paris). The pace and quietness seem just right for a younger audience; and there's a simplicity, even a distancing, in the present-tense account that plays down drama and anguish but underscores family love and hope. DEIRDRE F. BAKER

From School Library Journal ... nicely written and generously illustrated with watercolors....–Teri Markson, Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School, Los Angeles Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist  ...Writing a Holocaust novel for young children is a tricky business, but McDonough succeeds in conveying the realities of war without terrorizing her audience. Violette is a symbol of innocence lost, but like Claudine's father, the doll is miraculously found and restored by the end of the story. The use of the present tense brings a sense of immediacy to the telling, while Root's full-color artwork lends a feeling of reassurance. Give this to fans of Amy Hest's Love You, Soldier (1993), also set in New York City, but with an American Jewish protagonist. Kay Weisman Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved

The Dollhouse Magic by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Author), Diane Palmisciano (Illustrator) Reading level: Ages 4-8 Paperback: 83 pages Publisher: Apple Paperbacks (Scholastic) (May 2002)
ISBN-10: 0439340497 ISBN-13: 978-0439340496
Two sisters growing up during the Depression make friends with an unusual woman in their small town. Lila and her little sister Jane have long admired the dollhouse in the window of Miss Whitcombs house. When Miss Whitcomb invites them over to see it one day, the girls are ecstatic. They return to play with it, and over time, the three develop a warm friendship. Then Miss Whitcomb passes away suddenly. Lila and Jane are devastated, but they soon learn their friend left them their beloved dollhouse.

Editorial Reviews
From Kirkus A simply written but couching holiday tale about cross-generational friendship. Sisters Lila and Jane are bewitched by the magnificent (tollhouse displayed in the from window of Miss Anumda Whitcomb's house. Stopping by the window after school to gaze at the intricately wrought plaything is the highlight of the girls' day. Creating stories about the dollhouse and its contents helps the pair cope with the privations of the Great Depression; their Dad is out of work, they've moved out of their fine home, etc. An unexpected encounter with the eccentric, but friendly, older woman who lives inside the home marks the start of a special friendship. Miss Whitcomb welcomes the girls into her home, allowing them to play with her dollhouse. Despite their family's hardships, the girls exhibit remarkable grace as they, and their family, freely share of their goodhearted spirit with the lonesome spinster. The inevitable disaster occurs when Miss Whitcomb dies suddenly on Christmas Eve, leaving the children devastated. They soon learn that Miss Whitcomb has left them the dollhouse. Yet, her legacy is both physical and spiritual as the girls generously share their new treasure with the child who has moved into Miss Whitcomb's home. McDonough's attention to small details vividly recreates the ambiance of the Depression era. While the plot is predictable, the combination of the character's sweet nobility with McDonough's winsome prose is beguiling. Palmisciano black-and-white illustrations, cheerfully drawn and with an eye for period details, lighten the emotional intensity of the tale. A wholesome and nostalgic period piece that's a moving affirmation of good will to all. An author's note provides further background information on the Great Depression. (Nov. 1, 2000)

From Booklist
... The writing has an innocent charm that suits the story well. Set in the 1930s, this tale doesn't flinch from the hardships of the Great Depression, nor does it sentimentalize them. Diana Palmisciano's lively black-and-white artwork appears throughout the book, highlighting the warmth and good humor of the text. An appealing beginning chapter book, particularly for doll fans. Carolyn Felon Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved

Hammering' Hank: The Life of Hank Greenberg by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Author), Malcah Zeldis (Illustrator) Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (April 18, 2006)

ISBN-10: 0802789978 ISBN-13: 978-0802789976

A life of the great ball player, in words and pictures.

The 1930s were a time when “outsiders” were not welcome in Major League Baseball. Henry Benjamin Greenberg began as one of those outsiders, but went on to become one of baseball’s greatest right-handed batters.

Hammerin’ Hank dominated baseball from 1933 to 1948 and was eventually inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But Hank Greenberg was more than an amazing athlete. While Jews had been playing baseball since the 1800s, Hammerin’ Hank was baseball’s first Jewish superstar.

Editorial Reviews
From Jewish Book World The mother-daughter writer/illustrator team of McDonough and Zeidis offer readers a picture book biography of Hank Greenberg, "a baseball player who was tall, strong, and handsome" and who also "happened to be Jewish." With quotes from Greenberg and others interspersed within the text, McDonough details his childhood in New York City and the Bronx, his experiences playing basketball at NYU, his career playing baseball for the Detroit Tigers, his decision to serve in the US Army during World War II, and his ownership of the Chicago White Sox. She also recounts the anti-Semitism that Greenberg faced from fans and players, his decision to play on Rosh Hashanah but not on Yom Kippur, and his encounter with Jackie Robinson. The bright, folk-art paintings in bold, garish colors, match the setting and mood created by the text. And, caricatures of other Jewish baseball players, like Moe Berg, Sandy Koufax, Shawn Green, and Gabe Kapler are cleverly included, in baseball card style, on the end pages. The appendix includes Hank Greenberg's vital statistics, a chronology of his life, a glossary, and a bibliography, rounding out this wonderfully accessible introduction to baseball's first Jewish superstar.

