Author Profile: Katherine Paterson
Essay title: Author Profile: Katherine Paterson
Author Profile: Katherine Paterson
Overview:
Katherine Paterson is the author of over 30 books including books published in the following genres novels, picture books, I-can-read and Chapter books, non-fiction and essays, and Christmas short stories.
Author Background:
Katherine Paterson didn’t start out as a writer; she really wanted to be a missionary. On her way to becoming a missionary she taught one year in a rural school in northern Virginia. She then attended graduate school in Richmond studying Bible and Christian Education. After two years she went to Japan as a missionary where she remained for four years. Upon returning to the United States she met and married a Presbyterian minister in 1962. Her writing career actually began in 1964 when she wrote some curriculum materials for fifth and sixth grade students in the church. She knew she wanted to write fiction but with four small children she found it almost impossible. A friend began taking her to a creative writing class once a week and at the end of the course she had had her first novel published. She sometimes wondered what every made her think she could write but then tells “ Eventually someone like Lyddie Worthen and her family come along, and Ill spend a couple of wonderful years getting to know them and telling their story–LYDDIE. Then it all seems worth the struggle, and I know beyond any doubt that I am the most fortunate person in the world to have been given such work to do.” As we will see, much of Paterson’s work is based on true life experiences.
Honors and Awards:
Jip, His Story
The Scott ODell Award for Historical Fiction 1997
Flip-Flop Girl
ALA Notable Childrens Book
Lyddie
Honor Book of the International Board of Books for Young People 1994
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
ALA Notable Childrens Book
The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks
Boston Globe/Horn Book Picture Book Award 1991
Parks Quest
Library of Congress Books for Children
Jacob Have I Loved
Newbery Medal 1981
ALA Notable Childrens Book 1976-1980
The Bridge to Terrabithia
Newberry Honor Book
The Great Gilly Hopkins
Newberry Honor Book
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