April Halprin Wayland (born 1954) is an American

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

's and young adult author,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, and teacher.

Biography

April Halprin Wayland was born and raised in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

and graduated from

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

with a degree in

Human Development Human development may refer to: * Development of the human body * Developmental psychology * Human development (economics) * Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development * Human evolution, the prehistoric ...

. She worked for the

Rand Corporation The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...

and was the governess for a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

celebrity before starting a company called Positive Education, Inc. with Elizabeth Howland. After traveling to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and working on

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, she returned to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, married Gary Wayland, worked in the corporate world, and four years later left her job to write full-time. She studied with children's authors Ruth Lercher Bornstein,

Sonia Levitin Sonia Wolff Levitin (born August 18, 1934) is a German-American novelist, artist, producer. Levitin, a Holocaust survivor, has written over forty novels and picture books for young adults and children, as well as several theatrical plays and publ ...

, Susan Goldman Rubin, and many others. For twelve years she studied with children's poet

Myra Cohn Livingston Myra Cohn Livingston (August 17, 1926 – August 23, 1996) was an American poet, writer, and educator who is primarily known for her books of free verse children's poetry. Biography Early life and education Myra Cohn was born in Omaha, Nebras ...

. Wayland's poetry have been included in numerous

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

and magazines and have won awards from the

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers ...

. Her novel in poems, GIRL COMING IN FOR A LANDING, was awarded

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

's Lee Bennett Hopkins Honor Award for Poetry and the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Best Poetry Book. Her picture book, NEW YEAR AT THE PIER—A

Rosh Hashanah Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...

Story, won the

Sydney Taylor Book Award The Sydney Taylor Book Award recognizes the best in Jewish children's literature. Medals are awarded annually for outstanding books that authentically portray the Jewish experience. The award was established in 1968 by the Association of Jewish L ...

for Younger Readers.

Works

*''More Than Enough: A Passover Story'',

Dial Books for Young Readers The Dial Press was a publishing house founded in 1923 by Lincoln MacVeagh. The Dial Press shared a building with ''The Dial'' and Scofield Thayer worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924. Authors included Elizabeth Bowen, W. R. Bu ...

, 2016 *''New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story'',

, 2009 (Sydney Taylor Book Award gold medal in the Younger Readers CategoryLauren Barack
"Sydney Taylor Book Award Winners Named"
, ''School Library Journal'', 18 January 2010) *''Rabbittown'', Scholastic, 1989 *''The Night Horse'', Scholastic, 1991 *''It's Not My Turn To Look For Grandma!'',

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

, 1995 *''Girl Coming In For A Landing—A Novel in Poems'', Knopf, 2002

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wayland, April Halprin University of California, Davis alumni Living people 1954 births 20th-century American writers 21st-century American writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American women writers