Liz Garton Scanlon 2022 Texas Book Festival

Elizabeth "Liz" Garton Scanlon is an American writer 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 ...

, primarily

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

in collaboration with other illustrators.

Career

Elizabeth Garton grew up in

Vail, Colorado Vail is a Home rule in the United States, home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the ...

and later moved to

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. Her undergraduate degree was in English and her graduate was in

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 ...

. After helping her daughter put on

socks A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the Calf (leg), calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. ...

she got the idea for her first book, ''A Sock Is A Pocket for Your Toes'' (2004). Five years later in September 2009, her second book '' All the World'' was published. It was illustrated by

Marla Frazee Marla Frazee (born January 16, 1958) is an American author and illustrator of children's literature. She has received three Caldecott Honors for picture book illustration. Early life and college Frazee was born in Los Angeles, California and mo ...

, and won the Caldecott Award in 2010. In March 2011, Scanlon's third book, illustrated by Arthur Howard, ''Noodle and Lou'', a story following a pair of unlikely friends, a bird and a worm, was released. Following ''Noodle and Lou'' came another children's book, ''Think Big'', which is a "lyrical celebration of imagination and creativity in many child-friendly forms – painting, writing, acting, cooking, dancing and more, was illustrated by Vanessa Newton and published by

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

in Summer 2012." ''Happy Birthday, Bunny!'' was released in January 2013 and was illustrated by Stephanie Graegin. Scanlon is also reported to publish another children's book titled ''The Good- Pie Party'', which is set to be illustrated by

Kady MacDonald Denton Kady MacDonald Denton (born 22 July 1941) is a Canadian creator of children's books, primarily an illustrator of picture books. She observed in 2011 that "I'm in that quickly-shrinking group of illustrators who doesn’t use a computer at any st ...

and released in 2014.

Personal life

Before writing full-time she composed corporate communications.

Selected works

* ''A Sock is A Pocket for Your Toes'' (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 2004) * '' All the World'' (Beach Lane Books/

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, 2009)Bast, Andrew (5 November 2009)
Family Circle (book review)
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. * ''Noodle and Lou'' (Beach Lane, 2011) * ''Think Big'' (

, 2012) * ''Happy Birthday, Bunny'' (Beach Lane, 2013) * ''The Good- Pie Party'' (

Arthur A. Levine Books Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

/Scholastic, 2014) * ''The Great Good Summer'' (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster, 2015) * ''Kate, who Tamed the Wind''. Illustrated by Lee White. (Schwartz & Wade, 2018) * ''One Dark Bird''. Illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon. (Beach Lane, 2019) * ''The World's Best Class Plant''. With

Audrey Vernick Audrey Vernick is an American Children's literature, children's book author whose works include many featuring lesser-known figures in baseball history, including Larry Doby, Edith Houghton, Effa Manley, Max Patkin, and the Acerra brothers. Selec ...

. Illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao. (Putnam, 2023)

Books reception

*''A Sock is A Pocket for Your Toes'' - Kirkus Reviews finds "In bubbly verse and playful imagery reminiscent of Mary Ann Hoberman's classic ''A House Is a House For Me''..." *''All The World'' - Kirkus Reviews sees "At once a lullaby and an invigorating love song to nature, families and interconnectedness." *''Noodle and Lou'' - Kirkus Reviews believes that readers "...will enjoy this brisk, rhyming tale of solid support and relentless esteem-building." and that this story is "Chirpy, instructive and fun. " *''Think Big'' - Kirkus Reviews states that "Scanlon’s spare rhyming text bursts with gusto." *''Happy Birthday, Bunny!'' - Kirkus Reviews finds that "Scanlon delivers a sweet, rhyming text..." and concludes "Happy birthday to a splendid book for new birthday boys and girls." *''The Good-Pie Party'' - Kirkus Reviews believes "Scanlon’s gentle, child’s-eye view of a common challenge hits the right notes..." *"The Great Good Summer" - Kirkus Reviews sees "Equal parts peculiar and poignant, Ivy’s story will have readers giggling as they root for her to find everything she’s looking for"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scanlon, Elizabeth Garton American children's writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)