Biography

Kathi Appelt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina

Fayetteville, North Carolina

Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....

 and grew up in Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

. She graduated from Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

. She and her husband, a researcher in adult literacy at Texas A&M, have two grown sons. She lives in College Station, Texas

College Station, Texas

College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...

.

Appelt is the author of more than thirty books. She writes novels, picture books, poetry, and nonfiction for children and young adults. She has won numerous awards for her writing, among them the PEN USA award. Her first novel, The Underneath

The Underneath (novel)

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt is the story of an abandoned cat who goes to live with a maltreated hound dog underneath a crooked old house in a bayou on the border between Louisiana and Texas...

, was a National Book Award finalist and was awarded the Newbery Honor

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. ...

 in 2008. Her books have been translated into several languages: Spanish, Chinese and French

Appelt teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts

Vermont College of Fine Arts

Vermont College of Fine Arts offers four distinct graduate programs, awarding Master of Fine Arts degrees in Visual Art, Writing, Writing for Children & Young Adults and Graphic Design. The student to faculty ratio at VCFA is 4-to-1.. The faculty and alumni of VCFA have won many literary awards,...

. Her papers are held at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Awards

• The Underneath
  The Underneath (novel)
  The Underneath by Kathi Appelt is the story of an abandoned cat who goes to live with a maltreated hound dog underneath a crooked old house in a bayou on the border between Louisiana and Texas...
  
   was a 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...
  
   Finalist, Young People's Literature in 2008.
• The Underneath
  The Underneath (novel)
  The Underneath by Kathi Appelt is the story of an abandoned cat who goes to live with a maltreated hound dog underneath a crooked old house in a bayou on the border between Louisiana and Texas...
  
   was awarded a Newbery Honor
  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. ...
  
  , American Library Association
  American Library Association
  The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
  
   in 2008.
• PEN 2009 Literary Award in Children's Literature.

Picture Books

• Merry Christmas, Merry Crow. 2003.
• Incredible Me. 2002.
• Alley Cat's Meow. Illustrator Jon Goodell, Harcourt, 2002.
• Bubbles, Bubbles. 2001.
• Oh my Baby, Little One. 2000.
• Hushabye, Baby Blue. 2000.
• Cowboy Dreams. 1999.
• Bats on Parade. 1999.
• I See the Moon. Illustrator Debra Reid Jenkins. Eerdmans. 1997.
• Bayou Lullaby. 1995.

Short Stories

• Kissing Tennessee: And Other Stories from the Stardust Dance, Harcourt Brace, 2000.

Interviews

• Fox, Janet. "Voices You Should Hear: Kathi Appelt." Through the Wardrobe. Jan 31, 2011.
• Laney, Becky. "Interview with Kathi Appelt, Day 1 and Day 2." Becky's Book Reviews.Oct 13-14 2008.
• Lesesne, Teri S. "Wrapping Her Mouth Around Juicy Words: An Interview with Kathi Appelt." Teacher Librarian Oct 2005. Volume 33, Issue 1 p56-59.
• Mattson, Jennifer. "Story behind the Story: Kathi Appelt’s The Underneath." Booklist Online. May 15, 2008.
• Miller, Bobbi. "A Conversation with Kathi Appelt."
• Simon and Schuster. "Kathi Appelt"
• Smith, Cynthia Leitich. "Interview with Children's and YA Book Author Kathi Appelt" Children's and YA Literature Resources. January 2001.
• Stohr-Hunt, Tricia. "Poetry Makers-Kathi Appelt." The Miss Rhumpius Effect. April 19, 2010.
• Serle, Rebecca. "In The Harry Potter Era, An American Fantasy." The Huffington Post. August 23, 2010.
• Stone, Rosetta. "A Discussion with Kathi Appelt." Absolute Write.
• Wardrip, Jen. "Interview with Kathi Appelt", Author's Unleashed, February 18, 2009
• Willkomm, Anne. "Anne Willkomm Talks Some Flash with Kathi Appelt", Flash Fiction, Nov 3, 2009
• "Kathi Appelt." Best Book I Have Not Read. Jan 15, 2009.

External links

• "Author's website"
• Kathi Appelt's blog
• Works by Kathi Appelt in libraries. (WorldCat
  WorldCat
  WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
  
  Catalog)
• "A first lady who made a difference", Book Page
• "The Story Behind The Story: Kathi Appelt on DOWN CUT SHIN CREEK", Children's and YA Literature Resources

Additional Resources

Vardell, Sylvia M. Poetry People: A Practical Guide to Children's Poets. Libraries Unlimited. 2007. ISBN 978-1591584438