books in order

Nancy Willard Books In Order

Anatole Trilogy Books In Order

  1. Sailing to Cythera (1974)
  2. The Island of the Grass King (1979)
  3. Uncle Terrible (1982)

Novels

  1. The Highest Hit (1978)
  2. Things Invisible to See (1988)
  3. Firebrat (1988)
  4. Sister Water (1993)
  5. The Tale of Paradise Lost (2004)

Collections

  1. The Lively Anatomy of God (1968)
  2. A Nancy Willard Reader (1980)
  3. Angel in the Parlor (1983)
  4. The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake (1990)
  5. The Doctrine of the Leather-Stocking Jesus (2007)

Plays

  1. East Of The Sun & West Of The Moon (1989)

Picture Books

  1. The Merry History of a Christmas Pie (1974)
  2. All On a May Morning (1975)
  3. The Snow Rabbit (1975)
  4. The Well-Mannered Balloon (1976)
  5. Shoes Without Leather (1976)
  6. Simple Pictures Are Best (1977)
  7. Strangers’ Bread (1977)
  8. Papa’s Panda (1979)
  9. The Nightgown of the Sullen Moon (1983)
  10. Night Story (1986)
  11. The Mountains of Quilt (1987)
  12. The Marzipan Moon (1988)
  13. The Ballad of Biddy Early (1989)
  14. Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch (1991)
  15. A Starlit Somersault Downhill (1993)
  16. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1993)
  17. The Good-Night Blessing Book (1996)
  18. The Magic Cornfield (1997)
  19. The Tortilla Cat (1998)
  20. The Tale I Told Sasha (1999)
  21. Shadow Story (1999)
  22. The Moon and Riddles Diner and the Sunnyside Cafe (2001)
  23. The Mouse, the Cat, and Grandmother’s Hat (2003)
  24. Raggedy Ann Christmas (2003)
  25. Cinderella’s Dress (2003)
  26. Sweep Dreams (2005)
  27. Picturing the World (2005)
  28. Flying Bed (2007)
  29. A Starlit Snowfall (2011)
  30. The Three Mouths of Little Tom Drum (2015)
  31. Gum (2017)

Chapter Books

  1. Beauty and the Beast (1992)

Non fiction

  1. Testimony of the Invisible Man (1970)
  2. The Letter of John to James (1981)
  3. Telling Time (1993)
  4. Gutenberg’s Gift (1996)
  5. Cracked Corn and Snow Ice Cream (1997)

Anatole Trilogy Book Covers

Novels Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Plays Book Covers

Picture Books Book Covers

Chapter Books Book Covers

Non fiction Book Covers

Nancy Willard Books Overview

The Island of the Grass King

Anatole’s search for wild fennel to cure his grandmother s asthma takes him on a fantastic voyage. This is a book for those who revel in the unexpected, in wonderful invention, in powerful and vivid and even mystical fancy. McPhail s fine line illustrations are as lively, detailed, and well realized as the book itself. School Library Journal

Uncle Terrible

Anatole is faced with the formidable task of retrieving the thread of death from the wizard Arcimboldo.

Things Invisible to See

In a small Michigan town on the eve of World War II, a young man and woman share a love that is shadowed by tragedy, yet lighted by powers beyond the everyday. To preserve their future, the young man makes a wager with Death, pitting a local sandlot team against the greatest players who ever lived. Things Invisible to See is a story of the power of love and faith to overcome pain and loss. It is a miraculous novel of enduring power.

Sister Water

‘Heavenly…
Marvelous…
Uplifting…
A kind of miracle…
A magical web of language that both seduces with poetic power and moves the heart.’PEOPLEJessie Woolman and her family are suddenly faced with unforseen tragedy. Her mind is beginning to wander, and Ellen, her newly widowed daugher is being pursued by a mercenary man, Harvey Mack. Enter Sam Theopolis. Hired to care for Jessie, he becomes both Harvey’s rival and a healing presence for all. That is, until crisis descends, and he, too, needs the protection of their innocent belief in the salvation of love…
. From the Paperback edition.

