David Elliott (born 1947) is an American author of
children's books
A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...
in verse and prose. He taught
creative writing
Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...
playwriting
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just
reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwright" ...
New London, New Hampshire
New London is a New England town, town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,400 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is the home of Colby–Sawyer College, site ...
from 1998 to 2013. He also served as their director of International Student Services.
Work
David Elliott grew up in Ohio and wrote his first story when he was 16 and sent it to ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' magazine. He recalls that it was returned to him torn in half.
Many of his children's books are humorous stories in verse and prose. ''On the Farm'' and its successors are sets of pithy poems about the natural world. ''Bull'' is a verse novel for young adults retelling the myth of the
Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...
. ''Voices'' is a novel in medieval verse looking at
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
's life from various points of view.
Awards and Honors
The Children's Book Committee (CBC) at
Bank Street College of Education
Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 ful ...
has recognized Elliott's work numerous times. In 2024, his children's picture book of poetry, ''At the Poles'' (illustrated by Ellen Rooney) (Candlewick), received the Claudia Lewis Award for Younger Poetry and appeared on the Best Children's Book of the Year list with Outstanding Merit. His fictionalized biography, ''Voices: the final hours of Joan of Arc'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) won the CBC's 2020 Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry and appeared on the Best Children's Book of the Year list with Outstanding Merit. In addition to these titles, The CBC's Best Children's Book of the Year list has featured other work by Elliott including ''The Seventh Raven'', ''In the Woods'', ''In the Past'', ''Bull'', ''The Two Tims'', ''Nobody's Perfect'', ''On the Wing'', ''In the Sea'', ''In the Wild'', ''Finn Throws a Fit'', ''On the Farm'', ''What the Grizzly Knows'', ''Evangeline Mudd and the Great Mink Escapade'', ''And Here's to You!'', ''The Transmogrification of Roscoe Wizzle'', and ''The Cool Crazy Crickets''.
Published Works
*''The Transmogrification of Roscoe Wizzle'' (2001)
*''And Here's to You!'' (2004, illustrated by Randy Cecil)
*''One Little Chicken: A Counting Book'' (2007, illustrated by Ethan Long)
*''Jeremy Cabbage and the Living Museum of Human Oddballs and Quadruped Delights'' (2008)
*''Knitty Kitty'' (2008, illustrated by
Christopher Denise
Christopher Denise is an American artist and author. He illustrated two of Brian Jacques' ''Redwall'' picture books,Timothy Basil Ering)
*''Nobody's Perfect'' (2015, illustrated by Sam Zuppardi)
*''Baabwaa and Wooliam'' (2017, illustrated by
Melissa Sweet Melissa Sweet may refer to:
* Melissa Sweet (writer), Australian journalist and non-fiction writer
*Melissa Sweet (illustrator)
Melissa Sweet (born January 1, 1956) is an American illustrator and writer of nearly 100 books for children and young ...
)
*''Bull'' (2017)
*''Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc'' (2019)
Evangeline Mudd series
*''Evangeline Mudd and the Golden-Haired Apes of the Ikkinasti Jungle'' (2004, illustrated by Andréa Wesson)
*''Evangeline Mudd and the Great Mink Escapade'' (2006, illustrated by Andréa Wesson)
Hazel Nutt series
*''Hazel Nutt, Mad Scientist'' (2003, illustrated by True Kelley)
*''Hazel Nutt, Alien Hunter'' (2004, illustrated by True Kelley)
Nature series
*''On the Farm'' (2008, illustrated by Holly Meade)
*''In the Wild'' (2010, illustrated by Holly Meade)
*''In the Sea'' (2013, illustrated by Holly Meade)
*''On the Wing'' (2014, illustrated by Becca Stadtlander)
*''In the Past'' (2018, illustrated by Matthew Trueman)
The Cool Crazy Crickets series
*''The Cool Crazy Crickets Club'' (2010, illustrated by Paul Meisel)
*''The Cool Crazy Crickets to the Rescue'' (2010, illustrated by Paul Meisel)
This Orq. series
*''He Cave Boy'' (2014, illustrated by Lori Nichols)
*''He Say "Ugh!"'' (2015, illustrated by Lori Nichols)
*''He #1'' (2016, illustrated by Lori Nichols)