Joan Blos
Encyclopedia
Joan Winsor Blos is an author, teacher and Advocate for Children and Literature. In 1980, she won the Newbery Medal
and the National Book Award
for A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal
. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan
.
Joan W(insor) Blos, Born December 9th, 1928 is an author, teacher, and supporter for children and literature. In 1980 she won the Newbery Medal and a national book award for A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal. Joan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan,She lives in there and enjoys camping, knitting, and making soup. She wrote 16 different books from the years 1971 to 2007. Joan W. Blos is also an editor of young adult books. She became interested in children's language and literature through graduate work psychology, a subject she taught for more than 20 years.
In 2001 an honorary degree from Bank Street College of Education citied her as an author, teacher and a supporter for kids books. Some of her past books she wrote are: Bedtime, Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme, Brothers of the Heart: A Story of the Old Northwest 1837-1838, The Days Before Now: An Autobiographical Note, "A Gathering of Days, The Grandpa Days, and etc. She has written more than a dozen picture books, including an improvement of a biographical note by Margaret Wise Brown. Three works of historical fiction for young people, and one play. She has always had a special affection and respect for picture books, which is an invention of the from people today. A picture book is very different from a book with just words, where the words do the work and the pictures show what is already described. .
In a picture book, the words tell part of the story and the pictures tell part of it too. When she writes the text of a picture book, She thinks about what part of the story is her work and what should be left to the artist. "It is usually harder, and takes longer, to write the words for a picture book than most people imagine", She says. "Writing has to do with caring of special kinds, About the world and all that goes on in it, about finding the words that will tell about those things, and about the people who will read the words", says Joan. She's been loving picture books since she was really small. Plus what she mostly cares about is the children, that's why she writes so many children's book.
Writing wasn't really her dream at first. She spent many years doing other things like studying psychology and child development, teaching children's literature, and being with her family. She was nearly forty years old when her first book was published! But she didn't think that she would have written more. Plus, she didn't think that she could have done the things she's accomplished. Everything that has happened in her life was placed with her writing.
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
and the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal
A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal
A Gathering of Days; A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32 is a historical novel by Joan Blos that won the 1980 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature....
. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
.
Works
- 1971 Just Think (with Betty Miles)
- 1979 A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's JournalA Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's JournalA Gathering of Days; A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32 is a historical novel by Joan Blos that won the 1980 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature....
,1830-1832 - 1984 Martin's Hats
- 1985 Brothers of the Heart: A Story of the Old Northwest, 1837-1838
- 1988 Old Henry
- 1989 The Grandpa Days
- 1989 Lottie's Circus
- 1991 The Heroine of the Titanic: A Tale Both True and Otherwise of the Life of Molly Brown
- 1992 A seed, a flower, a minute, an Hour
- 1994 Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme
- 1995 The Hungry Little Boy
- 1996 Nellie Bly's Monkey: His Remarkable Story in His Own Words
- 1997 One Very Best Valentine's Day
- 1998 Bedtime!
- 1999 Hello, Shoes!
- 2007 Letters From the Corrugated Castle
External links
- Joan Blos. Ann Arbor Book Festival website. Retrieved July 2, 2006.
- About Joan W. Blos - Biography. HarperCollins Publishers website. Retrieved July 2, 2006.
- Internet School Library Media Center bibliography
Joan W(insor) Blos, Born December 9th, 1928 is an author, teacher, and supporter for children and literature. In 1980 she won the Newbery Medal and a national book award for A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal. Joan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan,She lives in there and enjoys camping, knitting, and making soup. She wrote 16 different books from the years 1971 to 2007. Joan W. Blos is also an editor of young adult books. She became interested in children's language and literature through graduate work psychology, a subject she taught for more than 20 years.
In 2001 an honorary degree from Bank Street College of Education citied her as an author, teacher and a supporter for kids books. Some of her past books she wrote are: Bedtime, Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme, Brothers of the Heart: A Story of the Old Northwest 1837-1838, The Days Before Now: An Autobiographical Note, "A Gathering of Days, The Grandpa Days, and etc. She has written more than a dozen picture books, including an improvement of a biographical note by Margaret Wise Brown. Three works of historical fiction for young people, and one play. She has always had a special affection and respect for picture books, which is an invention of the from people today. A picture book is very different from a book with just words, where the words do the work and the pictures show what is already described. .
In a picture book, the words tell part of the story and the pictures tell part of it too. When she writes the text of a picture book, She thinks about what part of the story is her work and what should be left to the artist. "It is usually harder, and takes longer, to write the words for a picture book than most people imagine", She says. "Writing has to do with caring of special kinds, About the world and all that goes on in it, about finding the words that will tell about those things, and about the people who will read the words", says Joan. She's been loving picture books since she was really small. Plus what she mostly cares about is the children, that's why she writes so many children's book.
Writing wasn't really her dream at first. She spent many years doing other things like studying psychology and child development, teaching children's literature, and being with her family. She was nearly forty years old when her first book was published! But she didn't think that she would have written more. Plus, she didn't think that she could have done the things she's accomplished. Everything that has happened in her life was placed with her writing.