Barbara Park!

The big project of 4th grade is their Famous Arizonan report.  It takes a few months and at the end the kids memorize a short summary and put on a wax museum.  Ellie was Barbara Park.  What?  You don't know who Barbara Park is?  And why is Ellie in pajamas and eating M&Ms?  It's your lucky day because I've included Ellie's presentation for you!    When you grow up, would you want a job where you can stay at home and work in your pajamas? Well, that’s what Barbara Park does! She is a children’s literature author who lives and writes in Phoenix, Arizona. Most well known for her Junie B. Jones series, her humorous fiction entertains children around the world. Barbara Tidswell was born on April 21, 1947 in Mt. Holly, New Jersey. When her parents decided to give her the middle name “Lynne,” they didn’t realize how much she would dislike her initials: B.L.T., like the sandwich. Her mother, the secretary at the High School library, made all of her clothes and embroidered her initials onto each one. Barbara said she felt like a walking sandwich board. Park’s father was a banker and also owned a local home remodeling store. As a young child, she played hide and go seek with her older brother Brooke, usually hiding in the hamper. Every summer, her family spent two weeks at Long Beach and in the winter she would skate on the frozen lake at the end of her street. Although she never considered herself a bookworm, in elementary school she enjoyed reading Nancy Drew novels and especially loved Archie comics. Years later, while attending Rancocas Valley Regional High School, where she was voted “Wittiest” in her class, Barbara developed a love of books after reading Catcher in the Rye. After graduating from High School in 1965, Barbara Park spent her first two years of college studying Politics and Education at nearby Rider University and finally graduated from the University of Alabama. Before graduating, she was sent to student teach Geography at a small Junior High, but after a loud and disastrous attempt at a Geography Bee, Barbara realized that teaching was not for her. Shortly after graduation, Barbara married Richard Park, who she met during her Senior Year. Richard joined the United States Air Force, while Barbara split her time between their two families until he was more settled.  She gave birth to their first son, Steven, in Alabama before joining Richard in Arizona. They also lived in California and Missouri, where her second son, David, was born. In 1974, her husband retired from the Air Force and the Park family moved back to Arizona for good. With both of her sons in Elementary School Barbara felt she needed an occupation other than wife and mother. She listed “Writer” as her profession on her driver’s license and started submitting to newspapers and magazines. When her son, David, recommended the book Tales of a Fourth Nothing, Park knew that she too wanted to write books that were both funny and realistic for young readers. Although Barbara Park has received over 40 awards for her books, three publishers rejected her first book, Operation Dump the Chump, before Alfred A Knopf Inc. agreed to publish it. Her two sons inspired the main characters and plot about two bothers who come up with interesting and funny ways to drive each other crazy. In 1991, she had published ten books when Random House asked her to contribute to a series of books aimed at first to third grader readers. The loud and opinionated 5 year-old Junie B. Jones was created and with 29 books, it is her most well known series. Additionally, Barbara has written fourteen middle years books about topics such as divorce, feeling insecure about appearances, and not fitting in at school.  Her favorite book that she has written, Mick Harte Was Here, deals with the death of a sibling, and was written after she saw a tragic bike accident in her neighborhood. Today, Barbara keeps a paper and pencil by her bed just in case she gets a good idea in the middle of the night and every morning she gets to work writing in her pajamas.  When it’s time to relax she enjoys watching television with her husband, eating frozen M&Ms, practicing yoga and hiking in the Arizona desert. Barbara Park’s ideal childhood turned into an ideal life. She is surrounded by a loving family and loves her work. This celebrated author has written 43 children’s books from her home in Arizona. Despite not liking to write as child, she now has won over 40 awards for her books. Additionally, 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of her most loved character: Junie B. Jones. What will this famous Arizonan write next?