Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for August 27, 2024

    We admire authors whose works are still cherished after 100 years. But this man's stories are still being told and they were created in the 6th century B.C.! The creator was a Greek slave, and he probably never set them down in writing himself. Similar tales existed even earlier in Mesopotamia, but Aristophanes, Plato, Herodotus and other prominent Greeks all credit this man with the stories that have stood the test of time. The tales were not originally meant for children, but became part of school curriculums as moral lessons that children enjoyed. These are the fables of Aesop.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for August 20, 2024

 Having a bear in my downtown back yard reminded me of this author/illustrator and his Moonbear series of books. He taught at a public school in India, and also in the US at a Montessori school. He was born in New Jersey, lived in Vermont with his family and retired to Hawaii. His heroes growing up were Roy Rogers, Bob Dylan and Maurice Sendak, and Professor Pritchard at art college. This author urges young writers to "have fun putting words on the paper," as he has done in more than 80 books, often sitting under his "thinking tree." This is dog lover Frank Asch, who lived from1946-2022.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for August 13, 2024

 This Swedish-born author created a character in her 1950 book that was very unlike the good little girls in school books and tv shows. This girl had no parents, was strong enough to lift up a horse, had an endless supply of gold coins, and decided school was not for her. The author grew up on a farm, and when a teacher suggested she should become a writer, she vowed that would never happen. But later, she made up stories for her daughter and decided to write them down in a book as a gift to her.. She tried sending the book to a publisher, but it was rejected. The next year, though, it won first prize in a contest, got published and became an international succes. The author went on to write over 100 books for children. This is Astrid Lindgren, and her heroine was Pippi Longstocking.