The Invisible Child: On Reading and Writing Books for Children - Hardcover

Paterson, Katherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525464824 ISBN 13: 9780525464822

Publisher: Dutton Children's Books, 2001

Synopsis

With the same perception, wit, and generosity that characterize her fiction, a much-honored writer shares her ideas about writing for children, as well as her passion for reading, her spiritual faith, and her conviction that the imagination must be nourished.

About this title

About the Author

Katherine Paterson�is the renowned author of many� classic children�s books, including Bridge to Terabithia; The Great Gilly Hopkins; Lyddie; Jacob Have I Loved; Come Sing, Jimmy Jo; and The Master Puppeteer, among many others. Her work has won two Newbery Medals and a Newbery Honor, two National Book Awards, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. She also served a term as the National Ambassador for Children�s Literature. Katherine lives in Vermont.�

Reviews

Through this collection of speeches and essays, many never before published, Paterson reminds us of the wonder we must constantly maintain when working with young people. She describes her path as a writer, her continual discovery of people and events, and includes her thoughtful reflection, which makes her writing remarkable. The speeches include both those given for the Newbery Award and the National Book Award, and workshop talks she has provided for those interested in writing. The title piece was the 2001 Charlotte Zolotow Lecture. One can open this book to any chapter and learn about other authors, about writing, about our mission as librarians, and be grateful that Paterson shares her talent with all of us. Reading these selections reaffirms why we try so diligently to bring good books and young people together.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

In a moving collection of more than 20 speeches and essays, seven of which have never appeared in book form, The Invisible Child: On Reading and Writing Books for Children by two-time Newbery Medalist and National Book Award winner Katherine Paterson provides insight into why and for whom she writes. A volume every bit as inspiring as her other collections of speeches, A Sense of Wonder and Gates of Excellence.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Anyone who has heard Katherine Paterson speak about children's books will recognize her individual voice in this collection of 25 essays and speeches. In a plain, deceptively casual style, she speaks with humanity and wit as reader, writer, and critic about the big issues in stories for young people. There's no pretension, no pedagogical jargon, just a smart, enthusiastic response to the best children's books, old and new (she's as crazy for Harry Potter as she is for Stuart Little), and a stimulating discussion about what stories mean to kids. Role models are not the purpose of fiction ("I am not setting out to teach virtue, I am trying to tell a story . . . to draw my reader into the mystery of human life in this world"). Paterson has won every major children's literature award, including the Newbery, the National Book Award, and the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, and many of her acceptance speeches are included here, as well as her prestigious public lectures. In the moving title piece, her 1999 Charlotte Zolotow Lecture, she says that fiction allows the reader to know the character's invisible self: "it's like a secret one Nobody whispers to another Nobody." Teachers, librarians, parents, and older students will want this. Read it with the chapter on Bridge to Terabithia (1977) in Pat Scales' Teaching Banned Books, reviewed below. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0525464824
• ISBN 13: 9780525464822
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 266