Anna Grossnickle Hines

Anna Grossnickle Hines was born on July 13, 1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the eldest of seven children of Earl Stanton and Ruth Marie (Putnam) Grossnickle. She was a shy child, but already aspired to become an author. The Grossnickles lived in Ohio for the first eleven years of her life before moving to Los Angeles. During her studies at San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University at Northridge), she was discouraged from writing children’s books and “wasting” her talent. She married Steve Carlton in 1965 as a student, and together they had two daughters: Bethany and Sarah. Following their divorce in 1973, she married Gary Hines, in 1976. They welcomed a third daughter, Lassen. The family moved to Milton, PA, in 1990 following a job opportunity for her husband, and then returned to California in 2001.  

After graduating from Northridge, Hines embarked on a career in teaching. For several years in the late 1960s, she taught preschool before receiving her Elementary Education Credential at Pacific Oaks College in 1974. She later left formal education pursuits to turn to her original life's goal: illustrating and writing children's books, despite the discouragement she had received from college professors about likelihood of success in the industry.  

Hines achieved her breakthrough with the publication of her first picture book, Taste the Raindrops, in 1983. She went on to become a prolific author and illustrator, producing more than seventy books for children. Her work frequently draws on personal and family experiences; for example, When We Married Gary (1996) recounts the blending of her family after her second marriage. Her influence has extended to her family as well, encouraging both her husband and her daughter Sarah to pursue writing.

Her books have received significant recognition from educational and literary organizations. Daddy Makes the Best Spaghetti (1986) and Grandma Gets Grumpy (1988) were honored with Children’s Choice Awards from the International Reading Association and the Children’s Book Council. Remember the Butterflies (1991) and Flying Firefighters (1993) were recognized by the National Science Teachers Association and the National Council for the Social Studies, respectively. In 1995, What Joe Saw received the Carolyn W. Field Award from the Pennsylvania Library Association.

In 1990, she and her family relocated to Milton, Pennsylvania, where they lived for over a decade before returning to California in 2001. During this period, her work became closely associated with Pennsylvania’s literary community. The Pennsylvania Center for the Book included I Am a Backhoe (2010) in its 2011 Baker’s Dozen list, and she received the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award in 2002 for Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts (2001).