Barbara Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Barbara Park | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 21 April 1947 Mount Holly Township, New Jersey |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | American |
| Genres | Children's literature |
Barbara Lynne Park (born 21 April 1947) is an author of children's books.
[edit] Biography
Park is the daughter of a merchant and a secretary, Doris and Brooke Tidswell. She grew up in Mount Holly Township, New Jersey.[1]From 1965 to 1967, she attended Rider College, later finishing her B.S. in 1969 at the University of Alabama. She married Richard A. Park in 1969. She has lived in Phoenix, Arizona for almost 30 years and has two sons, Steven and David, who are now both out of college.
[edit] Career
The first book she wrote for children was Operation: Dump the Chump; the first one to be published, in 1981, was Don't Make Me Smile[2]. In it, a boy called Charlie has to deal with his parents' divorce. While divorce is a serious subject, the book is filled with humor, creating a balance between sadness and laughter. The main character is portrayed as an exasperating and funny kid who is likeable to the reader as he gradually accepts all the changes in his life.
Barbara Park's character specialty is the underdog in life: the child who is neither popular nor in control of his circumstances. This type of character is a great vehicle for humor. In Skinnybones (1982), Park's most popular book, main character Alex Frankovitch is a bad baseball player but his Little League exploits make readers laugh. Skinnybones has won many children's book awards chosen by children. In 1988, Park wrote a sequel to it called Almost Starring Skinnybones.
In 1985 she wrote a book called Buddies, about a group of girls at camp who have to get rid of an outsider.
Park is well-known for her series of books for beginning readers starring the character Junie B. Jones; to date she has published 27 Junie novels.
Humor permeates Barbara Park's books for children. The author says that having two sons has influenced her writing and kept her tuned into situations that are humorous to children. She feels that by preserving and nurturing the child in her own personality she maintains her creativity.
[edit] References
- ^ Blais, Jacqueline. "Junie B. always has the bestest time", USA Today, June 30, 2004. Accessed October 22, 2007. "In a parallel universe in the 1950s, Park was a talkative schoolgirl in Mount Holly, N.J."
- ^ Greenville Public Library biography of Park
