Debra Frasier

Born in Vero Beach, Florida, Debra Frasier's family has been living on the Atlantic Ocean for generations. Even when she was young, she loved to create all kinds of artworks. She graduated with a degree in design from Florida State University and later attended Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. At Penland, she created costume puppets, the largest of which was sixty feet long. Eight people climbed inside to make the puppet move. Debra also created wind sculptures for various cities around America. She married in 1984 and moved with her husband to Minnesota, which was a brand new experience for this East Coast resident.

Her first book, On the Day You Were Born, is a perennial bestseller, considered a modern-day classic. The latest book she wrote and illustrated, Miss Alaineus: a Vocabulary Disaster garnered a great deal of attention for its design, inventive story, and word play. Debra is currently at work on another book about the class in Miss Alaineus—this one about a play based on their science project. The title is The Incredible Water Show.

Debra and her husband live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A Birthday Cake Is No Ordinary Cake
Harcourt, 2006
ISBN 978-0-15-205742-8

Welcome aboard our spinning Earth as it travels on its immense journey around the Sun. Bring a bowl--and come along! Help collect the ingredients for a cake as big as a year, and see how every circle around the Sun . . . equals one. One what? One birthday cake!

For fifteen years, On the Day You Were Born has been the classic book to welcome new babies into the world. Now, this jubilant companion celebrates every year thereafter in the life of a child—and of our great green planet Earth.

Includes delicious cake and frosting recipes, explanations of how the years are marked in nature, and a section called "How many days to your birthday?" so kids can actually find their own special day.

The Incredible Water Show
Harcourt, 2004
ages 4 and up, ISBN 978-0-15-216287-0

The kids from Debra Frasier's Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster are back! This time they're putting on a neighborhood play starring the world's most astounding combination of atoms--H20! Filled to the brim with scientifically accurate facts about water and water conservation, here is one wet-and-wild celebration you won't want to miss.

In the Space of the Sky
written by Richard Lewis
Harcourt, 2002
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-15-253150-8

These poetic words convey "space"—both intimate and immense—yet remind us that we are able to bridge the largest and the smallest spaces in our infinite imagination. In this book Debra collaborates with the noted educator, Richard Lewis, who is devoted to strengthening the imaginative life of the child.

Miss Alaineus: a Vocabulary Disaster
Harcourt, 2000
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-15-202163-4

Reading Guide available through Minnesota Storytime

Vocabulary Parade Kit available through CLN Store

Miss Alaineus, A Vocabulary Disaster is a hilarious romp through the usually not-so-funny world of vocabulary. Sage misses school due to a cold and from there the misunderstanding begins. But "miscellaneous" is finally revealed for the word it truly is, and Sage manages to redeem herself in a marvelous and inspiring creative leap.

Out of the Ocean
Harcourt, 1998
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-15-258849-6

Reading Guide available through Minnesota Storytime

Out of the Ocean is Debra's tribute to growing up in the small seaside town of Vero Beach, Florida, where she and her family walked the edge of the Atlantic Ocean looking for treasures. A comprehensive glossary describes each of the sea discoveries found in this book.

We Got Here Together
written by Kim R. Stafford
Harcourt, 1994
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-15-294891-7

A bubble rises and a raindrop falls. They meet at "the exact same moment in time," in this lovely tribute to our journey together where we find that we are safe and secure "in the silver light, right where we belong."

Animal That Drank Up Sound
written by William Stafford
Harcourt, 1992, out of print
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-15-203563-1

Animates the seasons as winter drinks up summer's green sounds and silences them with a cold blanket of white until springtime returns.

On the Day You Were Born
Harcourt, 1991
ages 4 to 8, ISBN 978-0-15-257995-1

On the Day You Were Born is considered a modern children's classic. The lyric text welcomes each child to the every day miracles of planet Earth—sun, moon, rain, tides, North Star, and the circle of people awaiting each child.