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Patricia Polacco (born July 11, 1944, in Lansing, Michigan, USA) is the author and illustrator of many picture books for children. Although she struggled in school and was unable to read until age 14 due to dyslexia, she found relief by expressing herself through art. Polacco endured teasing and hid her disability until a teacher recognized that she could not read and began to help her. Thank you, Mr. Falker is Polacco's retelling of this encounter and its outcome.

Polacco attended several colleges in Oakland, California: California College of Arts and Crafts and Laney Community College. Later she attended Monash University and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia. Having learned to work around her dyslexia, Polacco earned a Master's Degree in Fine Arts and a Ph.D. in Art History with an emphasis on Iconography. She then worked for several years restoring religious icons.

Polacco began writing books when she was 41, and many of her works are semi-autobiographical. Because her parents divorced when she was young, she and her brother spent their early life living in two places: schoolyears with their mother and grandparents in the multicultural environment of Oakland, CA, and summers with their father and his parents on a farm in Union City, Michigan. Polacco's mother's family were Russian Jews from Ukraine, while her father's family were Irish, and this multicultural heritage is evident in many of her stories and illustrations. Many Polacco works were inspired by stories told by her grandparents, and she attributes her writing talent to her family's love of storytelling.

Polacco also serves as a speaker for schools and libraries, sharing her stories with children and adults. She formerly lived in Oakland, California, but now lives in Union City, Michigan, where she periodically opens her house so her fans can take part in writing seminars, storytelling festivals, literature conferences and various events celebrating children's literature. She is afraid of flying, and now travels only by ground transportation, which has limited her choice of venues. In 2006 Polacco's appearance at the International Reading Association conference in Chicago, Illinois, was cancelled due to fears by the sponsor, SRA/McGraw-Hill, that Polacco would speak out against the No Child Left Behind Act, which she opposes. On her website, Polacco has contended that McGraw-Hill profits from the No Child Left Behind Act because it sells testing materials mandated by the act.

Polacco has earned many awards for her writings and illustrations. Among these are the Sydney Taylor Book Award in 1988 for The Keeping Quilt, the Commonwealth Club of California Recognition of Excellence for Babushka's Doll in 1990, and Chicken Sunday in 1992. She also won the Parents Choice Honors for Some Birthday! in 1991, Dream Keeper in 1997, and Thank you, Mr. Falker in 1998, as well as many others.

Life
Polacco's parents divorced when she was young, and she and her brother spent much of their early life living in two places: schoolyears with her mother and grandparents in Oakland, CA, and summers with her father and his parents in Union City, MI. Patricia's mother's family were Russian Jews from Ukraine, while her father's family were Irish. Her rich multi-cultural heritage shows through in many of her stories and illustrations. Many of her books celebrate life in many lands. Patricia attributes her writing talent to her family's love of storytelling.

"Did you love school as a kid?" "I'm going to answer this honestly — of course I didn't! Because when I was little, learning was very difficult for me. School was a place that I went to feel dumb. This was not the fault of my teachers because they didn't know I had a learning disability, and neither did I! But school was so hard, it wasn't a pleasant place for me to be. It was made worse, of course, because I had a child who teased me almost every day at school and made me feel even worse. That's why, when I talk to schoolchildren, I have a great deal to say about the horror of teasing." (Scholastic interview)

attended Ohio State University

At the age of 41, Polacco began writing and illustrating personal books for her two children, Steve and Traci. A few of these are A Christmas Delivery for Traci and Steve and A Special Christmas. Polacco started by writing down some of the stories told to her by her grandparents.

She was inspired by many authors from her childhood. Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit was one of her favorites, as well as The Tall Book of Mother Goose by Feodor Rojankovsky. Her greatest artistic hero was Norman Rockwell. Some of Polacco's modern day heroes are fellow illustrators and authors. Among them are Jerry and Gloria Jean Pinkney, Tomie De Paola, Rafe Martin, and Jan Brett, as well as many others.

Learning disability
In Thank you, Mr. Falker, Polacco describes her childhood encounter with a teacher who realized that she could not read. When asked in a Scholastic interview about how her learning disability has affected her, Polacco replied:

"Well, dyslexia isn't something that goes away. But with help, you can learn to cope with it. Mr. Falker noticed that I was having extreme trouble. Oddly enough, I didn't want any of my teachers to know what kind of trouble I was in. I thought they wouldn't like me anymore. So, when he came to me and said, 'I think you have something that many, many people have, and I'll bet you feel dumb and like there's something wrong with you. I'm here to tell you, you are brilliant. You just don't see things the way other people do.' Just the knowledge for me to know that I had something lots of other people have and that had absolutely nothing to do with my intelligence made me feel better. There are many techniques to help you learn. Just because you can't learn like other people do does not mean that you are dumb. There are special classes today, there are specialists who work with you. Take advantage of it! You asked, 'Am I still bothered by it?' There are times even now I can still get confused, but I'm not bothered by it because it isn't my fault and there is nothing wrong with me. I simply have a learning disability. Now I just laugh!"

Polacco does not compose her stories at a typewriter, but composes them in her mind, while rocking in a rocking chair and listening to music. She says, "One of the elements of my learning disability is a need for movement in order to process information." (Scholastic interview)

Writing and illustrating style
Polacco generally writes about real people, particularly family members and historical figures, and tries to make her characters authentic. She states, "I am careful, though, not to write in a voice that does not belong to me." (Scholastic interview)

Vandergrift describes Polacco's work as "reflective autobiography."

Polacco loves goats, and she tries to include a goat in every book she writes, either in the story or in the artwork. (Scholastic interview)

Chronological bibliography

 * Boat Ride with Lillian Two Blossom (1988) ISBN 0399214704
 * The Keeping Quilt (1988) ISBN 0689820909
 * Meteor! (1988) ISBN 0399216995
 * Uncle Vova's Tree (1989) ISBN 0399216170
 * Babushka's Doll (1990) ISBN 0671683438
 * Just Plain Fancy (1990) ISBN 0553058843
 * Thunder Cake (1990) ISBN 0399222316
 * Appelemando's Dreams (1991) ISBN 0399218009
 * Dream Keeper (1991) ISBN 0399229477
 * Some Birthday! (1991) ISBN 0671727508
 * Chicken Sunday (1992) ISBN 0399221336
 * Mrs. Katz and Tush (1992) ISBN 0440409365
 * Picnic at Mudsock Meadow (1992) ISBN 0399218114
 * Babushka Baba Yaga (1993) ISBN 0399225315
 * The Bee Tree (1993) ISBN 039921965X
 * Firetalking (1994) ISBN 1878450557
 * My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother (1994) ISBN 0671727516
 * Pink and Say (1994) ISBN 0399226710
 * Tikva Means Hope (1994) ISBN 0385320590
 * Babushka's Mother Goose (1995) ISBN 0399227474
 * My Ol' Man (1995) ISBN 0399228225
 * Aunt Chip And The Great Triple Creek Dam Affair (1996) ISBN 0399229434
 * I Can Hear The Sun: A Modern Myth (1996) ISBN 039922520X
 * Rechenka's Eggs (1996) ISBN 0698113853
 * The Trees of the Dancing Goats (1996) ISBN 0689808623
 * Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888 (1997) ISBN 0698115570; Author: Ernest Lawrence Thayer, Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
 * In Enzo's Splendid Gardens (1997) ISBN 0399231072
 * Mrs. Mack (1998) ISBN 0399231676
 * Thank You, Mr. Falker (1998) ISBN 0399231668
 * Luba And The Wren (1999) ISBN 0399231684
 * Welcome Comfort (1999) ISBN 0399231692
 * The Butterfly (2000) ISBN 0399231706
 * Betty Doll (2001) ISBN 0399236384
 * Gracias, Sr. Falker (2001) ISBN 1930332033, with Teresa Mlawer
 * Mr. Lincoln's Way (2001) ISBN 0399237542
 * Christmas Tapestry (2002) ISBN 0399239553
 * When Lightning Comes In A Jar (2002) ISBN 0399231641
 * G is for Goat (2003) ISBN 0399240187
 * The Graves Family (2003) ISBN 0399240349
 * John Philip Duck (2004) ISBN 0399242627
 * Oh, Look! (2004) ISBN 0399242236
 * An Orange for Frankie (2004) ISBN 039924302X
 * Emma Kate (2005) ISBN 0399244522
 * The Graves Family Goes Camping (2005) ISBN 0399243690
 * Mommies Say Shhh (2005) ISBN 0399243410
 * Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare (2006) ISBN 0399245316
 * Something About Hensley's (200x) ISBN pending