The Lively Anatomy of God

The stories in Nancy Willard’s first book are about how the life of the imagination dwells in and shapes reality. Faith takes root in the insignificant, says one of her narrators. And further:…
the faith we have gathered from generations of Sundays was no match for this greater faith in the reality of darkness. This author s first book proved to be the beginning of a distinguished career.

The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake

Birthday presents for mothers are never right they’re always too big, too small, or the wrong color. So when a young girl’s mother simply asks for a homemade birthday cake, the girl thinks her troubles are over. Her happiness quickly disappears, though, when she hears the name of the cake her mother wants. The girl knows she won’t find a High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake in the Joy of Cooking. It will take a secret ingredient, a clumsy uncle, a grand piano, and some angelic visitors to help the girl make this wonderful gift for her mother. But baking it is only half the adventure; the biggest surprise is yet to come.

The Doctrine of the Leather-Stocking Jesus

Willard writes of growing up and family life; of the spiritual and the everyday; of fantasy and reality and the visible and the unseen and how they come together. The creator of luminous worlds built upon exquisite words, Willard enriches and entertains readers, inviting us, through the power of her imagination, to revel in our own.

East Of The Sun & West Of The Moon

Rendered in play format, this is the traditional tale of a spirited young girl in a wretchedly poor household, and the magical white bear who chooses her to share his lavish palace.

The Well-Mannered Balloon

When James paints a pirate face on his new balloon, ties it to a chair, and invites it to dinner, his parents say, What a well mannered balloon! But that night, after James’s parents have gone to bed, the balloon comes alive and decides it wants to eat everything in the house including James!

Simple Pictures Are Best

A shoemaker and his wife being photographed for their wedding anniversary keep adding items to the picture despite the photographer’s admonition that ‘Simple Pictures Are Best.’

The Nightgown of the Sullen Moon

The moon laments that poets have praised her and men have worshiped her, but no one has ever given her what she really wants ‘a nightgown such as people on earth wear when they sleep under warm featherbeds at night.’ Children will love this imaginative explanation of the lunar cycle.

Night Story

In this bedtime fantasy for young children, a young boy takes a dreamy trip on a night train in which he encounters all sorts of magical animals. A handsomely designed book whose glowing appearance befits its magical, slightly mysterious content. Booklist

The Marzipan Moon

A whimsical story about a miracle making clay crock, a priest whose simple wish is granted, and a bishop whose pomposity shatters the magic.

The Ballad of Biddy Early

A collection of poems about Biddy Early, the Wise Woman of Clare, and her animal, human, and supernatural associates.

Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch

Here is an imaginative tale about the unconventional fifteenth century Flemish painter Hieronymus Bosch, as told by his wildly dissatisfied housekeeper. Caldecott Medalists Leo and Diane Dillon and their son, Lee, depict a most unusual household filled with pickle winged fish, flying furniture, and other bizarre delights.

The Magic Cornfield

Tottem is on his way to Minneapolis for Bottom?s birthday, but he loses his way in a Magic Cornfield. One minute he?s in Dime Box, Texas, and the next he?s in Angels Camp, California. He?s having a hard time finding his way, but a traveling mailbox is always nearby and sends his postcards on to Cousin Bottom. The postcards that tell Tottem?s story show the fantastic creatures and other curiosities that Tottem encounters on his travels through the cornfield. Authentic stamps and unique postmarks from the real American cities and towns add to the magic.

The Mouse, the Cat, and Grandmother’s Hat

his is Grandmother’s hat. This is the mouse that hid under Grandmother’s hat. This is the cat that waits to be fed…
So begins a birthday party that is filled with surprises. Open this book you’re invited too!

