Jeff Brumbeau Biography (1955-)

Jeff Brumbeau is the author of several children's books, among them Miss Hunnicutt's Hat, The Quiltmaker's Gift, and The Man-in-the-Moon in Love. Joining illustrator Greg Couch for his picture-book debut, Brumbeau spins what a Publishers Weekly reviewer praised as a "straightforward" tale with "storybook charm" in relating the reason for the Man-in-the-Moon's on-again, off-again appearances in the night sky. Also told in folklore fashion, Brumbeau's The Quiltmaker's Gift finds an unhappy king learning that true happiness cannot be purchased with money, as with each possession he willingly gives away a talented seamstress adds another patch to a beautiful and intricately patterned quilt. In her review of The Quiltmaker's Gift, Booklist contributor Shelley Townsend-Hudson praised the book as "a delightful moral tale," noting that the "lush, colorful" artwork by illustrator Gail de Marcken includes a quilting puzzle as well as illustrations about many traditional quilting patterns.

Also enhanced with watercolor illustrations by de Marcken, Miss Hunnicutt's Hat presents readers with a silly tale featuring the townspeople of Littleton, who go crazy one day when they receive news that their queen may be stopping by for a visit. Shortly after preparations begin to make the town fit for a queen, an uproar is created over Miss Hunnicutt's new hat, which prominently features a live chicken. Littleton townspeople, who want everything to be perfect as well as perfectly normal, try to convince the wayward citizen that she simply cannot wear the hat and disgrace them all. However, by obsessing on the hat, they neglect to take care of other, more pressing, matters and before they know it the whole town has fallen into disrepair. "Endpapers filled with outlandish hats and many visual jokes will keep youngsters amused for some time," wrote Marianne Saccardi in School Library Journal in praise of the book's illustrations, while a Publishers Weekly reviewer dubbed the humorous story "over the top."