Arnold Adoff
Encyclopedia
Arnold Adoff is an American children's writer. In 1988, the National Council of Teachers of English gave Adoff the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. He has said, "I will always try to turn sights and sounds into words. I will always try to shape words into my singing poems."
Adoff grew up in the South Bronx, the son of immigrants from a town near the Polish-Russian border. He enrolled in the Columbia University School of Pharmacy but transferred to City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
where he received a B.A. in history and literature. He married Virginia Hamilton
Virginia Hamilton
Virginia Esther Hamilton was an award-winning author of children's books. She wrote 41 books, including M. C. Higgins, the Great, for which she won the National Book Award in 1974 and the 1975 Newbery Medal....
in 1960 and they lived in Europe briefly before moving back to New York City. Adoff taught social studies in Harlem and the Upper West Side of New York. Adoff and Hamilton eventually moved to Yellow Springs
Yellow Springs
Yellow Springs or Yellow Spring could refer to:* Yellow Springs, Ohio* Yellow Springs, Pennsylvania* Yellow Spring, West Virginia...
, Ohio, where Adoff still lives.
- "I began writing for kids because I wanted to effect a change in American society. I continue in that spirit. By the time we reach adulthood, we are closed and set in our attitudes. The chances of a poet reaching us are very slim. But I can open a child's imagination, develop his appetite for poetry, and more importantly, show him that poetry is a natural part of everyday life. We all need someone to point out that the emperor is wearing no clothes. That's the poet's job." --Arnold Adoff
Fiction
- The Return of Rex and Ethel - Illustrated by Catherine Deeter, Harcourt, 2000.
- Mandala - Pictures by Emily McCully, Harper and Row, 1971.
- Hard to be Six - Illustrated by Cheryl Hanna, Lee & Shapard, 1991.
- Daring Dog and Captain Cat - Illustrated by Joe Cepada, Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2001.
- Black is Brown Is Tan - Pictures by Emily Arnold McCully, Harper Collins, 2002, Harper & Row, 1973.
Nonfiction
- Black on Black; Commentaries by Negro Americans. New York: Macmillan, 1968.
- Brothers and Sisters; Modern Stories by Black Americans. New York: Macmillan, 1970.
- Malcolm X. - Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez. pa. HarperCollins, 2000. (ages 7–10) (winner of ALA Notable Children’s Book and Library of Congress Children’s Books)