John Hassett

Maine-based author John Hassett collaborates with his wife, Ann Hassett, to write and illustrate picture books for children. Beginning their authorial career in 1987, the Hassetts have produced such titles as We Got My Brother at the Zoo, Mouse in the House, and Cat up a tree. Although not prolific, the couple's popular creations have attracted increasing praise from critics, and have also earned them several awards.

For more information, please see entry on Ann Hassett elsewhere in this volume.

Career

Author and illustrator of children's books.

Awards, Honors

(With wife, Ann Hassett) Blue Ribbon Award, and Booklist Editors' Choice designation, both 1998, and Parents' Choice Foundation Picture Book Recommendation, 1999, all for Cat up a Tree; Virginia Young Readers Primary Book Award, 2000–05, for The Three Silly Girls Grubb.

Writings

for Children; with Wife, Ann Hassett

• Moose on the Loose, Down East Books (Camden, ME), 1987.
• (And illustrator) Junior: A Little Loon Tale, Down East Books (Camden, ME), 1993.
• (And illustrator with Ann Hassett) We Got My Brother at the Zoo, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1993.
• (And illustrator with Ann Hassett) Charles of the Wild, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1997.
• (And illustrator) Cat up a Tree, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1998.
• Father Sun, Mother Moon, Houghton (Boston, MA), 2001.
• The Three Silly Girls Grubb, Houghton (Boston, MA), 2002.
• Mouse in the House, Houghton (Boston, MA), 2004.
• The Finest Christmas Tree, Houghton (Boston, MA), 2005.
• Author's works have been translated into Spanish, French, and Japanese.

Biographical and Critical Sources

periodicals

• Booklist, April 1, 1997, Linda Perkins, review of Charles of the Wild, p. 1337; October 15, 1998, Ilene Cooper, review of Cat up a Tree, p. 417; January 1, 1999, review of Cat up a Tree, p. 784; September 15, 2002, Lauren Peterson, review of The Three Silly Girls Grubb, p. 236; April 15, 2004, Ilene Cooper, review of Mouse in the House, p. 1441.
• Horn Book, September-October, 2002, Christine M. Heppermann, review of The Three Silly Girls Grubb, p. 588; May-June, 2004, Kitty Flynn, review of Mouse in the House, p. 314; November-December, 2004, Barbara Bader, "The Difference Words Make."
• Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 1997, review of Charles of the Wild; August 1, 2002, review of The Three Silly Girls Grubb, p. 1131; February 15, 2004, review of Mouse in the House, p. 179.
• New York Times, November 18, 2001, José Padua, review of Father Sun, Mother Moon, p. 52.
• New York Times Book Review, November 15, 1998, Jen Nessel, review of Cat up a Tree, p. 48.
• Publishers Weekly, September 13, 1993, review of We Got My Brother at the Zoo, p. 132; November 8, 1993, review of Junior: A Little Loon Tale, p. 76; February 10, 1997, review of Charles of the Wild, p. 83; September 7, 1998, review of Cat up a Tree, p. 93; August 19, 2002, review of The Three Silly Girls Grubb, p. 89; June 9, 2003, review of Cat up a Tree, p. 54.
• School Library Journal, December, 1993, Anna Biagloni Hart, review of We Got My Brother at the Zoo, p. 89; March, 1994, Diane Nunn, review of Junior, p. 198; May, 1997, Sally R. Dow, review of Charles of the Wild, p. 99; October, 1998, p. 100; June, 2001, Ellen A. Greever, review of Father Sun, Mother Moon, p. 117; November, 2002, Martha Topol, review of The Three Silly Girls Grubb, p. 144; March, 2004, Linda Staskus, review of Mouse in the House, p. 170.
• U.S. News and World Report, April, 2004, Vicky Hallett, review of Mouse in the House.

online

• Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Newsletter, http://www.carolhurst.com/ (October, 2000), review of Cat up a Tree.
• Hassett Books Web site, http://www.hassettbooks.com (May 5, 2005).
• MainelyKids.com, http://www.mainelykids.com/ (February 22, 2005), Kirsten Cappy, review of Cat up a Tree.