1. Our first author started out as a cartoonist at an early age. Some of his most famous books are based on a character he developed in second grade. Now that he’s an adult, he is both an author and illustrator. His book, The Paperboy, won a Caldecott Honor. Do you know who this author is?
2. Our second author has everything from celebrity photographs of a yellow stuffed creature named “Peepy” to videos of trained goldfish on her website. She’s a Chinese-American author born in 1959. Any ideas who she might be?
Bonus question: Do you know who the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature is?
It’s time for the answers to last week’s trivia questions.
Question 1. What famous author was named Marguerite Johnson when she was born in 1928?
Marguerite Johnson assumed the professional name Maya Angelou while working as a dancer in her 20′s. Although not strictly a children’s author, Angelou’s works are often assigned reading in English classrooms.
Question 2. Do you know who was a cartoonist for New Yorker before becoming a children’s book illustrator/poet? I’ll give you a hint: he often works with brown paper bags.
No one recognized Douglas Florian as the artist/poet that often works with primed paper bags? According to a biography, he was working as a cartoonist for the New Yorker when he read Oh, That’s Ridiculous by William Cole. That anthology inspired Florian to write and illustrate for children.
These two very quick videos give you a glimpse of Douglas Florian in action:
We have some fun trivia questions to test your knowledge of children’s literature today.
Question 1. What famous author was named Marguerite Johnson when she was born in 1928?
Question 2. Do you know who was a cartoonist for New Yorker before becoming a children’s book illustrator/poet? I’ll give you a hint: he often works with brown paper bags.
Did you recognize the illustration in our new logo last week? Did you know who wrote the book it is featured in?
Karen recognized the author/illustrator Beatrix Potter. The illustration is from The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
As for the bonus question, why didn’t Beatrix Potter receive all the royalties she should have for this book? It turns out Warne, her publishers, failed to obtain a copyright in the United States. This allowed other publishers to freely distribute her work without paying royalties.
Of course, there is no way to know whether these cheap and readily available copies may not have increased her readership and led to more sales for her later books. What do you think?
Question 2. Can you name the 2011-2013 Children’s Laureate from the U.K.? What is his or her name and favorite genre?
Julia Donaldson was named the U.K. Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate for 2011-13. The award is given to authors/illustrators who have made outstanding contributions to the field of children’s literature.
Starting out as a songwriter, Julia loves poetry. She has been a prolific author, primarily of picture books. The Gruffalo is one of her better known books.
If you aren’t familiar with her work, here are a few of her picture books:
And finally, our mystery author from the archives with a name that is difficult to pronounce name is Eoin Colfer.
Let’s welcome back Children’s Author Trivia with a new look:
Question 1. Do you recognize the illustration in our new logo? Who wrote the book it is featured in?
Bonus question: Why didn’t the author get all the royalties he or she should have for this book?
Question 2. Can you name the 2011-2013 Children’s Laureate from the UK? What is his or her name and favorite genre?
And finally, a question from the archives:
Our mystery author has to tell people how to pronounce his first name, and in fact, he has the pronunciation prominently displayed on his website. Born in Ireland, this young adult author started out as a teacher. When his book about his teaching experiences in Tunisia was published in 1998, he began writing another. Before long he was able to retire from teaching and took up writing books full time. His books are consistently on the New York Times bestseller lists. Can you pronounce today’s author’s name? What book series is he best known for?
