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David Harrison
Children's author spoke April 17
Men and women begin as boys and girls. What we say to children helps determine who they will be when they grow up. David Harrison, a 1959 Drury graduate, has published more than 50 popular children's books; he offers the wisdom of his experience in what we should say to children and how.
When David Harrison made up his first poems, he didn't know he would grow up to be a poet. But when he graduated with degrees in biology from Drury College and Emory University, he took the advice of a special teacher to become a writer. He wrote stories for adults until 1969. Then his life changed in an important way when he wrote a book for children called The Boy With a Drum. It sold two million copies.
Now Harrison's list of published children's books includes titles like The Book of Giant Stories, Little Turtle's Big Adventure, Somebody Catch My Homework, When Cows Come Home, The Purchase of Small Secrets, and Wild Country. The list is over 55 books long. Harrison's stories and poems have been translated into many languages, seen on television and CD-ROM, heard on radio and cassettes, and read in dozens of anthologies. They have received a Christopher Award, a Bank Street College Children's Book of the Year, four Children's Choice Awards, and been nominated for Best Books for Young Adults and the Kentucky Blue Grass Award.
Harrison lives with his wife Sandy in Springfield, MO. Though his children are grown, he continues to read his stories to his grandsons. He still gets up at 6 am to write. The early hours are tough, but he says, "As long as people read my books, I'll keep getting up."
Image and bio information courtesy of David Harrison's home page.
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Related Links:
David Harrison's home page
Dylan: The Eagle-Hearted Chicken at Amazon.com
The Book of Giant Stories at Amazon.com
Wild Country: Outdoor Poems for Young People at Amazon.com
