PETER B. MANDEL
Author

Peter Mandel is a writer of children's books and books about animals, and is currently children's book columnist for the Providence Journal-Bulletin as well as a regular contributor to the travel sections of The Washington Post and National Geographic 'Kids'. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with his wife, Kathy. Mandel grew up in Manhattan, graduating from Middlebury College and Brown University.

Mandel's two newest books for children, just out from Scholastic, are PLANES AT THE AIRPORT and BOATS ON THE RIVER which according to the Boston Globe, "Do a great job of introducing the idea of travel in simple terms..." These titles have also gotten rave reviews in the Dallas Morning News, Booklist, and School Library Journal.

Mandel's latest picture book, SAY HEY! A SONG OF WILLIE MAYS, came out from Hyperion in March 2000 and was named an Amazon.com recommended book, a Boston Globe "Quick Pick" for children, a Child magazine suggested title, and a San Francisco Examiner "Bay City Best."  SAY HEY! is one of six titles selected for the recently published JUMP AT THE SUN TREASURY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN PICTURE BOOKS.

His newest chapter book for children is MY OCEAN LINER: ACROSS THE NORTH ATLANTIC ON THE GREAT SHIP NORMANDIE from Stemmer House Publishers. Publishers Weekly called the book "a voyage in grand style," and it was featured on a special family sailing aboard Cunard's QE2

RED CAT, WHITE CAT, another children's book, came out in 1995 from Henry Holt & Co. and was an American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists" and a Kirkus Reviews "Best of the Issue." In 1991, Harper Collins published his humorous book, THE OFFICIAL CAT I.Q. TEST, which was excerpted in USA Today and Cosmopolitan and now has editions in Japan, China, Germany, Italy, Holland, Sweden and Denmark. His more recent books include THE CAT DICTIONARY (Penguin) and THE OFFICIAL DOG I.Q. TEST (Bonus Books), which is soon to be translated into Chinese. Mandel is a contributing author of the best-selling collection, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE CAT & DOG LOVER'S SOUL.

Winner of a Lowell Thomas Gold Award in 2005 for adventure travel article of the year, Mandel has published travel articles, op-ed pieces, and a variety of other things in  Harper's, Reader's Digest, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Yankee Magazine, The Boston Globe, and the New York Daily News. He likes baseball, ocean liners, Chinese food, and walking around in the city of Paris.

Published Books

Planes At The Airport by Peter Mandel (Author), Edward Miller (Illustrator) Reading level: Baby-Preschool Edition: Hardcover 8 pages ; Publisher: Cartwheel Books; Board edition (March 1, 2004) ISBN: 0439564166

At the airport there are in-the-gate planes.This one blinks its lights.On the tarmac there are full-of-freight planes.This one loads with mail.There are spinning prop planes, parachute drop planes, and barely heard planes. "And at the playground, there are rubber-band planes. This one is your plane."

Editorial Reviews
From Booklist  Busy and bright, these larger-than-average board books whir with vehicles in motion. Spare, rhyming words introduce each plane or boat, but the language is sometimes perplexing. Instead of using common names such as helicopter or submarine, Mandel uses phrases that describe what each vehicle does--"whirly-bird plane" and "go-below boats." The final spread in each book falls particularly flat, ending with a confusing reference: "This one is your [boat or plane]," accompanied by a picture of a toy children probably won't own. The illustrations more than make up for the over-reaching language, though. Using vivid, solid colors and simple geometric shapes reminiscent of Byron Barton's style, Miller creates exciting scenes of boats, planes, and passengers in action, while the uncluttered spreads and easily definable shapes invite counting practice for chubby-handed preschoolers. Pair these with Tana Hoban's Construction Zone (1997) for the Tonka Truck crowd. Gillian Engberg Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved

Boats On The River by Peter Mandel (Author), Edward Miller (Illustrator) Reading level: Baby-Preschool Edition: Hardcover,  8 pages; Publisher: Cartwheel Books; Board edition (March 1, 2004)
ISBN: 0439564158

Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal  Spare phrases combined with bold graphic illustrations will entice busy toddlers. Mandel uses adjectives to describe the vehicles instead of their proper names. For example, submarines are "go-below boats," helicopters are "whirly-bird planes," and sailboats are "circle-slow boats." The final spread in both titles incorporates a child's world by depicting boats floating in the bathtub and youngsters playing with toy planes in an open field. Miller's clear, flat artwork combined with a singsong text suitable for reading aloud make these titles entertaining choices for transportation enthusiasts.–Olga R. Kuharets, Broward County Libraries, Fort Lauderdale, FL Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist Busy and bright, these larger-than-average board books whir with vehicles in motion. Spare, rhyming words introduce each plane or boat, but the language is sometimes perplexing. Instead of using common names such as helicopter or submarine, Mandel uses phrases that describe what each vehicle does--"whirly-bird plane" and "go-below boats." The final spread in each book falls particularly flat, ending with a confusing reference: "This one is your [boat or plane]," accompanied by a picture of a toy children probably won't own. The illustrations more than make up for the over-reaching language, though. Using vivid, solid colors and simple geometric shapes reminiscent of Byron Barton's style, Miller creates exciting scenes of boats, planes, and passengers in action, while the uncluttered spreads and easily definable shapes invite counting practice for chubby-handed preschoolers. Pair these with Tana Hoban's Construction Zone (1997) for the Tonka Truck crowd. Gillian Engberg Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved

