Ann Marie JakobsenByrd School Media Specialist

Author Study - Meet Patricia Polacco

In the Beginning …

Patricia Ann Barber was born on July 11, 1944 in Lansing, Michigan. She has an older brother, Richie.

Her mom was a teacher from a Russian/Ukrainian background. Her dad was a salesman who became a television talk show host. He was of Irish descent.

Polacco’s parents were divorced when she was three. She lived with her mother on her grandmother’s farm in Union City, Michigan. Polacco later moved to Oakland, California with her mother.

In recent years she has returned to Michigan to live, dream, and create magical picture books for children.

“In both Mom’s house and Dad’s place there was always a rocking chair, just for me. I spent hours … just rocking and dreaming every day. I spent a lot of time in my imagination.”

FEELING DUMB

“I knew that inside I was very smart, but at school I felt stupid and slow.”

As a young girl, Patricia longed for the day she would be able to read.

Her dreams shattered as she struggled to read while her classmates passed her by.

Patricia felt dumb and was bullied by her classmates.

Finally, in fifth grade, a special teacher, Mr. Falker, realized Patricia saw words in a different way. She was NOT stupid – she was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 14.

http://dyslexickids.net/_Dyslexia_.html

FEELING CONNECTED

One of Polacco’s most popular books, The Keeping Quilt, is the story of a wonderful quilt that has been in her family through many generations.

Many of Patricia’s stories are inspired by her family and their love of storytelling. When times were hard at school, her family always made her feel safe and loved.

“Both sets of my grandparents were captivating storytellers … they squinted up their eyes, watched our faces, and began to ‘tell’”

FEELING MAGICALPatricia’s babushka (her Ukrainian grandmother) told her incredible tales in the evening in front of the fireplace. There was no TV in her house!

They called this “Firetalking” and Patricia loved hearing her Babushka’s stories over and over again.

Babushka’s Doll is a tale about a little girl who bosses around her kind grandmother and the magical doll that teaches her a valuable lesson.

“Whenever she finished one of her tales of magic and mystery, my brother and I would always ask, “Bubby is that a true story?” She would look at us and reply, “Of course it’s true … but it may not have happened.”

FEELING ACCEPTEDIn Pink and Say, Patricia tells a story once told by her great-great-great grandfather and passed down to her.

Set during the Civil War, this is a story of a special friendship between two very different boys – one black and one white. Taken prisoner by the Confederates, the boys are separated forever.

Patricia’s lifelong friend, Stuart, is an African-American and inspired her to write this book.

“Family is more than blood. It crosses generations. It should cross race, it should cross gender, it should cross all of it. It can be someone you just connect to.”

FEELING SMART!• Oakland Tech. High School Oakland,

California• California College of Arts and Crafts

Oakland, California• Laney Community College Oakland,

California• Monash University Mulgrave, Australia• Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Melbourne, Australia• PhD in Art History Emphasis on Iconography

“My brain scrambles images that my eyes see. But once I got the hang of it, I went on in school. I even ended up graduating from college, and getting my Ph.D. in Art History.”

FEELING LUCKY

“I am so lucky … so very lucky! I love my life. Can you imagine doing what you love every day?”

Patricia’s first career was restoring ancient icons for museums.

She began writing and illustrating children’s books when she was 41 years old! Her first book was Meteor and it was a “mostly true” tale about when a real meteor crashed in the backyard of her family home in Michigan. The small Midwestern town went crazy!

IN HER OWN WORDSPatricia Polacco wrote this autobiography in 1994 as part of a “Meet the Author” series of books for children.

She talks about her family, past and present, and her childhood struggles in school.

She talks about what inspires her and her love of art.

The book includes many photographs of Patricia Polacco and her family.

54 BOOKS AND COUNTING….

Polacco’s newest book is also from her childhood memories. Recognized for her art talent, young Trisha is chosen for a special art class taught by the high school art teacher, Miss Chew.

Check it out at the Byrd School Media Center!

CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF ALL OF PATRICA POLACCO’S BOOKS:

http://www.patriciapolacco.com/books/index.html

“My heart sings whenever I am drawing.”

CONTRIBUTIONS TO LITERATURE

• Polacco’s books are true memoirs.• Her books celebrate family through generations,

tradition, and culture.• Her signature art combines a variety of materials: pencil,

markers, acrylics, pastels and uses white space to focus a reader’s attention on characters and story.

• Polacco writes about other important themes: friendship, storytelling, tolerance, anti-bullying.

• But mostly – through her books and through her author visits, Patrica Polacco empowers children to believe in themselves and always to dream.

AWARDS• International Reading Association Award for Younger Readers, 1989, for Rechenka’s Eggs• Sydney Taylor Book Award for Picture Books, Association of Jewish Libraries, 1989, for

The Keeping Quilt• Commonwealth Club of California Award, 1990, for Babushka’s Doll, and 1992, for

Chicken Sunday• Boston Area Education for Social Responsibility Award, 1992• Golden Kite Award for Illustration, 1992, for Chicken Sunday• Jane Addams Award Honor Book designation, 1993, for Mr. Katz and Tush• American Book of the Year Award nomination, 1995, and West Virginia Children’s Book

Award, 1997, both for Pink and Say• Jo Osborne Award for Humor, 1996; North Dakota Library Association Children’s Book

Award, 1996, and Missouri Show Me Readers’ Award, 1997, for My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother

• Parents’ Choice Honor designation, 1998, and Gold Award, 1999, both for Thank You, Mr. Falker

• Mid-South Independent Booksellers Humpty Dumpty Award, 1998• 2012 Catholic Library Association Regina Medal Award Winner for her body of work.

HEAR IT FROM PATRICA HERSELFhttp://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/polacco/

VISIT THE WEBSITE

http://www.patriciapolacco.com/

References

Bloem, P.L. & Manna, A.L. (1999, May). A chorus of questions: Readers respond to Patricia Polacco. The Reading Teacher, 52, 802-808.

Johnson, N.J. & Giorgis, C. (2005, September). Patricia Polacco: Weaving Family and Memory into Story. Book Links, 15, 52-55.

“Meet Authors and Illustrators: Patricia Polacco.” Retrieved June 9, 2012 from http://www.childrenslit.com.

“Patricia Polacco.” Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Gale Biography In Context.

“Patricia Polacco: Patricia Polacco Author Study.” Retrieved June 9, 2012 from http://www.readinglady.com

Polacco, P. (1990). Babushka’s doll. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Polacco, P. (1994). Firetalking. Katonah, NY: Richard C. Owen Publishers, Inc.

Polacco, P. (1988). The keeping quilt. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers.

Polacco, P. (1978). Meteor!. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.

Polacco, P. (1994). Pink and Say. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Polacco, P. (1998). Thank you, Mr. Falker. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

www.patriciapolacco.com

National core content standards. (2012). Retrieved June 14, 2012, from http

://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-arts-standards

Standards for the 21st century learner. (2012). Retrieved June 14, 2012, fromhttp

://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_Learning_Standards_2007.pdf