{"product_id":"9780688110512","title":"Splash!","description":" \u0026lt;P\u0026gt;Splash goes the cat! Splash goes the dog! Who's jumping in the pond? Falling in and crawling out, how many animals can you count?\u0026lt;\/P\u0026gt;\u003cp\u003eAuthor Biography: Ann Jonas, author-artist of \u003ci\u003eSplash!\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRound Trip,\u003c\/i\u003e lives in Germantown, New York.In Her Own Words...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I grew up in a family that attached great importance to knowing how to do as many things as possible, from skating to skiing to cabinet-making to repairing the family car. Everyone always had several projects going at the same time, and drawing was considered an incidental skill, a tool for planning a project rather than an end in itself. It was only after a few years of dead-end jobs following high school that I decided some specific training might be helpful, even necessary. I attended Cooper Union and after graduation went to work in the studio of my former graphicdesign instructor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A few years later my husband, Donald Crews, was inducted into the Army and subsequently sent to Germany. I followed and found a job with a German advertising agency, trying to design ads with a \"Madison Avenue\" look for them. We lived in Germany for one-and-a-half years, sharing a rambling apartment with German friends. Our first daughter, Nina, was born there. When we returned to the United States, we started our own freelance design business.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Our second daughter, Amy, was born, and the design business grew. It wasn't until both daughters were nearly ready for college that I considered doing books for children, and then it was only through the urging of my husband and his editor, Susan Hirschman.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"My first book, \u003ci\u003eWhen You Were a Baby,\u003c\/i\u003e came together very quickly. I drew strongly on memories of mychildren and their friends at two and three and their evident pride in their accomplishments. \u003ci\u003eTwo Bear Cubs\u003c\/i\u003e was next and then \u003ci\u003eRound Trip\u003c\/i\u003e, which was the working out of an idea that had interested me in the abstract. With succeeding books, I've been trying to explore other ways of stretching children's imaginations. I find myself drawn more and more often to designing books that involve some sort of visual play. It seems like a wonderful opportunity to encourage children to look at familiar things in different ways while offering the appeal of a game or a puzzle. If I can also deal, even if only lightly, with some of a child's deeper concerns, then I feel that I've served him or her as well as I can.\"  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47027380453616,"sku":"9780688110512","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780688110512_p0.jpg?v=1763609642","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780688110512","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}