For generations of children, including a young Oprah Winfrey, opening a Lois Lenski book has meant opening a world. This was just what the author wanted: to help children ""see beyond the rim of their own world."" In Lois Lenski: Storycatcher, historian and educator Bobbie Malone takes us into Lenski's own world to tell the story of how a girl from a small Ohio town became a beloved literary icon.
Author and illustrator of the Newbery Award-winning Strawberry Girl and numerous other tales of children from America's diverse regions and cultures, Lenski spent five decades creating stories for young readers. Lois Lenski: Storycatcher follows her development as a writer and as an artist, and it traces the evolution of her passionate belief in the power of empathy conveyed in children's books. Understanding that youngsters responded instinctively to narratives rich in reality, Lenski turned her extensive study of hardworking families into books that accurately and movingly depicted the lives of the children of sharecroppers, coal miners, and migrant field workers. From Bayou Suzette to Blue Ridge Billy, Corn-Farm Boy to Houseboat Girl, and Boom Town Boy to Texas Tomboy, Lenski's books mirrored the cultural energy and concerns of the time.
This first full-length biography tells how Lenski traveled throughout the country, gathering the stories that brought to life in words and pictures whole worlds that had for so long been invisible in children's literature. In the process, her work became a source of delight, inspiration, and insight for generations of readers.
Bobbie Malone is the author of Lois Lenski: Storycatcher and coauthor of Nashville's Songwriting Sweethearts: The Boudleaux and Felice Bryant Story.
Lois Lenski: Storycatcher beautifully captures the life of one of America's most gifted and prolific writers and illustrators of children's books. Bobbie Malone shows how Lenski celebrated the children of sharecroppers, coal miners, and migrant field workers. The generations of readers who read and loved Lenski's work as children will embrace this book."" - William Ferris, author of The Storied South: Voices of Writers and Artists
""Lois Lenski, author and illustrator of books for young readers, broke new and important ground with works that engagingly captured the lives of real children in the diverse America of the mid-twentieth century. In this book, Bobbie Malone, through interviews and extensive exploration of Lenski's letters and original travel and research notes, reveals the complex life of this prolific yet private writer."" - Michael Covey, grandson of Lois Lenski and president of the Lois Lenski Covey Foundation
""Well researched, using both historical materials and current commentary on children's literature in general and Lenski in particular, this is a must read for fans of Lenski's books and an interesting biography in its own right."" - Library Journal