Alphabetical bibliography

 * Appelemando's Dreams (1991) ISBN 0399218009
 * Aunt Chip And The Great Triple Creek Dam Affair (1996) ISBN 0399229434
 * Babushka Baba Yaga (1993) ISBN 0399225315
 * Babushka's Doll (1990) ISBN 0671683438
 * Babushka's Mother Goose (1995) ISBN 0399227474
 * The Bee Tree (1993) ISBN 039921965X
 * Betty Doll (2001) ISBN 0399236384
 * Boat Ride with Lillian Two Blossom (1988) ISBN 0399214704
 * The Butterfly (2000) ISBN 0399231706
 * Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888 (1997) ISBN 0698115570; Author: Ernest Lawrence Thayer, Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
 * Chicken Sunday (1992) ISBN 0399221336
 * Christmas Tapestry (2002) ISBN 0399239553
 * Dream Keeper (1991) ISBN 0399229477
 * Emma Kate (2005) ISBN 0399244522
 * Firetalking (1994) ISBN 1878450557
 * G is for Goat (2003) ISBN 0399240187
 * Gracias, Sr. Falker (2001) ISBN 1930332033, with Teresa Mlawer
 * The Graves Family (2003) ISBN 0399240349
 * The Graves Family Goes Camping (2005) ISBN 0399243690
 * I Can Hear The Sun: A Modern Myth (1996) ISBN 039922520X
 * In Enzo's Splendid Gardens (1997) ISBN 0399231072
 * John Philip Duck (2004) ISBN 0399242627
 * Just Plain Fancy (1990) ISBN 0553058843
 * The Keeping Quilt (1988) ISBN 0689820909
 * Luba And The Wren (1999) ISBN 0399231684
 * Meteor! (1988) ISBN 0399216995
 * Mommies Say Shhh (2005) ISBN 0399243410
 * Mr. Lincoln's Way (2001) ISBN 0399237542
 * Mrs. Katz and Tush (1992) ISBN 0440409365
 * Mrs. Mack (1998) ISBN 0399231676
 * My Ol' Man (1995) ISBN 0399228225
 * My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother (1994) ISBN 0671727516
 * Oh, Look! (2004) ISBN 0399242236
 * An Orange for Frankie (2004) ISBN 039924302X
 * Picnic at Mudsock Meadow (1992) ISBN 0399218114
 * Pink and Say (1994) ISBN 0399226710
 * Rechenka's Eggs (1996) ISBN 0698113853
 * Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare (2006) ISBN 0399245316
 * Some Birthday! (1991) ISBN 0671727508
 * Something About Hensley's (200x) ISBN pending
 * Thank You, Mr. Falker (1998) ISBN 0399231668
 * Thunder Cake (1990) ISBN 0399222316
 * Tikva Means Hope (1994) ISBN 0385320590
 * The Trees of the Dancing Goats (1996) ISBN 0689808623
 * Uncle Vova's Tree (1989) ISBN 0399216170
 * Welcome Comfort (1999) ISBN 0399231692
 * When Lightning Comes In A Jar (2002) ISBN 0399231641