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August kids

Happy birthday to our favorite children's authors! Every month we celebrate those amazing writers and illustrators who call on their talents and life experiences to create books that kids love. Read on to learn more about their lives and livelihoods.

Authors by their birthday month: January -- February -- March -- April -- May -- June -- July -- August -- September -- October -- November -- December
Karen Hesse: Genius at Work
1930s -- fiction, August kids, Author Profiles, Civil Rights Movement -- fiction, Immigrants, Jews, Newbery Award, Poverty, Virginia Johnson, Voyages and Travels, Autobiography and Biography, Historical Fiction, Poetry
10/29/2009 - 3:34pm

Do you know Karen Hesse? Her books can take you on a voyage of discovery with Captain Cook, into the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, or turn-of-the-century Russia. A sense of place has always been important to this author. She grew up very quietly in a row house and later an apartment in Baltimore, Maryland. When she wanted a place to be by herself, she had to get creative. Outside, there was an apple tree where she could sit for hours, reading and dreaming. Nearby was the Enoch Pratt Free Library, where she started with Dr. Seuss and kept on going, from picture books to chapter books to novels.

 

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Paula Danziger Was Always a Kid at Heart
August kids, Author Profiles, Elementary school, Family Life, Scrapbooks, Summer Camp, Virginia Johnson, Autobiography and Biography, Humor, Travel
09/03/2009 - 2:35pm

Paula Danziger sometimes said she wished she had had her own books to read when she was growing up. As the nerdy, clueless daughter in a family where Dad yelled and Mom just tried to make Dad happy, life was not fun. When her dad said mean things to her, Paula would tell herself that someday she would put it in a book. And she did.

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About Alice Provensen
Airplanes, August kids, Author Profiles, Farm Life, Poetry, Virginia Johnson, Arts and Artists, Autobiography and Biography, History
09/03/2009 - 2:34pm

Provensen and Provensen. Alice and Martin. Martin and Alice. Two illustrators and writers working so closely together that their styles were indistinguishable. It was the same style really, gentle drawings so delightful in their clarity that they subtly underscored the text of the dozens of children's books that they illustrated.

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Bountiful Betsy Byars
Animals, August kids, Author Profiles, Disabilities, Elementary school, Newbery Award, Virginia Johnson, Autobiography and Biography, Families, Humor
09/03/2009 - 1:48pm

When Betsy Cromer was a young girl, someday being a famous author never crossed her mind. To her way of thinking, book writers led dull lives, shut away in some quiet room without company, just typing and typing. There was no way she wanted to live that kind of life. Yet years later, Betsy has written dozens of books. Unlike the authors she imagined, Betsy's ability to understand and work with people was absolutely essential to making her books a success.

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Ann M. Martin: A Friend Forever
August kids, Author Profiles, Friendship, Mentally handicapped, Newbery Honor, Series books, Autobiography and Biography
09/02/2009 - 7:52pm

When people hear the name Ann M. Martin, they naturally think of her wildly popular Baby-sitters Club series. What was supposed to be just a four-book set turned into a 130-book saga, not counting the 120-book series for younger readers, Baby-sitters' Club Little Sisters and other spin-offs.

Why did these quick books about four very different middle-school friends take off on the bestseller lists? The secret must lie with Ann's gift for remembering her feelings throughout childhood and young adulthood. She was a babysitter herself, and a lot of the things that happened to the babysitters on the job happened to her or her friends. She also remembers what it feels like to lose a parent, have an annoying little sister, and deal with family secrets.

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On the Writing Road with Jack, Joey, and Rotten Ralph
ADHD, August kids, Author Profiles, Disabilities, Elementary school, Newbery Honor, Arts and Artists, Autobiography and Biography, Humor, Picture Book
08/05/2009 - 7:23pm

Jack Gantos knows that a kid can be wacky AND wonderful. Crazy things happen to kids all the time. Take Joey Pigza. He can't sit still in class, and accidents seem to be waiting to happen. He's a live wire, just like his dad and his grandmother. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't settle down. But Joey is lucky; he does have people who care about him and can help him get what he needs to be happier.

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