Petra Mathers (1945–2024)
Author of Lottie's New Beach Towel
About the Author
Petra Mathers came to the U.S. when she was 23. She started painting the walls in her son's room and eventually had a gallery showing of her art. Friends encouraged her to try illustrating children's books. Her early books were filled with black-and-white illustrations, but Petra really wanted to show more do color. She has moved on and among the books that have garnered praise are Kisses from Rosa, Sophie and Lou, Patchwork Island and When It Snowed that Night. Petra now writes her own stories and accompanies them with full-color art. Her heart is in the Lottie stories and she said that she would like to be as prolific as Beatrix Potter and do scads of books. Her latest is Dodo Gets Married in which Lottie's friend Dodo meets a retired Coast Guard helicopter pilot with a wooden leg. It is a match made in heaven and the wedding preparations and big celebration bring all of her characters together at one big happy event. Petra is a self-taught artist. Her earliest works were created with crayons and cheap watercolors. Petra believes that her inspiration comes from the muses-all she really does is record what is coming to her. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Petra Mathers
Associated Works
Borreguita and the Coyote: A Tale from Ayutla, Mexico (1991) — Illustrator — 1,039 copies, 21 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1945-03-25
- Date of death
- 2024-02-06
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- painter
Freelance Illustrator
children's book author
Children's Book Illustrator - Short biography
- Petra Mathers is an American children's author and artist. She was born in 1945 in Todtmoos, Germany, and immigrated to the USA as a young woman. Mathers worked as a painter before becoming a children's book illustrator. One of her best-known creations is her series of picture-books devoted to the adventures of Lottie the chicken and her best friend, Herbie the duck. She is a four-time winner of The New York Times prize for Best Illustrated Children's Book, and was awarded the Ezra Jack Keats Medal for her first book, Maria Theresa. She lives in Astoria, Oregon. (source: Wikipedia)
- Cause of death
- suicide
- Nationality
- Germany (birth)
USA (naturalized) - Birthplace
- Todtmoos, Germany
- Places of residence
- Todtmoos, Germany
Stuttgart, West Germany
Portland, Oregon, USA
Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA
Astoria, Oregon, USA - Place of death
- Astoria, Oregon, USA
- Map Location
- USA
Members
Reviews
We just discovered this series, and I frankly don't get why it's not more popular: It's funny, original, whimsical, cute, endearing and in each book expands on some difficult situation or human emotion in a very earnest, easy to emphatize with kind of way. Unless, because there's so much in them to smile at for the parent, people think it misses the mark for kids. My four year old however was very interested in them. The naive pictures are easy to relate to, as are the situations and show more concerns of the main characters, and some of the pages made him laugh out loud.
Lottie, the chicken, seems to be a very sensible, good natured chicken. The series centers on the tender friendship she has with Herbie, the duck, another endearing character but whose imperfections are more obvious. [b:Lottie's New Beach Towel|647810|Lottie's New Beach Towel|Petra Mathers|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310477766s/647810.jpg|633954] opens with "Lottie was squeezing lemons when a package arrived." And there is a picture of Lottie making lemonade and banana, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, while out the window the mail man is dropping of the package. The package contains of course the beach towel, and the rest of the story is about how it comes in handy. I found the pictures beautiful, silly, funny and atmospheric, the text is simple but interspersed with humor, such as on the beach when a big wave comes and knocks over Lottie in the water and as she retrieves her bearings she utters "Is that my foot? Silly me, it's a starfish." My kid could not stop laughing. Lottie and Herbie have warm complicity, and despite being just a silly chicken and a duck, are not devoid of humor either. After a very satisfying, eventful day, Lottie heads home (and the pictures here are even more than atmospheric, they're amazing!) "She walked up the dune. The cool sand squeaked between her toes." Loved this book!! show less
Lottie, the chicken, seems to be a very sensible, good natured chicken. The series centers on the tender friendship she has with Herbie, the duck, another endearing character but whose imperfections are more obvious. [b:Lottie's New Beach Towel|647810|Lottie's New Beach Towel|Petra Mathers|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310477766s/647810.jpg|633954] opens with "Lottie was squeezing lemons when a package arrived." And there is a picture of Lottie making lemonade and banana, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, while out the window the mail man is dropping of the package. The package contains of course the beach towel, and the rest of the story is about how it comes in handy. I found the pictures beautiful, silly, funny and atmospheric, the text is simple but interspersed with humor, such as on the beach when a big wave comes and knocks over Lottie in the water and as she retrieves her bearings she utters "Is that my foot? Silly me, it's a starfish." My kid could not stop laughing. Lottie and Herbie have warm complicity, and despite being just a silly chicken and a duck, are not devoid of humor either. After a very satisfying, eventful day, Lottie heads home (and the pictures here are even more than atmospheric, they're amazing!) "She walked up the dune. The cool sand squeaked between her toes." Loved this book!! show less
Petra Mathers just has a way of revealing the emotional heart of life's most important and quiet moments. In this, she tackles death and grief. It is unexpectedly honest and practical (the funeral home comes to claim Aunt Mattie's body; later Lottie picks up the urn with her ashes). But the vibe is empathetic and gentle and it all works together in a lovely way.
Poor Herbie, he's looking so much forward to Christmas, but a moment of weakness at Ali Baba's Bakery ruins everything. Ridden with guilt, he finally gathers courage to do the right thing. Just in time for the holidays to chime in.
Sweet little story, and so easy to empathize with Herbie and his guilty little secret. The story of the cookie is fascinating from beginning to the end, especially when we get a cross section of it making its way down to Herbie's fat stomach. We'll be reading more show more of Lottie's World ... show less
Sweet little story, and so easy to empathize with Herbie and his guilty little secret. The story of the cookie is fascinating from beginning to the end, especially when we get a cross section of it making its way down to Herbie's fat stomach. We'll be reading more show more of Lottie's World ... show less
The first of Petra Mathers' series of picture-book featuring Lottie the chicken, her seagull friend Herbie, and their adventures together and with other friends, Lottie's New Beach Towel sees our galline heroine making excellent use of the polka-dotted beach towel sent to her as a gift by her Aunt Mattie. As a means of getting around on the hot sand, as a make-shift sail, and as an impromptu bridal veil, it is one versatile accessory...
I don't know that I would ever have picked this up, were show more it not one of our July selections, over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is seaside/beach reads. I've enjoyed Mathers' illustrations in other works - Alice Schertle's Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes, for instance - but somehow the cover of this one didn't appeal to me, and, once I'd actually looked through it, I discovered that the interior artwork wasn't any more to my taste. Sadly, the narrative wasn't strong enough to compensate. Still, tastes vary, and I can see young readers who enjoy animal stories warming to this one (and possibly even the sequels), even though it wasn't to my taste. show less
I don't know that I would ever have picked this up, were show more it not one of our July selections, over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is seaside/beach reads. I've enjoyed Mathers' illustrations in other works - Alice Schertle's Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes, for instance - but somehow the cover of this one didn't appeal to me, and, once I'd actually looked through it, I discovered that the interior artwork wasn't any more to my taste. Sadly, the narrative wasn't strong enough to compensate. Still, tastes vary, and I can see young readers who enjoy animal stories warming to this one (and possibly even the sequels), even though it wasn't to my taste. show less
Lists
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 12
- Also by
- 18
- Members
- 978
- Popularity
- #26,341
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 38
- ISBNs
- 55
- Languages
- 2