Patricia Polacco

By Susan Anhold and Inez Ramsey

Page revised 3/1/99

Biography

Please visit Patricia Polacco's Home Page. Her son Stephen did her web site for her. It's great.

Patricia Polacco, author, illustrator and storyteller, grew up in Oakland, California and today lives within blocks of her childhood home. Young readers will enjoy Patricia Polacco's own photo-biography, Firetalking from Owen Publishing Company, 1994. Her father's family were Irish while her mother's family were Russian Jews. Her heritage is reflected in her many books which celebrate life in many lands. She shares her family's love of storytelling and brings vivid storytelling skills to her writing. As a child, she had difficulty in reading due to dyslexia but used her drawing skills to earn her peers' respect. She attended Ohio State University where she had classes with Charlotte Huck, distinguished educator and author of children's literature textbooks. Impressed by Huck's love and respect for children, Polacco drew upon her teacher as the model for her character, Aunt Chip, in Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair. She holds a Master's degree in Fine Arts and a Ph. D. in Art History.

Polacco has received critical acclaim for such outstanding works as Pink and Say, an American Library Association Notable Children's Books for 1995.. This tender, heartwarming story, based upon a true incident in the Civil War, captures the instinctive heroism of a young black Union soldier who saves the life of another wounded soldier. Another fact based story is her book, Meteor. She says, "My book Meteor is a fact based story that started it all! ...As I was growing up it looked like a big old rock in the yard...but Grampa told me what it really was and told me the legend."

Her book, Thunder Cake, is a wonderful story of how a little girl's grandma helps her overcome the fear of thunderstorms during the Michigan summer. At the first sight of the thunderclouds, Grandma announces, "This is Thunder Cake baking weather." Susan Anhold in reviewing Polacco's Thunder Cake states, "There is a very good lesson to be learned about how not to be scared of thunder." Through the text and illustrations, a child can well grasp the message. I judge how good a book is through my second grade daughter's reaction to it. Every time it stormed last summer she let me know it was time to make a Thunder Cake. (The recipe is on the back of the book.) We watched the video this past fall with Patricia Polacco as the narrator. Emily was mesmerized and this time insisted that we make the cake (which we did). Her reactions to this book were definitely ones of joy.

Her book, Rechenka's Eggs, is a heartwarming story of Old Babushka, known throughout Moskva for her beautiful painted eggs for the Easter festival. A wild goose whom she befriends accidentally breaks the eggs, but gives the old woman her own beautiful eggs in return. A miracle of spring as one of the eggs hatches into a gosling. Young people may be interested in creating their own beautiful Ukrainian Easter Eggs. Third-graders in Barbara Lane's class Study Pysanky Eggs. The lesson plan is appropriate for grades 3-5.

Be sure to visit Kay Vandergrift's Patricia Polacco site which offers critical insights into many of Patricia Polacco's books. Polacco's contributions to children's literature have been recognized with many awards. Missouri school children voted her their Show-Me 1,2,3 Readers Award in 1996 for her My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother.

You'll find more biographical information at the Patricia Polacco page which includes a biography and a selected bibliography from Educational Paperbacks Organization.

Teachers may enjoy using some of the following lesson plans:

Chicken Sunday Grade 4. From Making Multicultural Connections Through Trade Books from Montgomery County Public Schools.

Chicken Sunday Grade 5 math. From Making Multicultural Connections...

Strategies for Teaching the Value of Diversity Unit plan, K-4; Mrs. Katz and tush

Some other books are:
My Ol' Man,
Babushka's Mother Goose,
I Can Hear the Sun,
Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair,
Babushka: Baba Yaga,
Chicken Sunday,
In Enzo's Splendid Garde,
all from PenguinPutnam and Mrs. Katz and Tush from Athena Books.
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Lesson Plans

Baltimore Curriculum Project Lesson Plans

First Grade-Literature; space down. "It Could Be Worse"-Mrs. Katz and Tush

Guide for "Pink and Say"

Anticipation guide; Grades 5-8. From KidReach

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References and Bibliography

Anhold, Susan. Thunder Cake: An Evaluation
Polacco, Patricia. Firetalking Richard C. Owen Publishing, 1994.
Polacco, Patricia. Patricia Polacco's Personal Newsletter
Internet sites listed above.

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