Here we go!
We will start with one of my favorites: Patricia Polacco.
We had the pleasure of attending a book signning event where Ms. Polacco spoke about her childhood and why she writes what she does! It was extremely fascinating to learn more about who the person was behind some of our favorites like Babushka’s Doll and The Keeping Quilt .
Ms. Polacco found writing and reading tough during her growing up years due to dyslexia, that was only discovered when she was 14 years old! She could not read until a special teacher discovered WHY she couldn’t read and got her the help she needed! She didn’t start writing children’s books until she was 41 years old. Prior to writing and illustrating many books she majored in Fine Arts in collage and went on to get a Phd. in Art History and spent many years restoring ancient artwork for museums.
Most of her stories come from her family. She grew up hearing stories from both sides of her family. As Ms. Polacco states on her website-
“I came from a family of incredible storytellers. My mother’s people were from the Ukraine and Russia…my father’s people were from Ireland. My extended family,(Stewart’s family) were from the bayous of Louisiana…also great story tellers. When you are raised on HEARING stories…..NOT SEEING THEM, you become very good at telling stories yourself. So at the age of 41 I started putting stories that I told down on paper and did drawings to help illustrate them…I guess the rest is history.”
This shows in her beautifully crafted stories that she takes from her life!
You can learn more about Patrica Polacco here on her website
I recommend her books for kids ranging in age from about 7 or 8 all the way through 11 or 12. My 11 year old just told me that she even thinks Polacco’s books would even be enjoyable for people older than that! I must agree with her!
Here is a list of our favorite books by this incredible author. A short synopsis of each can be found on her website.
For the Love of Autumn
My Rotten Red-Headed Older Brother
Someone for Mr. Sussman
Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare
Mommies Say Shh
Mr. Lincoln’s Way
The Butterfly
In Enzo’s Splendid Garden
Babushka’s Doll
Chicken Sunday
The Keeping Quilt
Thank You, Mr. Falker
How fun that you got to meet such an interesting author! I’ve always thought that writing children’s books would be such a rewarding accomplishment!
oh that is so neat!
Oh, how lucky that you met her!! I read her ‘Thank You, Mr. Falker Book’ to my early childhood majors. She’s such an awesome author!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE “The Keeping Quilt”. I cannot read it without tears. I’ll have to check out some of her other books, I don’t know how I’ve missed them.
Took me a couple minutes to place you and where I knew you from! Jeepers! Those kiddos of yours are adorable!!
Thanks for visiting my blog. I’m planning another author post in the next few days. My pick for this week: Roald Dahl, one of my 11 year olds favorites.
Garsy