Cinderella’s Dress

Magic happens when Newbery Medalist Nancy Willard and best selling illustrator Jane Dyer combine talents in an imaginative retelling of this best loved fairy tale, focusing on the ever popular dress. With Nancy Willard’s characteristic verbal wit and Jane Dyer’s beautiful, detailed paintings, this charming book will be irresistible to young girls who know the Cinderella story and love it. In this version, two magpies who live outside Cinderella’s window make her a magnificent dress from bits of shiny paper they’ve collected. The jealous stepsisters rip it apart, and Cinderella is left in rags until thanks to her friends the magpies she finds a magic ring belonging to her late mother. Her fairy godmother appears, and a new dress, a coach made of a pumpkin, and happy endings follow.

Sweep Dreams

DESCRIPTION: There was once a man who fell in love with a broom. By the light of the full moon, this enchanted broom sweepwalks, and when the man discovers her they dance together, up and down the room, into the kitchen and down the hall. Then, this extraordinary broom is kidnapped no, broomnapped by a greedy stranger, who soon tosses her aside when he finds she won t dance for him. It seems all is lost, but there’s magic in love, and soon the broom is once again sweeping where she belongs. Nancy Willard s lyrical language and Mary GrandPr s lush artwork inspire the imagination in this fanciful picture book.

Picturing the World

‘Picturing the World: The Art of Alice and Martin Provensen’;
November 19, 2005 March 12, 2006.
‘The Well Tempered Book’, by Nancy Willard.
Catalog Design by Rita Marshall,
23 Illustrations,
Paper, 32 pp, 8 ‘ x 8 ‘,
1,000 Copies, First Edition. From ‘Acknowledgments,’ by H. Nichols B. Clark:
‘…
We recognize that much of what is on view constitutes a seamless collaboration between Alice and her late husband Martin. During a project, they passed works back and forth, so that their hands are virtually inseparable. Since Martin’s death in 1987, Alice has continued to create wonderful books. They cover a broad spectrum of subject matter, crossing time and space. Her independent books retain the affinity for a flow and sequence of image both she and Martin learned in the animation studios during the 1940s. Of equal importance, their books forged an ongoing passion for an untutored naive art from Edward Hicks to Douanier Rousseau that reflect the simple, rural life the Provensens embraced in the 1950s.’

Flying Bed

Newbery Medalist Nancy Willard weaves a tale of magic in a lavishly illustrated picture book about a poor baker and his wife whose luck changes when they receive an enchanted Flying Bed. Newbery Medalist Nancy Willard spins an original fairy tale about a poor baker who finds a beautiful bed for his wife in a strange new shop for free! Perhaps his bad luck has turned? But there are more wonders in store, for the bed has magical powers. That night, the couple flies across the heavens to meet a master baker who gives them some magic yeast that will make them the best and richest bakery in town! But the yeast comes with a promise that will test the baker’s integrity, and will eventually teach the baker and his wife about the true riches of love and loyalty.

A Starlit Snowfall

‘My cave is big enough for two!’ a bear declares to a rabbit, inviting his small friend to share his den through the longest, coldest season. The rabbit readily accepts the bear’s offer, but no sooner have the two curled up than the lively rabbit jumps up to wonder: Wouldn’t it be better to be out in the crisp winter air, free to leap through the starlight and the sparkling snow?In this paperback reissue of a long out of print winter tale originally titled A Starlit Somersault Downhill, Caldecott Medal winner Jerry Pinkney’s rich watercolors create a cozy winter world that perfectly complements Newbery Medal winner Nancy Willard’s charming poetry.

Telling Time

In thirteen essays, Willard explores the possibilities created when pen is put to paper. An invaluable book for those who participate in the writing process, as well as those who enjoy the end result. ‘Willard’s perspective on the relationship between writing and personal experience is uniquely enlightening and affirmative’ Robert Pack, Director, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.

Cracked Corn and Snow Ice Cream

This almanac for children has everything they need to know about all twelve months of the year when to plant, what to celebrate, who to remember. It contains fascinating information about the kitchen and the garden, the weather and the world, and, from the past, the true voices of Nancy Willard’s and Jane Dyer s relatives telling small stories of real farm life in the Midwest long ago.

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