Patricia Polacco

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Patricia Polacco, Russian-American children's book author
Patricia Polacco, Russian-American children's book author

Patricia Polacco (b. July 11, 1944, Lansing, Michigan) is the author and illustrator of numerous picture books for children.

Although she struggled in school and was unable to read until age 14 due to dyslexia, she found relief by expressing herself through art. Polacco endured teasing and hid her disability until a schoolteacher recognized that she could not read and began to help her. Thank you, Mr. Falker is Polacco's retelling of this encounter and its outcome.

Contents

[edit] Early years

The early years of Polacco's childhood were spent at her grandmother's farm in Union City, Michigan, the setting for many of her published stories. The farm, originally called The Plantation was established in 1859 and was part of the Underground Railroad. President Lincoln actually visited the home during his presidency.[1] A meteorite that fell into the front yard of that farm is now used as their family's headstone. Although Polacco's grandmother died in 1949, when Polacco was only 5, "babushka," or grandmother, nevertheless appears in several of Polacco's books.[2]

After her grandmother's death, the family moved to Coral Gables, Florida, and then three years later to Oakland, California. Polacco's parents had divorced when she was three, and she and her brother therefore spent their early life living in two places: school years with their mother and grandparents in the multicultural environment of Oakland, CA, and summers with their father and his parents on a farm in Michigan. Polacco had a very difficult time in school and did not learn to read until she was nearly fourteen. In junior high school, one of her teachers finally discovered that dyslexia was the reason for her difficulties. Polacco wrote "When Lightning comes in a jar" as a tribute to her babushka, and her Detroit tiger cousin Billy Polacco.

[edit] Adult life

After completing high school, Polacco attended several colleges in Oakland, California, including California College of Arts and Crafts and Laney Community College. Later she attended Monash University and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia. Having learned to work around her dyslexia, Polacco earned a Master's Degree in Fine Arts and a Ph. D. in Art History with an emphasis in Iconography.[3] She then worked with a museum restoring religious icons and other art pieces.

Polacco married and began a family, parenting two children, Steve and Traci. At the age of 41, Polacco began writing and illustrating personal books for her children. A few of these are A Christmas Delivery for Traci and Steve and A Special Christmas. Many Polacco works were inspired by stories told by her grandparents.

She attributes her writing talent to her family's love of storytelling, and she began her writing career because she wanted to record some of the stories told to her by her grandparents. Polacco's mother's family were Russian Jews from Ukraine, while her father's family were Irish, and this multicultural heritage is evident in many of her stories and illustrations.

Polacco has been inspired by other illustrators as well as authors of books she read as a child. Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit was one of her favorites, as well as The Tall Book of Mother Goose by Feodor Rojankovsky. One of her greatest artistic heroes was Norman Rockwell. Some of Polacco's modern day heroes are fellow illustrators and authors. Among them are Jerry Pinkney, Tomie dePaola, Rafe Martin, and Jan Brett, as well as many others.

[edit] Today

Following the 40-year absence from the home of her youth, Polacco returned to Union City, where she yet resides. Her home is often opened up to the public for writing seminars and children's literature festivals. Polacco does all of her own illustrations, and since she does not own a computer, responds to all letters with a hand-written reply. Whenever Polacco speaks with children, her advice is always the same: "Turn off the TV and LISTEN...LISTEN...LISTEN."[4]

[edit] Books

[edit] Other Media

  • Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair. Video, Color, 23 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1996)
  • Babushka's Doll. Audio Cassette (New York: Scholastic, 1995)
  • The Butterfly. Audio Cassette (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1996)
  • The Butterfly. Video, Color, 30 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1996)
  • Chicken Sunday. Audio Cassette (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1992)
  • Chicken Sunday. Video, Color, 14 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1992)
  • The Keeping Quilt. Video, Color, 13 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1993)
  • Meteor! Audio Cassette (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1999)
  • Meteor! Video, Color, 13 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1999)
  • Mrs. Katz and Tush. Video, Color, 29 minutes (Lincoln, NB: Great Plains National, 1993)
  • Patricia Polacco: Dream Keeper. Video, Color, 23 Minutes (New York: Philomel, 1996)
  • Parents, Kids & Books: The Joys of Reading Together. Video, Color, 30 Minutes (Dallas, TX: Kera Productions, 1993)
  • Pink and Say. Audio Cassette (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1996)
  • Pink and Say. Video, Color, 28 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1996)
  • Rechenka’s Eggs. Audio Cassette (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1991)
  • Rechenka’s Eggs. Video, Color, 11 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1991)
  • Thank You, Mr. Falker. Audio Cassette (St. Petersburg, FL: Spoken Arts, 1999)
  • Thank You, Mr. Falker. Video, Color, 23 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1999)
  • Thunder Cake. Video, Color, 13 minutes (New Rochelle, NY: Spoken Arts, 1990)

[edit] Literary Awards

  • 1988 Sydney Taylor Book Award for The Keeping Quilt
  • 1989 International Reading Association Award for Rechenka’s Eggs
  • March 10th 1990 Santa Clara Reading Council
  • Author’s Hall of Fame
  • Commonwealth Club of California Recognition of Excellence for
1990 Babushka’s Doll
1992 Chicken Sunday (Nov. 14th 1992 declared Chicken Sunday)
  • 1992 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
  • Golden Kite Award for Illustration for Chicken Sunday
  • 1992 Boston Area Educators for Social Responsibility
  • Children’s Literature and Social Responsibility Award
  • Nov. 9th 1993 Jane Adams Peace Assoc. and Women’s Intl. League for Peace and Freedom Awards
  • Honor Award for Mrs. Katz and Tush for it’s effective contribution to peace and social justice.
  • Parent’s Choice Honors
1991 Some Birthday
1997 Video/Dream Keeper
1998 Thank You, Mr. Falker
  • 1996 North Dakota Library Association Children’s Book Award for My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother
  • 1996 Jo Osborne Award for Humor in Children’s Literature
  • 1997 Missouri Association of School Librarians
  • Show Me Readers Award for My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother
  • 1997 West Virginia Children’s Book Award for Pink and Say
  • 1998 Mid-South Independent Booksellers for Children Humpty Dumpty Award

[edit] Articles written about Polacco

  • Vandergrift, Kay E. "Peacocks, Dreams, Quilts, and Honey: Patricia Polacco, A Woman's Voice of Remembrance," In Ways of Knowing: Literature and the Intellectual Life of Children. Ed. By Kay E. Vandergrift. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996, pp. 259-288.
  • Vandergrift, Kay E. "Patricia Polacco," in Twentieth-Century Children's Writers. ed. by Laura Berger. 4th ed. Detroit: St. James, 1995. 759-760.
  • Author Profile & Book Reviews
  • Interview in Time for Kids

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Polacco Farm
  2. ^ Who Is Patricia Polacco?
  3. ^ Bio & Awards
  4. ^ Who Is Patricia Polacco?
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