Kid Authors: True Tales of Childhood from Famous Writers

by David Stabler, Doogie Horner (Illustrator)

Overview

Funny and totally true childhood biographies and full-color illustrations tell the tales from the growing-up years of Beverly Cleary, J. R. R. Tolkien, and 13 other great writers.
 
Every great author started out as a kid. Before the best sellers, fan clubs, and beloved stories we know today, the world's most celebrated writers had regular-kid problems just like you. Sam Clemens (aka Mark Twain) loved to skip school and make mischief, with his best friend Tom, of course! A young J. R. R. Tolkien was bitten by a huge tarantula—or as he called it, “a spider as big as a dragon.” Toddler Zora Neale Hurston took her first steps when a wild hog entered her house and started chasing her!

Kid Authors tells their stories and more—the diverse and inclusive cast that includes Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, J. K. Rowling, Jules Verne, Lewis Carroll, Stan Lee—through kid-friendly texts and full-color cartoon illustrations on nearly every page.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594749872
Publisher:	Quirk Publishing
Publication date:	10/10/2017
Series:	Kid Legends Series , #4
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	337,613
Product dimensions:	5.76(w) x 8.26(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Author David Stabler and illustrator Doogie Horner have created many books, including Kid Presidents (Quirk, 2014), Kid Athletes (Quirk, 2015), and Kid Artists (Quirk, 2016). Both live in New York City.

Read an Excerpt

Everybody loves a good story—and we all know that a well-told story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is a book about how the stories of sixteen famous authors began.
     Some of them knew from very early on that they were going to be writers. Edgar Allan Poe, the legendary author of “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” used to recite poetry and dress up as a ghost to frighten grown-ups at parties.
     And the poet Langston Hughes spent hours in his local library, reading collections of mythology, verse, and African American history.
     Other kid authors had to overcome obstacles on the road to success. Laura Ingalls Wilder, the writer of Little House on the Prairie, grew up on the frontier, where she faced harsh winters and attacks by locusts.
     And then there is J. K. Rowling. Long before she wrote the best-selling Harry Potter novels, she was just another kid in middle school trying to make decent grades and fend off bullies. Believe it or not, she often found herself getting into fights! She took comfort in writing stories about feisty heroines who fought back against evil villains.
     And finally we have Jeff Kinney, whose most formidable foes were his three siblings. Every morning, Jeff and his siblings found themselves in a heated competition to determine who would use the bathroom first. Jeff took the “wimpy moments” of his childhood and turned them into Diary of a Wimpy Kid, one of the most successful children’s book series of all time.
     We all have a story to tell, and whether or not you grow up to become a great writer, all those stories start in the same place: childhood. Some kids are born storytellers, others learned to take their unique experiences and turn them into tales that would entertain and inspire. We know how their stories ended, but how much do you really know about how their stories began? We’re going back to the beginning to find out!

Editorial Reviews

Lively glimpses of formative moments and budding talents.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A fun and useful addition, especially for aspiring writers and class projects.”—School Library Journal, Paige Rowse, Needham High School, MA
 
“This is an ideal gift for aspiring young writers who may need proof that even the most famous authors had to start somewhere.”—Shelf Awareness for Readers

“[Kid Authors] was full of real information, but the author made it fun and funny … I would recommend this book for all people who read books and want to know interesting information about authors, and also for people who want to be authors themselves.”—Michael, age 9

Praise for Kid Presidents:
“Just like history class, only hilarious.”—Tim Federle, author of Better Nate Than Ever

“With cartoonish illustrations that will attract fans of Jeff Kinney’s The Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Rachel Renée Russell’s The Dork Diaries, this informative offering leaves no presidential childhood rock unturned.”—School Library Journal

“Caricatures by Horner are whimsical and funny, a good match for a book that demonstrates that every president started life as a goofy, regular kid.”—Booklist

Praise for Kid Artists:
“Impressively diverse.”-Booklist

“For budding artists, here’s a heartening reminder that 17 unconventional greats—not to mention all the rest—started out as children too.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Memorably weird childhood moments—Jackson Pollock accidentally had part of a finger chopped off and then eaten by a rooster—are likely to stick with readers, as will Horner’s impish cartoons.”-Publishers Weekly

Praise for Kid Athletes:
“Outstanding...Inspiring and entertaining, Kid Athletes isn't just for sports fans.”—Booklist, starred review

“Even if you don’t exactly love sports, this book only says a little bit about them in the actual sport, so go out and get this book because it will teach you a lot and you will enjoy it immensely.”—Kidsday reporters, Newsday

“Perfect for the adolescent set, these inspiring stories mix fun and non-fiction.”—Geeks of Doom

From the Publisher

01/01/2018
Gr 3–6—An eclectic mix of short profiles on a variety of authors. The individuals featured are a balance of historical and contemporary writers, all of whom mostly hail from the United States. Stabler goes beyond basic biographical information and provides witty, interesting stories to paint a vivid picture of each author's childhood and influences. These tales are highly relatable for kids and can also be an encouragement for coping with difficult situations, such as bullying. This text is ideal for developing researchers. An index allows for easy navigation and there is a short bibliography for each entry. Profiles are organized under common themes, which also allows for quick reference and browsing. Horner's bright and vibrant drawings add humor to the collection. VERDICT A fun and useful addition, especially for aspiring writers and class projects.—Paige Rowse, Needham High School, MA

School Library Journal

2017-07-17
Sixteen young authors-to-be face challenges ranging from bullies to a really big spider in this series' fourth entry.All write, wrote, or have written for young audiences. The spider, an aptly named Hercules baboon tarantula, bit "Ronald" Tolkien during a family stay in South Africa; bullies improbably met their matches in Charles "Lewis Carroll" Dodgson and Edgar Allen Poe; others struggled with shyness (J.K. Rowling), parental death or abandonment (Zora Neale Hurston, Mark Twain, Lucy Maud Montgomery), birth defects (Sherman Alexie), poverty (several), racial prejudice (Langston Hughes), and other obstacles. The pseudonymous Stabler also points to important early influences, from an indomitable grandmother on Hughes to comics and comic strips on Stan Lee and Jeff Kinney, as well as at watershed moments such as Beverly Cleary's epiphanic discovery in third grade that reading is fun and literary kickoffs like 7-year-old Jo Rowling's "The Seven Cursed Diamonds." Broadly read preteens will recognize the names and have no trouble connecting these observations and select incidents with each writer's best known works. Horner supplies mildly comical caricatures and gags on nearly every page: "No more flies. Today I dine on human flesh!" exclaims that tarantula, leaping at a bug-eyed future fantasist. Brief anecdotes about 28 more writers bring up the rear. Lively glimpses of formative moments and budding talents. (index and bibliography not seen) (Collective biography. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews