Fictional Authors of
Children's Books
fictional authors
DEAR
MR. HENSHAW by Beverly Cleary (Morrow, 1983). While writing to his
favorite children's book author, Leigh deals with his parents’ divorce
and being the new kid at school. Ages 8-up.
KISSING BRENDAN CALLAHAN by Susan Amessé (Roaring Brook, 2005). Sarah wants to be a writer. She wants to enter a local writing contest, judged by her idol--romance writer Antonia DeMarco, and she wants to win first place. Unfortunately, her just-the-facts mom says she's ineligible to enter and has a less-than-stellar opinion about Antonia herself. But Sarah has a solution, a pen name, and an offer to act as Antonia's assistant. What's more, she has inspiration in a certain Brendan Callahan. A comedic story of a young girl with a dream. Ages 10-up. More on this title from Cynsations.
Related links:
- Teacher's Activities for DEAR MR. HENSHAW: San Diego County Office of Education. Includes Simulated Road Trip, Flight of the Monarch Butterfly, Catering for Kids by Kids, Publishing on the Net, and Pen Pals on the Net;
- The John Newbery Medal: "awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."
- Kid-Friendly Books About the Writing Process: compiled by Donna Bowman Bratton from Simply Donna. Peek: "There are wonderful books aimed at inspiring children to write and read."
Cyn note: one of my greatest personal thrills was to have a short story featured in the same anthology that included a story by Beverly Cleary. Learn more about IN MY GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE: AWARD WINNING AUTHORS TELL STORIES ABOUT THEIR GRANDMOTHERS (HarperCollins 2003).
WHAT DO AUTHORS DO? by Eileen Christelow (Clarion, 1995). Ages 5-up. In this story, the children's author-illustrator is inspired by her cat, Max. I'm often inspired by my cats: Mercury Boo; Sebastian Doe, Leo Galilei, and Blizzard Bently.