Patricia Polacco

Being born in the Midwestern city of Lansing, Michigan in 1944 hasn't made Patricia Polacco's books in the least bit provincial. Perhaps it was that she was born to parents who were Russian, Ukrainian, and Irish. Perhaps it was because she split her time between Michigan and California growing up. Or perhaps it was because she was surrounded by a family of storytellers who spun tales of their homelands and the past.

Whatever it is, Polacco has become a favorite of children and parents alike for her fantastic stories that can make the reader laugh, cry, gasp, and always come away slightly changed and much richer. Polacco studied in the United States and Australia, earning degrees in history, Russian and Greek painting, and iconographic history. She has traveled extensively in Russia as part of exchange programs for writers and illustrators-of which she is both.

Despite what her illustrious credentials might seem to say, Polacco started out slowly when it came to academics. She didn't learn to read until she was 14. It was at that age when one of her teachers discovered she had dyslexia. Likewise, she got a "late" start at writing, not publishing her first book until she was 41, though long before that she had been an artist who drew, painted, and sculpted.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Meteor	Babushka's Doll
Rechenka's Eggs	Babushka's Mother Goose
Casey at the Bat	Aunt Chip & the Great Triple Creek Dam
The Keeping Quilt	I Can Hear the Sun: A Modern Myth
Thunder Cake	The Trees of the Dancing Goats
Boat Ride With Lillian Two Blossom	In Enzo's Splendid Gardens
Just Plain Fancy	Thank You, Mr. Falker
Uncle Vova's Tree	Welcome Comfort
Appelemando's Dreams	Luba and the Wren
Some Birthday!	Mrs. Mack
Chicken Sunday	The Butterfly
Mrs. Katz and Tush	Betty Doll
Picnic at Mudsock Meadow	Mr. Lincoln's Way
The Bee Tree	When Lightning Comes in a Jar
Babushka Baba Yaga	Christmas Tapestry
Tikvah Means Hope	G is for Goat
Pink and Say	The Graves Family
My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother	John Philip Duck
My Ol' Man	An Orange For Frankie
Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare	Something About Hensley's

--B. Redman