Patricia Polacco

Author StudyMrs. Matlak’s Second Grade

Check Out Patricia Polacco’s Website…

Patricia’s website has lots of

information about her life and her work. All her

books are listed on the site, as well as

all her latest events and

presentations.

Patricia’s Early Life

She was born in Lansing, Michigan on July 11, 1944.

Her family is of Russian/Ukrainian and Irish decent.

She spent her early childhood in her grandparent’s farm, the setting of many of her stories.

Her grandmother dies when Patricia was only five, but she appears in several of Patricia’s books.

Patricia’s parents divorced when she was three and she spent her life living in two places: California with her mother during the school year, and summers with her father on the farm in Michigan. In both places, she lived with her other grandparents.

Patricia’s Life, cont.

Patricia had a great deal of difficulty learning to read. She was discovered to have dyslexia in middle school. She did not learn to read until she was 14 years old.

Patricia used her artistic talents to express herself as she learned new reading strategies to read better. By high school, she was writing beautiful stories of her babushka, her grandmother.

Although earning to read late in her schooling, Patricia went to college and eventually graduated with a doctorate degree in Art History.

She wrote her first children’s book when she was 41 years old!

Patricia…the Author!

“I have enjoyed a wonderful career of writing books for children . Who could have guessed that little girl that was having such a tough time in school would end up an illustrator and author. I get my writing ideas from the same place that you do....MY IMAGINATION... I would guess the reason my imagination is so fertile is because I came from storytelling and, WE DID NOT OWN A T.V.!!!!!!!!!”

Words of Advice…

“When one is a writer, actor, dancer, musician; a creator of any kind, he or she does these things because they listen to that "voice" inside of them. All of us have that "voice". It is where all inspired thoughts come from....but when you have electronic screens in front, of you, speaking that voice for you... it DROWNS OUT THE VOICE! When I talk to children and aspiring writers, I always ask them to listen to the voice, turn off the T.V. and… LISTEN...LISTEN...LISTEN.”

Patricia’s Life Influence Her Stories

Many of Patricia’s books contain:

Young children interacting with older adults, like grandparents

Farm settings

Illustrations that reflect the art Patricia studied

Her family culture

Stories about her difficulty in learning to read

Some of Patricia’s Books