From School Library Journal A stirring picture-book biography. ...McDonough offers a flattering treatment, amply documented in fact and complemented by gouache illustrations. Zeldis's portrayal of Greenberg, who at 13 stood six foot, three inches tall, towering above his schoolyard peers, perfectly conveys his gawky discomfiture. Text and art draw out humanizing details and lend perspective to Greenberg's achievements. This delightful collaboration will captivate baseball fans and charm newcomers.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist The life of baseball star Hank Greenberg deserves to be celebrated, and this solid, chronological telling does just that, centering on Greenberg's religion and America's reaction to its first Jewish baseball star. ... Zeldis' distinctive folk-art style works well here, especially in the action-filled baseball scenes. The neon colors and unusual design will attract children, .,,. Ilene Cooper Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved

Sisters in Strength: American Women Who Made a Difference by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Author), Malcah Zeldis (Illustrator) Reading level: Ages 4-8 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (March 1, 2000)

ISBN-10: 0805061029 ISBN-13: 978-0805061024

A highly-respected mother-daughter team honors eleven outstanding American women who have shaped history.

"I must admit I personally measure success in terms of the contributions an individual makes to her or his fellow human beings."
-Margaret Mead

Eleven American heroines come alive in these accessible biographies illustrated with vibrant paintings. While some crusaders, like Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart, were widely recognized during their time, others, like Emily Dickinson, were more celebrated after death. But no matter how these courageous women achieved their goals, they triumphed over adversity, made huge sacrifices, and held fast to their beliefs.

Told with graceful simplicity, these marvelous stories of passion, wisdom, and unyielding fortitude will encourage a new generation of readers to find role models in the pages of history. Those included are: Pocahontas, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Emily Dickinson, Clara Barton, Mary Cassatt, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, and Margaret Mead.

Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal ...McDonough's respect for her subjects is obvious, .... Zeldis's bright, primitive acrylic paintings and borders are decorative and eye-catching, ... Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist Eleven outstanding American women are introduced to children in this vibrantly illustrated oversize volume. ...McDonough captures the spirit of such women as Pocahontas, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Margaret Mead. Each subject gets several pages of well-written text, highlighted by a full-page painting done in Malcah Zeldis' bold, folk-art style that is awash with purple, orange, red, green, and blue. These portraits are the best of the art, and some are quite moving, such as the picture of Helen Keller with her teacher, Annie Sullivan. .... kids will respond to the brightness and vivacity of the pictures and will be easily drawn in to the stories of these famous women's lives. Ilene Cooper

Anne Frank by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Author), Malcah Zeldis (Illustrator) Reading level: Ages 4-8 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); Library Binding edition (September 15, 1997)
ISBN-10: 080504924X ISBN-13: 978-0805049244

Here is the story of Anne Frank, who, from 1942 to 1944, hid from the Nazis with her family in a secret apartment in Amsterdam. As Hitler carried out his plans to rid Europe of all Jews, Anne bravely made the best of her confined life. She wrote in her diary, kept up with her studies, and pasted photographs of movie stars on her wall. Strong and courageous to the end, she was caught in a time and a place that should never have been, and that must never be allowed to exist again.

Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal ... McDonough tells the story, but there's no doubt that Zeldis (images) provides the emotion. In the final picture, Anne is seen towering over the world and all its people. She has risen phoenixlike from her diary and has become a myth, a myth that symbolizes the yearnings of a people to be brave, to be optimistic, and most of all to survive. Anne did not survive, but her story lives on. Marcia W. Posner, Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of Nassau County, Glen Cove, NY Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist "This is a good place to start, for talking about the Holocaust and about prejudice, then and now." --ALA Booklist

Peaceful Protest: The Life of Nelson Mandela by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Author), Malcah Zeldis (Illustrator) Reading level: Ages 4-8 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (October 1, 2002)
ISBN-10: 0802788211 ISBN-13: 978-0802788214

Walk the long road to freedom with Nelson Mandela—one of the 20th century's shining beacons of peaceful protest.

Nelson Mandela is one of the most inspiring figures in modern history. For 27 years he was a “prisoner of conscience”—a civil rights leader unjustly imprisoned for his struggle against apartheid, South Africa’s institutionalized racism. Mandela’s nonviolent fight for equality for his people rallied the world to his cause, and proved that good will and a positive gathering of nations can indeed topple oppressive governments.

Featuring bold, vibrant art, no other picture book so thoroughly covers Nelson’s entire life; from childhood, through his time in prison, to his later years. Mother and daughter Malcah Zeldis and Yona Zeldis McDonough have teamed up to create a moving tribute introducing Nelson Mandela’s “long road to freedom” to a new generation—a hero who helped free an entire nation.

