2011-2012 J. Patrick Lewis

Holland Hall Hosts U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis

Holland Hall will feature award winning children’s poet and author J. Patrick Lewis for the 2012 Sue T. Lawson Visiting Illustrator/Author Program on Wednesday, April 4 at the Holland Hall Primary School. Lewis is the U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate and the winner of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) 2011 Excellence in Children’s Poetry Award. His books include First Dog, Tugg and Teeny, Spot the Plot! A Riddle Book Of Book Riddles, Big Is Big: A Book of Contrasts and The World’s Greatest: Poems.

After working as a professor of economics, J. Patrick Lewis turned to writing children’s poetry. His first book of poems for children, A Hippopotamusn’t, was published in 1990, and he has followed with over seventy children’s books since then, most of them poetry. He is also a contributor of children’s book reviews for the New York Times, makes over 30 elementary school visits a year, and is a frequent speaker at workshops and conferences. The themes and subjects of J. Patrick Lewis’ poetry collections are wide-ranging with a frequent focus on science related and historical topics. In addition, he enjoys experimenting with poetic form and wordplay and has authored everything from narrative poems to concrete poetry to limericks to riddles to haiku. He has a twin brother who is 20 minutes older than him and his favorite food is his mother’s apple dumplings and lasagna. 

For more information about J. Patrick Lewis, click on the link below:
http://www.jpatricklewis.com/

The Sue T. Lawson Visiting/Author Program is a rich literature experience for Holland Hall students and provides outstanding authors and illustrators the opportunity to share their experiences of writing, illustrating and publishing their work. Additionally, signed books are available for purchase. The program, named after a beloved Holland Hall teacher and librarian, brings in nationally renowned author/illustrators every year. Past visitors included Caldecott award winning author/illustrators Eric Kimmel, David Small and Sarah Stewart.