Say Hey! : A Song of Willie Mays by Peter Mandel, Don Tate (Illustrator), Reading level: Ages 4-8,
Hardcover - 32 pages 1 Ed edition (March 2000), Publisher: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion 

ISBN: 0786804807 

A Jazzy picture book about Willie Mays, one of baseball's immortal players. Known as the "Say Hey Kid," Willie Mays started off playing baseball in sandlots but grew up to become a baseball legend. When he joined the New York Giants, black players were still uncommon. But Willie Mays proved that baseball was just as much his sport as anyone's. His famous catches, amazing throwing arm, and record-setting home-run average propelled Mays to the top of the league, and then on the the Baseball Hall of Fame. This rhyming, rhythmic text chronicles Mays incredible baseball career, and will appeal to baseball fans of all ages.

Editorial Reviews
From Booklist February 15, 2000
Hall of Fame centerfielder Willie Mays could do everything possible on a baseball field, and he did it all with a playground exuberance that is almost unimaginable in the modern era, when ballplayers discuss stock portfolios between innings. Mandel's sing-along text, using Mays' nickname, the Say Hey Kid, as the basis for its refrain, and Tate's computer-generated art effectively capture Mays' enthusiasm and irrepressible style. Bill Ott

From The Boston Globe In a joyful rhyming tribute to Mays, the text highlights his triumphs in baseball and depicts him as a strong role model for today's children. Bright, stylized illustrations convincingly project Mays's energy and enthusiasm.

My Ocean Liner : Across the North Atlantic on the Great Ship Normandie by Peter Mandel, Betsey MacDonald (Illustrator), John Maxtone-Graham (Introduction), Reading level: Ages 9-12, Hardcover - 48 pages (December 2000) Stemmer House Pub;

  ISBN: 0880451491    

"It was April, and the year was 1939. I was nine years old, and my mom and dad and I were leaving our home in Manhattan to visit England and France. In those days, few people traveled by airplane. They sailed across the Atlantic in huge ships called ocean liners. I couldn't stop thinking about it."

So begins this well-crafted chapter book recounting the adventures of the boy Paul, traveling from New York to France on the legendary ocean liner Normandie.

Unlike the tragic stories of the passengers on the ill-fated Titanic, this one is filled with the pleasures and novelties of life at sea, with friends made and several unexpected adventures for Paul to retell for the rest of his life. As he finishes his tale with nostalgia for that lost world, the reader will share his memories and know something of the look, feel and smell of the ship, and the excitement of being a passenger on the great ocean liner in its glory days.

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly. Part travelogue, part nostalgic ramble through the heyday of great ocean liners, this story shoehorns a fair amount of information into a simple chapter book about a five-day trip across the Atlantic. ...readers will know that this is a voyage in grand style. MacDonald's carefully researched water colors (at least one per spread) provide charming period window dressing, and the narrative offers an appealing glimpse of a bygone shipboard life.

The Official Dog I.Q. Test by Peter Mandel, illustrated by Lisa Nash,  Paperback - 47 pages (March 1995), Bonus Books; 

      ISBN: 1566250153

Editorial Reviews
From PetLife magazine. Described as "The gift book of the year for pet owners everywhere."
Is your dog a genius or a dolt? Does he compose operas or howl at the moon? If you've never given much thought to the mysterious ways canine intelligence reveals itself, you might pick up a copy of THE OFFICIAL DOG IQ TEST....Mandel's hilarious exam culminates in the assessment of your dog in one of the same intelligence categories used to evaluate human tests, Here is a sample question: On hearing their master's distinctive whistle, some dogs drop whatever they're doing and go to him. Your dog:

Red Cat White Cat by Peter Mandel, Clare MacKie (Illustrator)

ASIN: 080502929X

Cats of many colors and different dispositions cavort through this book as they introduce the idea of opposites. Playful, easy-to-read rhyming lines are accompanied by wacky illustrations that depict cats in a variety of likely and unlikely situations. Full color.

A Working Mother magazine recommended title

The Official Cat I.Q. Test by Peter Mandel, June Otani (Illustrator)

ASIN: 0060965924

Cat-lovers, and those who shun cats like the plague, will find much to smile at in Peter Mandel's THE OFFICIAL CAT I.Q. TEST. The premise is simple: THE OFFICIAL CAT I.Q. TEST consists of dozens of multiple-choice questions that gauge intelligence, independence, cunning, and other quintessentially feline characteristics.

Jackhammer Sam by Peter Mandel (Author), Reading level: Ages 4-8 Edition: Mass Market Paperback, 32 pages Publisher: Millbrook Press; (September 2004)
ISBN: 0761328009

Presentations

Peter Mandel makes school visits to elementary, middle, and high schools in all regions of the US and abroad. He's also a frequent speaker at libraries and to a wide range of writers' and community groups. He teaches an adult education seminar in Boston, MA, Washington, DC, and Providence, RI., called "Write Your Children's Book (And Get It Published)."

In addition to talking to kids about writing books and about writing as a career, Peter often speaks to adults who are interested in learning the ins and outs of the publishing world, and in breaking into print.

His school visit and speaking fees vary depending on the group, but normally range from $200 - $300 plus travel expenses.

Contact

Peter Mandel
239 Transit St.
Providence, RI 02906

Phone (401) 831-5227

mailto:pmandel@worldnet.att.net

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