Editorial Reviews
From the New York Times Book Review Against the tide of history. Nelson Mandela brought peaceful change to a country that was heading for civil war. An excellent biography by Yona Zeldis McDonough, PEACEFUL PROTEST: The Life of Nelson Mandela, highlights the turning points that made such a result possible. As a little boy, Mandela watched his family lose their cattle and their land because his father, a Thembu chief, would not recognize British authority, yet he sent his son to a British-style school, where he exchanged his birth name, Buti. for Nelson. At the ritual marking his passage into manhood, he heard a speech that determined the course of his life. The "promise of manhood would remain unfilled," McDonough writes, "because all black South Africans were a conquered people — slaves in their own land, denied their freedoms and their rights."Mandela pursued two vocations: lawyer and political activist. He organized protest marches, boycotts and strikes and was jailed many times for fighting apartheid. The last time, in 1963, he was tried for sabotage and planning the violent overthrow of the government, and sentenced to life in prison. For the next 27 years he lived in a small cell on Robben Island, where he was allowed one visitor and one letter every six months. Somehow he managed to survive under a regime that routinely killed its political enemies. Despite his isolation, his message got out and governments, political parties and ordinary people around the world demanded his release. In 1990, the government gave in and set him free. McDonough's dignified narrative is complemented by the illustrations of her mother, Malcah Zeidis, whose bright colors and flat perspectives give equal weight to the remotest detail-and break down the distance between subject and viewer. The story is in the faces — a somber Mandela holding his open passbook while two worlds pull him in different directions; the dead on the ground after the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, looking surprised because they fell in the midst of life. A committed revolutionary, Mandela admired the French and American Revolutions, with their emphasis on liberty, equality and the pursuit of happiness. But the temperament that fused his political ideals and nonviolent methods into a spearhead for change was African, a gift to the world from the wind-swept Eastern Cape. THEODORE ROSENGARTEN

From Publishers Weekly The daughter-mother collaborators behind Sisters in Strength: American Women Who Made a Difference offer a clear portrait of South African leader Nelson Mandela. McDonough provides a straightforward chronology of her subject's life, noting influential individuals and events. ... Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal This easy-to-read but engaging biography introduces the life and deeds of one of the 20th century's most important leaders....McDonough focuses more on Mandela's early years and the development of his political beliefs than on his later life and briefer role as president. He is presented as a resolute student and family man who was determined to fight apartheid. Facts are stated simply, and the drama of his life comes through without sentimentality or rancor. ... Zeldis's brightly colored folk-art illustrations reflect her subject's life and struggle with candid simplicity. When the illustrator depicts Mandela reclining in the cramped quarters of an unusually tiny jail cell, she clearly portrays both his physical discomfort and the greater injustice of his imprisonment. A hand-drawn map of South Africa appears on the endpapers. A worthwhile addition for all collections in need of accessible introductory biographies. Alicia Eames, New York City Public Schools Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist In clear prose, this biography of the South African leader brings the facts of his life and the anti-apartheid struggle to elementary-school readers with more depth and detail than most biographies on Mandela for this age level,..... Most moving is the elemental picture of Mandela behind bars. Hazel Rochman Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved

The Life of Benjamin Franklin: An American Original by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Author), Malcah Zeldis (Illustrator)  Reading level: Ages 9-12 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (March 7, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0805078568 ISBN-13: 978-0805078565

The story of one of America's founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin is known as a printer, writer, scientist, inventor, and patriot. Franklin helped write the Declaration of Independence, served as a general in the French-Indian War, and held many other luminary positions. In elegant prose and vibrant pictures, Yona Zeldis McDonough and her mother, renowned folk artist Malcah Zeldis, collaborate on the biography of one of America’s founding fathers.

Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal McDonough chronicles Franklins significant accomplishments and contributions in clear, simple prose that captures both the essence of the extraordinary man and of the times in which he lived. Zeldiss trademark folk-art illustrations are bright and vibrant, ...–Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Easy Reader Bio's

A Doll Named Dora Anne (All Aboard Reading)
by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Author), Dyanne DiSalvo Ryan(Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap (July 22, 2002) 
ISBN-10: 0448426781
ISBN-13: 978-0448426785

Kate's grandma gives her a doll that has been in their family for almost 150 years. The doll has shiny black hair, a beautiful painted face, a little trunk of handmade dresses and coats, and even a muff to keep her china hands warm. Here is a sweet Level 3 easy reader that will go straight to the heart of any little girl who loves dolls.

Presentations

SCHOOL PRESENTATIONS AND FEES
I like to begin my presentation with a discussion of how a book becomes a book, and work through the various stages from draft, revision, proofs, galleys, folded and gathered pages and finally, the finished entity. I also like to talk about differences in genre—fiction vs. non-fiction, and how each is approached, the role of research and nature of editing and inspiration. My presentations are very much a dialogue; I ask lots of questions and really work to get the children involved. I usually finish by reading from one of my books (the choice of book differs depending on the age level and curriculum) and leave time for questions and answers at the end.

Fees: $1000 + expenses for a full day (up to 3 sessions)
$350 + expenses for a single class.
Contact

Yona Zeldis McDonough
606 Carroll Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Phone (718)857-4698

mailto:pmcdonough1@nyc.rr.com
Website http://www.yonazeldismcdonough.com

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