Arnold Adoff (July 16, 1935, in

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

– May 7, 2021, in

Yellow Springs, Ohio Yellow Springs is a Village (Ohio), village in northern Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,697 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area and is home to Antioch ...

) was an American children's writer. In 1988, the

National Council of Teachers of English The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a United States professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discip ...

gave Adoff the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. He has said, "I will always try to turn sights and sounds into words. I will always try to shape words into my singing poems."

Biography

Adoff grew up in the

South Bronx, New York The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris. In the early 1900s, the South Bronx was ori ...

, the son of Jewish immigrants from a town near the Polish-Russian border. He enrolled in the

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

School of Pharmacy but transferred to

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

, where he received a B.A. in history and literature. He married Virginia Hamilton in 1960 and they lived in Europe briefly before moving back to New York City. Adoff taught social studies in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

and the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

of New York. Adoff and Hamilton eventually moved to Yellow Springs,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, where Adoff lived until his death in 2021. :"I began writing for kids because I wanted to effect a change in American society. I continue in that spirit. By the time we reach adulthood, we are closed and set in our attitudes. The chances of a poet reaching us are very slim. But I can open a child's imagination, develop his appetite for poetry, and more importantly, show him that poetry is a natural part of everyday life. We all need someone to point out that the emperor is wearing no clothes. That's the poet's job." --Arnold Adoff

Fiction

*''Mandala'' - Pictures by Emily McCully, Harper and Row, 1971. *''Black is Brown Is Tan'' - pictures by Emily Arnold McCully, Harper Collins, 2002, Harper & Row, 1973. *''Hard to be Six'' - illustrated by Cheryl Hanna, Lee & Shapard, 1991. *'' In for Winter, Out for Spring'' - illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991. *''The Return of Rex and Ethel'' - illustrated by Catherine Deeter, Harcourt, 2000. *''Daring Dog and Captain Cat'' - illustrated by Joe Cepeda, Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2001.

Nonfiction

*''Black on Black; Commentaries by Negro Americans''. New York: Macmillan, 1968. *''Brothers and Sisters; Modern Stories by Black Americans''. New York: Macmillan, 1970. *''Malcolm X.'' - illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez. pa. HarperCollins, 2000 (ages 7–10). Winner of ALA Notable Children’s Book and Library of Congress Children’s Books. *''Roots and Blues: A Celebration'' - illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 2011. Winner of '' The Lion and the Unicorn'' Award for Excellence in North American Poetry, 2012.

References

External links

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Bibliography
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Arnold Adoff
mini-bio at the Ohio Center for the Book website {{DEFAULTSORT:Adoff, Arnold American non-fiction children's writers 20th-century American poets Jewish American poets Columbia University College of Pharmacy alumni City College of New York alumni People from Yellow Springs, Ohio 1935 births Living people 21st-century American Jews