Kevin Henkes

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1 Kevin Henkes
2 About the Author
3 Books and Awards earned by Kevin Henkes
4 External links

[edit] Kevin Henkes

(b. November 27, 1960, Racine, Wisconsin) is a noted children's book author and illustrator, most famous for his book, Kitten's First Full Moon, which won the 2005 Caldecott Medal.

[edit] About the Author

Kevin Henkes (pronounced HENK-ees) is a rare example of people who actually set out to be a childern's author and illustrator. He always assumed he would be a painter until his juinor year of high school, when one of his teachers encouraged him in his writing efforts and that is when he discovered that childern's books combined both his literary and artistic interests. Henkes's first book was written during his freshman year in college. The book's theme deals with how a child describes the pleasures of occasional solitude and this theme is common in many of the other books that Henkes would later go on to write, with the exception of the characters being mice. He explains that the role of his characters changed from people to animals to add more humor to his writing as well as the fact that he could do more when the character were animals which increased the humor in his writing. Henkes is one of five childern and says that many of his storylines stem from his family and the neighborhood he grew up in.

He is an author/illustrator of children's picturebooks (they mostly star mice), and also writes young adult novels. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, which is his current hometown. He married artist Laura Dronzek in 1985. They are the parents of two children, William (12), and Clara (10)

Henkes' career began with editor Susan Hirschman at Greenwillow Books on a trip to New York City to hunt for a publisher at the age of 19. His first book, All Alone was published in 1981. Henkes has now published more than 30 books with Greenwillow. He is also the writer of the best selling children's picturebook Chrysanthemum, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, as well as other well-known "Mouse" books that star lovable rodents like Julius, Wemberly, Wendell, and Jessica. Other awards include the 2004 Newbery Honor for Olive's Ocean and a 1994 Caldecott Honor for Owen.

[edit] Books and Awards earned by Kevin Henkes

Clean Enough- About a small boy who plays and daydreams in the solitude of the bathtub. Winner of the CCBC Choices 1982.

Bailey Goes Camping- Bailey the rabbit imagines that he is camping out just like his older brother and sister who have left for a weekend camp out. Winner of the CCBC Choices 1985.

Grandpa & Bo.- Bo spend's time with his grandpa on his Wisconsin farm. During the summer stay they fish, take walks, tell stories, play ball, and even celebrate a "summer" Christmas.- Winner of the CCBC Choices 1986 and the Council of Winconsin Writers, Picture Book Award.

A Weekend with Wendell- Wendell the mouse figures out how to make rules for imaginary play. Winner of the CCBC Choices 1986 and Children's Choices 1987.

Once Around the Block- In this story Anna walks around her block complaining to each neighbor along the way that she has nothing to do. At each stop they all give her something to occupy her time. Winner of the CCBC Choices 1987 and the Library of Congress, Best Books of the Year.

Sheila Rae, the Brave- In this story Sheila's younger sister comes to the rescue to help them find their way back home. Winner of the CCBC Choices 1987.

Chester's Way- At first Chester and his friend Wilson are not sure of the new girl Lily in their neighborhood. Eventually they find that they have more in common with her the they first thought. Winner of the CCBC Choices 1988 and the ALA Notable Children's Books 1988.

Shhhh- This is a story of a little girl going through her house observing everyone, even the cat and the dog, while they sleep. She then wakes them up with a toot on her toy horn. Winner of the CCBC Choices 1989.

Julius, the Baby of the World- This takes the mouse character Lily, and shows what she thinks about the new baby that will be entering her life. Winner of the ALA Notable Children's Books 1990, Booklist Editiors Choice 1990, CCBC Choices 1990, and the Horn Book Fanfare 1990. The Biggest Boy- Billy gets bigger and bigger each day, and wonders just how big he will get. His family then tells a story of just how big he will get as a giant. Winner of the CCBC Choices, 1995.

Good-Bye Curtis- The mail carrier Curtis is retiring after 42 years of service. This is about his journey on his last day of delivering the mail to his many customers. Winner of the CCBC Choices 1995.

Circle Dogs- This book tells the story of two cirlce dachshunds that live in a square house. The story is told through the eyes of a small child. Winner of the CCBC Choices 1998 and the Charlotte Zolotow Award: Highly Commended 1999.

Oh!- Once the snow stops falling, everyone including the animals wants to go out and play. In this story readers will see what it is like when you add differet intonation to the word "oh". Winner of the CCBC Choices 2000.

Wemberly Worried- In this story our character Wemberly worries about everything especially her up and coming first day of preschool. Winner of the ALA Noatable Children's Book 2000, CCBC Choices 2001, IRA Children's Choices 2001, IRA Teachers' Choices 2001, Parenting Magazine, Reading Magic Award 2000, Publishers Weekly, Best Children's Books 2001, School Library Journal Best Children's Books 2001, and WLS Outstanding Children's Books 2001.

Olive's Ocean-won NewBerry Oner in 2004.