Published Works

Grandfather’s Rock
(English and Mandarin Versions)

English cover of Grandfather’s Rock

Grandfather’s Rock, Houghton Mifflin, (1993) is a picture book retelling of an Italian folktale passed down from my great-grandmother. The story explores the care of a grandfather in an impoverished family.

“How to care for the elderly may seem a contemporary problem, but it is at least as old as this sensitively told folktale . . . this book is a timely and wise appeal for cooperation within the extended family.” Publishers Weekly (7/19/93)

“Strangis’s narration of this wise, gentle story is graceful and straightforward.” Kirkus Reviews (9/1/93)

Grandfather’s Rock Book Cover in Mandarin

This multi-generational Italian folktale was translated into Taiwanese Mandarin and republished in Taiwan in 1994 where the book was eventually packaged in a set with an audio disc.

Translated into Chinese Mandarin, the book has been used for more than 15 years by the Kuman Institute of Education of Japan to teach Chinese to young people in Malaysia.

“In the old days, a family, lived in the south of Italy. There was a father, a mother, a son named Marco, and three daughters: Prima, who was the oldest; Aldora, who was the tallest; and Paula, who was the youngest. They had a small farm with a beautiful view of the sea below and the mountains above. The land was steep and rocky though, and no matter how hard Mother and Father worked, the family remained poor.” (opening lines of Grandfather’s Rock)

Lewis Hayden and the War Against Slavery

Lewis Hayden and the War Against Slavery by Joel Strangis

Lewis Hayden and the War Against Slavery, Linnet Books/Shoestring Press (1999) is a Young Adult (YA) biography. “The first full length biography of an escaped slave who became a leader in Boston’s African-American community, this brilliant combination of clear thinking, crisp writing, and carefully mapped research presents a picture of a man more doer than dreamer . . . Hayden’s association with abolitionists, from William Lloyd Garrison to John Brown, also provides opportunity for a good look at the movement’s various philosophies and methods. . . . An essential volume.” Kirkus Reviews (1/1/99)

Booklist described the book as, “Well researched, dramatic, and inspiring” (2/15/99)

The New York Public Library honored the book as one of its “Books for Teens” for the year 2000.

Ansel Adams: American Artist with a Camera

Ansel Adams: American Artist with a Camera

Ansel Adams: American Artist with a Camera, Enslow Publishers, (2002) is a YA biography in Enslow’s “People to Know” series. The book traces Adams’s growth as a photographic artist and his relationship with the Sierra Club as well as with other artists including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, and Georgia O’Keefe. To assist young readers in understanding photography, “A Short History of Photography” is one of the early chapters. The book includes twenty-five photographic images; eight of them by Adams.